Sporting KC vs Colorado Rapids
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 7:30 p.m. CT
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park | Kansas City, KS
(June 4, 2012) -Sporting Kansas City will face the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The winner will advance to host the victor between the Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) and Michigan Bucks (PDL) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, June 26.
Tickets to Tuesday's match are included for Sporting Kansas City season ticket members or are available to purchase online at TicketMaster.com and at the LSP Box Offices.
Sporting Kansas City reached the fourth round with a 3-2 win over Orlando City SC (USL PRO) last week, behind a goal from Paulo Nagamura and second-half brace from striker Soony Saad. The Rapids defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) 3-1 in St. Petersburg, Fla. with goals from Edu, Andre Akpan and Kamani Hill.
Sporting Kansas City and Colorado will meet again after playing to a 2-2 draw on May 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Striker Teal Bunbury opened the scoring for Sporting KC with a pair of goals in the game's first 14 minutes, but Kosuke Kimura and Tyrone Marshall capitalized on set pieces to split the points in the two teams only MLS meeting this season.
Prior to this year's tournament, Colorado last appeared in the U.S. Open Cup proper in 2007. The club's best-ever finish came in 1999 with an appearance in the tournament final, falling 2-0 to the Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League) and marking the only year that an MLS club has not won the title since the League's inception.
The oldest annual team tournament in American sports history, the U.S. Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament named after Sporting Kansas City's original founder Lamar Hunt and celebrates its 99th edition this year. The tournament features the largest field in the competition's modern era with all 32 professional clubs in the United States represented and 32 additional amateur teams chasing a spot in the final on August 7/8.
Sporting Kansas City won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2004, defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0 on a golden goal by striker Igor Simutenkov at Arrowhead Stadium.