Collin Martin has been on both sides of the U.S. Open Cup pendulum.
The 22-year-old midfielder, who has played only 38 minutes in two matches so far this season for Minnesota United, likely will be featured for the Loons at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sporting Kansas City.
But four years ago as a rookie, Martin couldn't break into the Open Cup squad for his former team, D.C. United.
"The worst season in MLS history with D.C. back in 2013, we only had three wins, and we won the Open Cup that year," Martin said. "I played a couple games in the regular season that year, but when it came to the Open Cup, we were advancing, so that became our season.
"The guys took that as, 'Hey, we've had a terrible season, but we can salvage it,' " Martin said. "That was a big deal for us and turned around a really horrific season into, to be honest, a pretty positive one."
D.C. went 3-24-7 for last place in the league and set a Major League Soccer record for fewest wins in a single season. But it also signaled an about-face, as the team has made the playoffs each year since. Martin said part of that had to do with taking home the Open Cup trophy.
The Open Cup, founded in 1914, is a single-elimination knockout tournament that pits all levels of soccer in the U.S. against each other — 99 clubs this year, from amateur to the top division. The early rounds narrow down those lower-division clubs until MLS teams enter in the fourth round.
From there, it's five victories to the title, which comes with $250,000 and a coveted spot in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, which is another knockout tournament among the top clubs in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
The Open Cup trophy is part of the treble of hardware that comprises a perfect season in U.S. soccer. The others are the Supporters' Shield, given to the team with the most points after the regular season, and the MLS Cup. Those league accomplishments usually are the focus for MLS teams, while many of the lower-division clubs will put full effort into the Open Cup from the start since it is a chance to show up the big-name teams.
Minnesota United defender Justin Davis is familiar with that, having played with the Loons in the second-division North American Soccer League since 2011, including facing Kansas City twice in the Open Cup in recent years.
"If you are one of those lower clubs, and you're playing against a MLS team, maybe, for the first time or getting to play at their stadium, it's special for you. You always try to step up your game a little bit for that one," Davis said. "It's a little bit different being on this side of the coin now and not getting matched up against a lower team. So it's kind of like a normal league game for us."
United coach Adrian Heath has coached teams through the Open Cup both from a lower-division standpoint, when his former team Orlando City SC was in the then-third-division United Soccer League, and a top-flight one.
"The Open Cup for us in [the USL] days was huge for us, and we treated it as such. [Now] we have other things that are priorities as well," Heath said.
"I think the fact that you can qualify for the Champions League is a really big incentive, and it's one of them that everyone starts taking it serious when they get to, like, the semis or the quarters and go, 'We could win this.' "
Heath has said he hoped to use the Open Cup to help some lesser-used players, such as Martin and Davis, gain some minutes. With the Loons playing an MLS match only three days later Saturday at Real Salt Lake and with several players missing on national team duty and with injury, that initial plan probably is still intact.
But balancing the Open Cup with MLS is a precarious undertaking.
"It's a juggling act," Heath said. "But whichever team we put out on Wednesday, I expect us to be competitive."
