Preview | Inter Miami CF vs. Charleston Battery | U.S. Open Cup

The Charleston Battery head to South Florida to take on Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer on Tues., May 9, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 at DRV PNK Stadium. Kickoff in Fort Lauderdale is slated for 7 p.m. ET.

Fans can catch all the action on the Bleacher Report app and B/R Football YouTube channel, where the match will be streamed for free.

Tuesday’s Cup tie will be the first official meeting between Charleston and Miami. The two sides met previously in an exhibition game as part of the 2022 Carolina Challenge Cup.

The Battery’s Open Cup journey included a pair of victories at Patriots Point, a 4-1 win over Savannah Clovers FC and a 1-0 win over Charlotte Independence. Inter Miami advanced to the Round of 32 after narrowly escaping Miami FC in a game that was decided on penalty kicks.

In league play, the Battery are coming off a 0-1 road win over Las Vegas Lights FC on Friday and Miami recorded a 2-1 home win over Atlanta United FC on Saturday.

Charleston will aim to add another chapter to their storied history of slaying the giants in MLS in Open Cup play. The Battery were 2008 Open Cup finalists, defeating Houston Dynamo FC and FC Dallas along the way, and have also taken down Chicago Fire, Chivas USA and San Jose Earthquakes in the tournament since then.

Additionally, the Battery are looking to punch their ticket to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time since the 2013 edition of the tournament.

FROM THE TRAINING GROUND

Prior to heading to Fort Lauderdale, Head Coach Ben Pirmann previewed Tuesday’s Cup match, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on the meaning of advancing in the Open Cup to the team…

Any time we put the jersey on, we want to represent this club, this badge and this community with the highest of honor. We’re 2-0 in the Cup against some solid opposition. Now, we’re going on the road and we’re going into one of the biggest clubs in all of North America. For us, our focus is on ourselves; we want to make sure that our spirit and our fight are there.

Coach Pirmann on facing Miami’s squad…

Look, they’re a top team and they have fantastic players. Miami will be tough, but we’re focused on our attitude and our effort to make sure that we’re prepared for a top opponent. Tactically speaking, they do a very good job in their organized defense, to put them into trap zones, and then they do a very good job in those transition moments in attack.

We have to make sure we use our togetherness and our fight and then make sure that we’re ready to go and put it on the line. Hopefully, we can push on and if we can advance, that would be awesome. But either way, we want to keep the focus on getting better and having a good performance.