Las Vegas Lights FC welcomes Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club to Cashman Field on Wednesday night in U.S. Open Cup action as part of the Round of 32. Here is what to look for:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. | TICKETS
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to be streamed nationally at USLSoccer.com/watch (no subscription required).
2024 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Las Vegas: 3-6-0 (9 points, 9th West in USLC), LAFC: 4-4-3 (15 points, 7th West in MLS)
FORM GUIDE (all competitions, most recent first): Las Vegas: LLLWL, New Mexico: WDDWL
PREVIOUS MEETING: The Lights and LAFC will be meeting for the first time in competition and club history on Wednesday night.
CUP CRAZE: With arguably more eyes than ever on this year’s U.S. Open Cup, Wednesday night’s match is a fantastic opportunity to advance into the competition’s final 16 teams. This is the furthest Las Vegas has advanced in their club’s history, surpassing last year’s exit in the Third Round against Real Salt Lake (MLS).
ROAD WOES: Los Angeles Football Club, who enter the competition in the Round of 32, has not faired well on the road in 2024, winning just two of the club’s eight away contests thus far. LAFC began the year with a road loss against St. Louis City SC, then back-to-back road wins against Chicago and Toronto followed, but the side has earned just one point from the five matches since (D1 L4).
TURN THE TIDE: Wednesday night is also a great opportunity for Las Vegas to turn its tide after three consecutive league defeats. The club’s last win came against Spokane Velocity in the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup, and a good performance against a top side could help shift momentum in favor the Lights.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
DEFENDER GENNARO NIGRO
On the importance of unity in a tough stretch…
“It’s easy to point fingers when things are going not exactly how you want it to go, right? If you look back to a couple of weeks ago, there’s a lot of camaraderie and that’s followed suit regardless of what the results have been. Most importantly, it’s to make sure that we’re here for one another and realize that mistakes are going to happen. It’s a game of mistakes. The team that makes the least amount of them is usually the one that is victorious. I think that we, for the most part, have shot ourselves in the foot over the last couple of weeks and the only way to get over that hurdle is by sticking together and not making sure the next guy isn’t trying to bite the other one’s head off. It’s about sticking together and making sure we have each other’s backs.”
On what excites him most about this opportunity…
“It’s a showcase. Every time you step onto the field, you never know who’s watching. Especially when you’re playing against a top opponent – a champion of the MLS a couple of years ago – coming to play here, it’s exciting. It should be a game that everybody is looking forward to, myself included. I can’t wait for Wednesday to come, especially after a tough weekend. The fact that we have a game so weekly is the best thing for the group so we can get this – whatever feeling these guys are feeling, we don’t even have the time to process it because we just have to go onto the next. The fact that we’re playing against arguably one of the best teams in the MLS is a challenge, yes, but at the same time it’s a real great chance to make a statement in this competition.”
DEFENDER JOE HAFFERTY
On what he’s looking forward to most about the game…
“A great opportunity this week facing an MLS team. It’s always interesting to see how the matchup is going to be. Last year, they were an extremely successful side and we’re just excited to get things turning over here. I think it’s due time that we put all this work in and have come a long way and have a very talented team so it’s going to be an interesting match. We’re excited for it.”
On the significance of the U.S. Open Cup…
“I remember growing up and watching the Open Cup. It’s a very interesting competition in the fact that teams from different leagues are playing each other. But as it’s coming down to the wire it gets more and more exciting and you get more opportunities to play these high level teams. For us, it’s just an opportunity to showcase that, everyone wants to be playing at the highest level and I think that we can showcase we can compete with teams such as this. We’re going to take it personally, and we’re going to go out there and try to win.”
On the importance of home advantage…
“The home occasion is big. Having home supporters and being used to your home routine, being comfortable on the pitch you’re familiar with… there’s a lot of things that are beneficial about playing at home. It would be much more challenging to go on the road and play LAFC at LAFC so we’re grateful that we got the fans to back us up and we’re going to be playing at Cashman Field.”
HEAD COACH DENNIS SANCHEZ
On what he’s looking for this week…
“As a group, want to continue to progress and want to continue to improve in areas that we feel we need to improve. I think the good thing is we’ve shown moments of some very good things. Now it’s how we can replicate that and how we can create more consistency with the good things, and then always not being naïve to certain moments. Overall, we want to compete more and want to be more resilient in our duels and respect the competition aspect of the game. So, looking forward a positive response against a very good LAFC side.”
On the opportunity ahead this week…
“It’s a great opportunity for the club to show where we are and how far we have come. It’s a great opportunity for individuals to do that as well, but they know that the only way to showcase yourself individually is by having a strong collective performance. It can be a game that really spearheads and builds momentum for us moving forward for sure.”
On the importance of togetherness for the team in this stretch…
“Everything is about the collective. We’re a team where everybody attacks and everybody defends and, as I mentioned, the only way for us to maximize our success is for every individual whether you’re a starter or a reserve to be a line that is pushing toward the common goal. I’ve encouraged the players even before we’ve faced this run of games where we haven’t won early on this season when we were facing adversity that the key is to come together and not separate themselves. We’re going to continue to rely on the collective and continue to rely on each other – trusting each other, trusting our brothers, and ensuring that we’re giving everything for each other.”
