Open Cup plays out without Sounders

It’s become the exception when a U.S. Open Cup plays out with the Seattle Sounders, but that’s the case tonight when Sporting Kansas City visits Philadelphia for the final.

“It makes things easier getting ready for LA, but certainly the team would love to be in a final,” Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said yesterday. “That’s what you look to do, and that’s what you want to play for. But our memory of the Open Cup is not too fond, so we’ll just stay away from it – for this year.”

That, of course, is because the Sounders opened the defense of their 2014 title with an ice berg of a game: a home loss to Portland in which Obafemi Martins was injured and Clint Dempsey suspended.

The match to crown the new champion is set for 4 p.m. PT, and will be shown on ESPN2.

Here’s some USOC preview infomation from MLS, and more on this specific match.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 7:41 AM with the headline "Open Cup plays out without Sounders."