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 The Croatian Eagles will play host to Bavarian SC at 3 p.m. Sunday in a semifinal of the Wisconsin Open Cup at Croatian Park in Franklin.
Sunday's winner advances to play the Milwaukee Kickers in the state final at Oct. 30. If the Croatians qualify, the Kickers will host the match at Uihlein Soccer Park; the Bavarians will host if they advance. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
In order to accommodate the matches, the teams will reschedule their previously scheduled Wisconsin Adult Soccer Association Major League games on those days.
In addition to the state championship, the Wisconsin Open Cup winner earns a berth in next spring's U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II Open Cup – traditionally, the top two teams in that tournament qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Bavarians have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup six times since 1995, a record for an amateur team during the tournament's "professional era," and topped the Kickers in state Open Cup finals in fall 2006, '07 and '08. The Kickers, however, beat Bavarians 3-1 in the most recent championship match in fall 2009. Last fall, Bavarian SC was the lone entrant for the 2011 state tournament but inadvertently wasn't entered in the Region II Open Cup.
The Croatians have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup three times, most recently in 2006 after winning the Wisconsin Open Cup in fall 2005. That year, the Kickers beat the Bavarians 2-1 in the semifinal before falling to Croatians 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie in the final. The Croatians' other berths came in 1943 and '45, when the tournament was known as the National Challenge Cup.
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