Sporting Kansas City (12-9-9) take on the Philadelphia Union (9-15-7) tonight at 7 p.m. EDT at PPL Park for a shot at claiming the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. A tale of two different seasons follows each club into tonight's match, and despite the lesser record, the Union are favorites to take home the hardware.
Scroll to the bottom of the article for the MLS live stream and radio broadcast information.
The last time the two clubs met in U.S. Open Cup play Sporting KC took the victory by a score of 2-0 back in 2012. Both clubs have struggled in recent MLS league matches, but also know that anything can happen in Cup play. Since Philadelphia hosts the final tonight, there is an added edge of momentum for the home side to capture the illusive title.
Philly made the finals last season but saw their hopes dashed by the Seattle Sounders by a score of 3-1. If there was any chance of the Union getting revenge, this is the season to do it. Union head coach Jim Curtin hopes to make good on a promise he made to a fan following last years terrible defeat, according to MLS Soccer.
Tonight marks the 102nd edition of the U.S. Open Cup final, making it the longest running tournament in the United States among all active sports. That makes it older than the FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl, MLB World Series and NBA Finals. The Cup is truly a historic event that is terribly under publicised.
As mentioned earlier, tonight's match is a tail of two very different clubs, especially when it comes to scoring goals. Sporting KC has scored 13 goals in their four Open Cup games, while the Union has only tallied four goals in as many games. Ultimately it depends on whether the team wins or loses, but from a statistical point of view, Kansas City look the better squad going into the match.
Philadelphia is one of the newer clubs in MLS and celebrates their sixth season of existence this year. The club has yet to win a major title and coach Curtin truly believes his squad could win their first tonight.
"Winning a trophy does kind of solidify what your team's about and gives a little bit more of an identity," Curtin said.
Kansas City comes from a more successful background. They were winners of the 2004 and 2012 Open Cup title, along with MLS Cup wins in 2000 and 2013, and an added Supporters Shield victory in 2000. With a win tonight, that would make for three major titles in four years for SKC, a feat that only the LA Galaxy can boast, with their three MLS Cup titles over the past four seasons.
Tonight's match will make a historic broadcast on ESPN 2 after much of the tournament was streamed via Youtube or other second/third parties sites.
Hold on to your soccer scarfs folks, it is going to be a good one tonight.
Click here to see the lineups for each team.
Check out the live stream for the game here or on your local ESPN 2 channel.
