Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Philadelphia, Seattle to Meet in U.S. Open Cup Final

The Seattle Sounders have played in 4 of the last 5 U.S. Open Cup Finals, winning 3 in a row from 2009-2011, and only losing in penalties in 2012. They'll make it 5 out of 6 after their resounding 6-0 defeat of the Chicago Fire tonight. They'll face the Philadelphia Union who needed penalties to dispatch FC Dallas in the other semi and will now appear in the Finals for the first time. Here's a quick recap of the semis:

Philadelphia 1 FC Dallas 1 (Philadelphia wins 4-3 on penalties)

 Zac MacMath saved a pair of penalty kicks as the Union defeated FC Dallas in the first of two U.S. Open Cup semifinal matches. Amobi Okugo gave the Union the lead off a feed from Sebastien Le Toux early in the second half, but Fabian Castillo took a ball from Blas Perez and beat MacMath to equalize with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation. After 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, the spotlight centered on MacMath who denied both Perez and Victor Ulloa during the shootout in leading his club to their first U.S. Open Cup Final.

Seattle 6 Chicago 0

Andy Rose, who had scored just 2 goals in 46 MLS matches over the past 3 seasons, and had logged just 3 minutes of MLS action since May 1st, scored twice on assists from Marco Pappa as Seattle cruised to their fifth U.S. Open Cup Final in the last six years. Chad Barrett and Obafemi Martins added goals on assists from Kenny Cooper before Cooper netted his tournament-high 5th and 6th goals on assists from future Tottenham man, DeAndre Yedlin, and Martins. Stefan Frei preserved the shutout with a flawless night in net for the Sounders.

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