The U.S. Cup Open competition will take on the same format as last year with teams from the top divisions entering with each successive round. Four USASA regional champions and four USISL Premier League teams will meet eight teams from the USISL’s D3 Pro League June 18-24 in the first round. The eight winners advance to the second round, where they will face eight A-League teams July 2-8. The eight winners meet eight MLS entrants to be determined later July 23-31. The national quarterfinals will be Aug. 13-21, the semifinals Aug. 30 and the championship game either Sept. 1 or 7. Here’s how qualifying works for each of the USISL-sponsored leagues: Premier League Ten teams are competing in qualifying in two groups. Four league games are designated as qualifiers. Teams don’t necessarily face other teams entered in qualifying. Group A — San Gabriel Valley 6 points (4 games); Central Coast 6 (3); Tucson 6 (2); Alabama 3 (3); Yakima 2 (2). Group B — Lincoln 6 points (2); Des Moines 3 (4); Omaha 3 (3); Southwest Florida 0 (4); Mid-Michigan 0 (0). D3 Pro League Four regular-season games have been designated as qualifiers for each of the 38 teams. The winners of the six groups, plus the two runners-up with the best records, qualify. The Wilmington Hammerheads became the first team to qualify when they clinched first place in the South Atlantic Division by winning all four games by a margin of 17-1. Other group leaders at the moment: New Hampshire (Northeast); Reading (Mid-Atlantic); Rockford (North Central); Albuquerque (South Central); Chico (West). A-League All games the 24 A-League teams play through June 15 count in the standings for the purposes of determining the eight Open Cup entrants. The top two teams in each group qualify. If teams have not played the same number of games, they will be rated based on their winning percentage — i.e. the number of point they have earned divided by the maximum number of points they could have earned.