— The giant banner still hangs along the west concourse of the main stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. the one that celebrates the Carolina RailHawks’ three consecutive victories over the LA Galaxy in the annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The one emblazoned with the money quote from Galaxy legend Landon Donovan in advance of the third win in 2014.

“We’re sick of losing to Carolina and we’re sick of going out of the Open Cup early,” Donovan infamously said.

That placard—which today hangs from the grandstands fronting Sahlen’s Stadium—feels like a commemoration as much as a commendation, a remembrance of the bygone accomplishment of a bygone team. The RailHawks are now named the North Carolina FC, which recently applied to join Major League Soccer during its next round of league expansion. But it’s still the same team, and many of the same players and coaches remain, now members of a North Carolina FC that values its history in Open Cup competition, particularly when MLS comes to town.

That will happen again this Wednesday, June 14 when NCFC hosts the Houston Dynamo of MLS in the fourth round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup. This will be the fifth year out of the last six that the Cary-based soccer club has hosted MLS competition in the Open Cup.

“I’ve had the most joy playing against the MLS teams on this field,” says Tiyi Shipalane, who has featured for Carolina in Open Cup competition every year since 2012, scoring four goals in the tournament over that span. “I think it’s a great opportunity for everybody to see what we’re all about and what we’re made of this year … Most of the guys on the team have experience going against such teams from previous [Open Cups]. So I think we’re looking forward to making sure we take that experience with us and bring along the guys we are new to this team.”

“I used to watch when Tiyi was tearing up the LA Galaxy or Chivas,” adds team captain Nazmi Albadawi, who joined the then-RailHawks in 2014. “Then I got a chance to play against both of them, plus FC Dallas and the New England [Revolution].”

While Carolina has not qualified for post-season league play since 2012, it enjoyed two quarterfinals runs in the Open Cup in 2013 and 2014. Colin Clarke, Carolina’s manager since 2012, admits that his team places added emphasis on the perennial tournament, now in its 104th edition, making it the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. and one of the oldest open soccer tournaments in the world.

“For myself, having been involved a little bit with Lamar Hunt back in the day, [the U.S. Open Cup] means a little bit more to me,” Clarke says. “It’s a tournament we like to do well in. I think we get the interest from the crowd and backing from our supporters, and we’ve had some great results and evenings here in the past. So, we’re looking to do it again.”

North Carolina FC has already advanced two rounds in this year’s Open Cup with wins over the Carolina Dynamo on May 17 and the Charlotte Independence on May 31. Several of the née Hawks’ previous Open Cup matches against MLS competition have come during breaks in Carolina’s regular season schedule. Indeed, Carolina enjoyed more than a week of rest before each of their three wins over the Galaxy, as well as six days before their 2014 victory over Chivas USA.

This year’s MLS clash comes in the midst of a reconfigured NASL spring season schedule, with the Houston game sandwiched between two road games for North Carolina FC. While Albadawi contends the schedule congestion will not factor into his team’s preparation for Houston, Clarke admits it may affect player availability. For instance, defenders Connor Tobin and Paul Black have missed recent games due to injury, and James Marcelin suffered an injury last weekend at New York. North Carolina FC flies to Indiana this weekend, where Clarke must field a lineup Saturday against Indy Eleven.

“We dealing with a few injuries and knocks,” Clarke says. “So there hasn’t been much [squad] rotation—it’s been getting fit bodies on the field. Yeah, we’re a little bit banged up and a little bit behind, but I think that come game time with the adrenaline flowing, the guys will be up for it and we’ll put on a good performance.

“We’re coming off a tough 2-3 weeks, as far as playing afternoon games in the heat, and traveling, and some injuries. We’ll evaluate [Tuesday] where we are, but we have an idea what way we’re going to go [against Houston] and we’ll evaluate then and make those decisions.”

On the other hand, the Dynamo comes to Cary sitting third in the MLS Western Conference standings and on ten days rest since their last match. That said, the Dynamo resumes regular season play next Saturday at the LA Galaxy, and five of their players—DaMarcus Beasley, Alberth Elis, Boniek García, Romell Quioto, and Adolfo Machado—spent the recent FIFA break on international duty with their respective national teams. However, Houston will have the services of leading scorer Erick Torres, who has ten goals this season, leading assist man Alex Monteiro de Lima, midfielder Ricardo Clark, and defender A.J. DeLaGarza.

“You know they’re going to rest some players, and they have some players who were away on national team duty,” Clarke says. “So it’s going to be different from their normal starting group. But you [look] through their squad and know what they have, and you can look at tendencies, and the strengths and weaknesses of every player, so you’re not surprised on the night. I would think they’ll play the same sort of system they have been playing; that’s not something they’re going to change. Those things will stay the same, it’s just some of their personnel that will change.”

“Their front three is pretty dynamic, pretty dangerous,” Albadawi says. “If we’re able to cope with that and withstand the pressure, we can give them a lot of problems when we do have the ball. I think they’re a team we can get at offensively and cause them a lot of problems if we move the ball well.”

What Albadawi will confess is that these Open Cup ties aren’t just another game on the long yearly schedule.

“You’d like to say that we hold our standard regardless of who we play and what the situation is,” Albadawi says. “But I think the situation does change a little bit. The guys get excited and hyped up for this game because it is a team that’s technically supposed to be better than us and a team that is in a higher division. We’re very confident going in—we want to prove everyone wrong, that we can upset these teams and that we make [an Open Cup] run, as well.”

In a tournament where match location is determined by a coin flip, it’s remarkable that, beginning in 2012, now eight of Carolina’s last nine Open Cup matches against MLS opponents have been played at WakeMed Soccer Park. The erstwhile RailHawks won five of those games, with this week’s contest still in the balance.

“We always do very, very well at home,” Albadawi says. “There’s been a little bit of a surprise element in the past, because MLS teams are coming in here thinking that they’re going to have a walk in the park, and they don’t realize the quality we have. Whereas teams in our league have been getting beaten here for years and know when they play us at home they have to play a little differently, so they don’t open themselves up as much and play a little more defensive. With the MLS teams that come in, they play freely, and I think that normally we’re able play our game. And when we play our game at home, we’re very difficult to beat.”

Either North Carolina FC or Houston won’t know their fifth round Open Cup opponent or venue until U.S. Soccer holds its draw on Thursday. While both teams will continue their regular season slate, more concurrent glory awaits Wednesday’s winner.

“The Open Cup’s amazing,” Albadawi says. “This is different because it’s a playoff standard. You either win or you go home. It’s not like that in league play, [where] you have 32 games to try to make the playoffs. [In Open Cup] you’re in the playoffs; every game is win or go home, and that’s what you play for. You love those kind of games.”