2015 U.S. Open Cup final

2015 U.S. Open Cup Final

Event	2015 U.S. Open Cup
Philadelphia Union Sporting Kansas City MLS MLS 1 1
Sporting Kansas City won 7–6 on penalties
Date	September 30, 2015
Venue	PPL Park, Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Man of the Match	Tim Melia [1]
Referee	Ted Unkel [2]
Attendance	14,463
Weather	Rainy, 67 °F (19 °C) [3]
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The 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was played on September 30, 2015, at PPL Park, now known as Talen Energy Stadium, in Chester, Pennsylvania. The match determined the winner of the 2015 U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. It was the 102nd edition of the oldest competition in United States soccer. ^[4] This edition of the final was contested between Sporting Kansas City (SKC) and the Philadelphia Union. The winning club would qualify for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League.

Philadelphia and Kansas City both compete in the top tier of American soccer, Major League Soccer  (MLS), and bypassed the initial stages of the tournament with entries into the fourth round of play. At the time of the final, SKC was in contention for the Supporters' Shield while the Union was in the hunt for a berth in the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Philadelphia secured its berth in the final by defeating the Rochester Rhinos, D.C. United, the New York Red Bulls, and Chicago Fire. Kansas City's road to the final involved victories over Saint Louis FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, and Real Salt Lake.

The match was broadcast in English on ESPN2 and in Spanish on Univision Deportes Network, making it the first time since 1999 the cup final was aired on one of the ESPN networks. Sporting Kansas City won the game 7–6 on penalties after the game ended 1–1 in regulation and in overtime. ^[5]

Road to the final

Further information: 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Philadelphia Union

Further information: 2015 Philadelphia Union season

Teams from Philadelphia and the surrounding region have had a successful history in the Open Cup: Bethlehem Steel F.C. won five trophies between 1915 and 1926, the Uhrik Truckers won in 1936, and the Philadelphia Ukrainians won four times during the 1960s. The Union's alternative jersey, worn throughout the competition, featured a large letter "B" in the lower left corner to honor Bethlehem. ^{[6] [7] [8]} Previously, the Union made a run to the final of the 2014 edition of the cup, which was the club's first cup final of any competition, but lost in extra time to Seattle Sounders FC.

Sporting Kansas City

Further information: 2015 Sporting Kansas City season

Sporting Kansas City have previously appeared in two US Open Cup finals, winning both the 2004 and 2012 editions, and to date, are the only Kansan club to have ever won the honor. Sporting went into the Final hoping to win their third trophy in four years. To reach the final, SKC hosted all four of their cup fixtures heading to the final, which included wins over Saint Louis FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake.

Match details

September 30, 2015 (2015-09-30)

19:00 EDT

Philadelphia Union	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Sporting Kansas City
Le Toux 23'	Report	Németh 65'
Penalties
Le Toux Nogueira Edu Barnetta Casey Lahoud Gaddis Wenger	6–7	Feilhaber Dwyer Németh Besler Nagamura Zusi Ellis Quintillà

PPL Park, Chester, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 14,463

Referee: Ted Unkel ^[2]

Philadelphia Union

Sporting Kansas City

GK 1 Andre Blake  120+1' DF 33 Fabinho DF 16 Richie Marquez DF 8 Maurice Edu (c) DF 28 Ray Gaddis MF 13 Michael Lahoud  21' MF 5 Vincent Nogueira MF 85 Tranquillo Barnetta  58' MF 10 Cristian Maidana  77' MF 9 Sébastien Le Toux FW 17 C. J. Sapong  90+1'  116' Substitutes: GK 55 John McCarthy  120+1' DF 23 Steven Vitória DF 2 Warren Creavalle MF 7 Brian Carroll MF 14 Eric Ayuk FW 11 Andrew Wenger  116' FW 6 Conor Casey  77' Manager: Jim Curtin

GK 29 Tim Melia DF 5 Matt Besler (c)  86' DF 4 Kevin Ellis  29' DF 15 Seth Sinovic  34'  78' DF 7 Chance Myers  106'  112' MF 93 Soni Mustivar  66' MF 10 Benny Feilhaber MF 6 Paulo Nagamura  94' MF 9 Krisztián Németh FW 8 Graham Zusi  104' FW 14 Dom Dwyer Substitutes: GK 21 Jon Kempin DF 17 Saad Abdul-Salaam  78' DF 2 Erik Palmer-Brown MF 12 Mikey Lopez MF 96 Jordi Quintillà  71'  66' MF 11 Bernardo Añor FW 37 Jacob Peterson  112' Manager: Peter Vermes

Assistant referees: Ian Anderson [2] James Conlee [2] Fourth official: Chris Penso [2]

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used. Maximum five foreign players (all citizens and legal permanent residents are considered domestic, regardless of FIFA country affiliation) [9]

References

1. Gartland, Ben; Donakowski, Jough; Bell, Thad; Bradley, Cody; Starritt, James. "The Blue Testament's US Open Cup Final MVP: Tim Melia". thebluetestament.com. The Blue Testament. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
2. "2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final crew announced". proreferees.com. Professional Referee Organization. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
3. "Sporting Kansas City Sinks Philadelphia Union in Sudden Death PKs to Win 2015 U.S. Open Cup Title". ussoccer.com. US Soccer. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
4. Nelson, Mark (March 28, 2011). "MLS 101: A primer on the 2011 tournament structure". Portland Timbers. Archived from the original on April 1, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
5. "US Open Cup final 2015: Philadelphia Union v Sporting Kansas City – as it happened". ESPN. October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
6. Zeitlin, Dave (August 16, 2014). "Ghosts of Bethlehem Steel still linger in Philadelphia soccer lore". MLS Soccer. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
7. Clark, Dave (September 15, 2014). "Sounders at Philadelphia Union US Open Cup Final – Four Questions". Sounder At Heart. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
8. Straus, Brian (August 16, 2014). "Philadelphia Union seek their elusive first trophy in U.S. Open Cup final". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
9. "2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Handbook (Finalists' Edition)" (PDF). ussoccer.com. US Soccer. March 23, 2015. sec. 203, para. a. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.