New Mexico United begins Open Cup push at home

The home opener for New Mexico United is a few days earlier than expected as the USL Championship team hits the pitch Wednesday in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

It’s the middle game of a trying three-match set over eight days after United received a first-week bye in league play.

New Mexico is coming off a 2-1 loss at Oakland on Saturday, and now United dives into the Open Cup against Cruizers FC at 7:30 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Soccer and Track Complex.

“I know the significance that it has in our country, what it means,” New Mexico coach Dennis Sanchez said of the Cup, which is the United States’ oldest ongoing national soccer tournament, first held in 1914.

“And obviously to play the first game at home is really important,” he said. “And we know that we have to earn the right to keep going.”

This game is every bit as important for United as USL games, he said.

“I think that every time we step on the field, we want to win,” Sanchez said. “Every tournament that we are in, we want to win a trophy. It's what the club and our state deserves.”

Cruizers are a second-year National Premier Soccer League club out of Modesto, California. The team is primarily developmental with most of its players in their teens. It went 7-0-5 last season and this is its first appearance in the Open Cup. The league has not started play this season, with its first game scheduled for May.

No matter who is wearing the opposing colors, United will place the same emphasis on this match as any other one on the schedule, the coach said.

“Doesn't matter if they're an amateur team or an MLS team,” Sanchez said. “We have to approach it the same way.”

This will be a good opportunity for United to shore up its defense after allowing a score in the 7th minute against Oakland, then conceding an own goal in the 80th. United newcomer Justin Rennick’s late goal off a feed from Jake LaCava made it close, but New Mexico could never find the equalizer. United forward Greg Hurst slid a first-half opportunity just wide.

And with the games sandwiched so closely together, United also needs to maintain a strong balance between rest and sharpness.

“It's going to be a unique experience, going from no games to three games in (eight) days,” Sanchez said. “So again, we're going to have to manage it. There's going to be plenty of opportunities for guys to step in and step up, and we're looking forward to it.”

New Mexico has had a solid history in the US Cup, reaching the quarterfinals in 2019 and 2024. United has traditionally dominated similar amateur squads, going 3-0-0 with a resounding plus-13 goal differential.

United also has a new face after signing midfielder Cam Wilkerson on a 25-day contract.

Wilkerson, 21, comes to New Mexico off the California campus, where he had a goal and two assists in 12 games with the Golden Bears.