Philadelphia Union and four area clubs in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup field

The Philadelphia Union and four other area clubs will be part of a modern era record 99 teams participating in the oldest soccer competition in the U.S. this year.

Joining the Union in the 104th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be Harrisburg City Islanders, Reading United, Ocean City Nor’easters and Junior Lone Star FC.

The Union and the 18 other U.S.-based Major League Soccer clubs won’t enter the competition until the fourth round on June 14.

Junior Lone Star, Ocean City Nor’easters and Reading United will open play in the first round along with 55 other open division teams on May 10. Harrisburg joins the fray in the second round on May 17.

Junior Lone Star will be appearing in their first Open Cup while it will be an 11th appearance for Reading United and No. 8 for Ocean City.

Pairings for the first round games and second round possibilities will be announced on April 12.

FC Dallas are the defending champions. The Union lost to New England Revolution in the quarterfinal last year after hosting and losing the final back-to-back years.

Recognized as U.S. Soccer's National Club Championship, the U.S. Open Cup is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 103 consecutive years dating from 1914. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor United States soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.