Carolina will try to do Sunday what only four of its USL First Division brethren have done before — defeat an MLS team in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Carolina faces the Chicago Fire on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at SAS Soccer Park in the third round of the Open Cup.

Of the nine current USL-1 teams to have played in the tournament, only Charleston, Minnesota, Rochester and Seattle have earned at least one win against a team from the country’s top flight.

As of Tuesday, USL-1 teams are a combined 17-31 against MLS since 1996, when MLS teams made their debut in the Open Cup.

“It’s a great opportunity for us and everything to play the Chicago Fire,” said Carolina defender and captain Frankie Sanfilippo. “We played Chivas here for a reserve game, but this is Open Cup. This is something that’s exciting for us, and for some of the young guys, it’s a good opportunity for an MLS team to get a good look at them.”

In Chicago, Carolina faces one of the competition’s most successful clubs. The Fire are 24-5-2 all-time in the tournament. Since 1998, the Fire’s inauguaral season, they have made the semifinals nine times, reached the finals five times and won the competition four times (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006). The four championships leave them tied for second most in the tournament’s 93-year history, one back of three teams tied with five titles.

Of the Fire’s five Open Cup losses, two came to USL-1 teams. In 1999, Rochester, which featured Carolina coach Scott Schweitzer as a defender, beat the Fire 1-0, on their way to winning the whole tournament. The now-defunct Milwaukee Rampage beat Chicago 1-0 in 2002.

Like all eight of MLS’ teams in the Open Cup, the Fire are making their debut in the tournament in the third round. So far this year, MLS teams are 3-2 in the Open Cup. The Charleston Battery beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0 Tuesday and the Richmond Kickers (USL-2) beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0. In addition to the RailHawks-Fire match Sunday, D.C. United will play the Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) on Wednesday, and the Seattle Sounders will play Chivas USA July 18 in Carson, Calif., to complete the Open Cup’s third round.

Though Chicago has been traditionally strong in the Open Cup, the Fire comes to Cary ripe for the RailHawks to pick off. The Fire started off their season strong, going 3-0-1 in their first four games. But they’ve been in a tailspin since the calendar turned to May.

Since May 1, Chicago is 2-7-3 overall (1-7-3 in MLS), has been outscored 20-9, been shut out six times and has scored more than one goal in a match once (a 3-2 win over Columbus on June 3).

The club fired coach Dave Sarachan three weeks ago. He had been with the team since 2003, compiling a 55-50-31 record while leading the Fire to two Open Cup titles and one appearance in the MLS final.

Denis Hamlett was named as his interim replacement. Last week, the club announced it had hired Jaun Carlos Osorio as its new head coach.

Goals aplenty

The RailHawks’ struggles to score have been well documented in their inaugural season. In 15 USL-1 matches, they’ve scored 12 goals, and their 0.80 goals scored per game is last in the league.

However, outside of USL-1 play, Carolina’s proven rather prolific. In their first two Open Cup matches and an exhibition against Chivas USA, the RailHawks have outscored the opposition 10-0.

Suspensions limit lineups

Carolina and Montreal will both be shorthanded when they meet Friday at 7:30 p.m. at SAS Soccer Park. The RailHawks (4-4-9, 19 points) will be without left back Caleb Norkus and forward Anthony Maher.

“We have a lot of players that can come in and be effective,” said Carolina defender David Stokes, who will return to the lineup Friday after sitting the last two games with a quad injury. “I think we’re in a good shape with the guys we have coming in.”

Norkus will serve a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. He picked up his fifth caution of the season in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Rochester. According to USL rules, five yellow cards carries a one-match suspension, eight equals a two-game suspension and 11 means a three-game suspension.

Maher must serve a one-match suspension after picking up a red card in Sunday’s 2-2 tie at Montreal. Maher was involved in a fight with the Impact’s Andres Arango early in the first half, leading to ejections for both players. Arango is ineligbile for Friday’s match for the same reason.

The Impact (6-3-6, 24 points) are also without defender Mauricio Vincello, who will serve the second game of a two-match suspension, and head coach Nick De Santis. De Santis is serving a the second match of a two-game suspension after he was ejected from the Impact’s 2-0 loss against California on July 1 for inappropriate language toward the referee.

Cary RailHawks U-23s

The Cary RailHawks U-23s’ playoff chances took a major hit entering the final week of the USL Premier Development League season.

The RailHawks entered last weekend two points out of the playoff race but suffered two losses, 1-0 at Atlanta Friday and 3-1 at Nashville Saturday.

The RailHawks (6-4-3, 21 points) trail Atlanta by four points for the Southeast Division’s final playoff spot.

Cary will have the chance to climb back up the table this week. The U-23s host rival Carolina Dynamo on Wednesday at SAS Soccer Park and then travel to Browns Summit next Tuesday for the regular-season finale. The teams have split their two other regular-season meetings.

The RailHawks will play the firstplace Central Florida Kraze on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in their home finale, a precursor to the senior club’s 7:30 match against Montreal.