By Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) There is a lot to like about Sporting Kansas City. Its ownership group hasbuilt one of MLS’s strongest clubs in a market most gave little chance of working. It constructed arguably the neatest soccer stadium in the league, at the forefront for testing and exploitingtechnologies aimed at enhancing the in-stadium experience. […]
us open cup
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Open Cup: Sporting KC learns valuable lessons, again
All the attention was on who would the Philadelphia Union start in goal — it ended up using both Andre Blake and JohnMcCarthy — but the star of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final was Tim Melia, who kept Sporting KC in the game in regulation and saved shots by Maurice Edu and Andrew […]
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Does the Open Cup final need a home, too?
By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) Now that it seems certain that the still-to-be-resurrected U.S. SoccerHall of Fame will be housed next to Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, should the federation also designate that facility as the permanent home of the U.S. Open Cup final? Under the currentformat, one of the Open Cup finalists is named to […]
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History Book: Pennsylvania's Open Cup champs
If the Philadelphia Union wins the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night, it will become the seventh team from Pennsylvania to hoist the trophy, joining such legendary teams as five-time winner BethlehemSteel, four-time champion Philadelphia Ukrainians and the two-time champion Harmarville Hurricanes, clubs that dominated American soccer during the span of more than 50 years […]
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Sporting KC and Philly view Open Cup with different optics
A year after the Philadelphia Union lost to the Seattle Sounders in the final, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will again be decided at PPL Park, where the Union will host Sporting Kansas City inWednesday’s final (ESPN2, UDN, 7 p.m. ET). The hosts will again be the underdogs as they trail in their bid […]
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New U.S. Open Cup qualifying process introduced
U.S. Soccer has awarded 36 open slots for the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. That covers all teams other than those in MLS, the NASL and USL, which qualify automatically. Eight slots will go to localqualifying teams (out of 56 entrants in a new qualifying process), 15 to PDL teams and 13 to NPSL […]
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What those big soccer crowds mean, and don't mean
By Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) Soccer’s summer of 2015 has seen some extraordinary attendance figuresacross the United States. Major League Soccer remains on course to smash itsall-time average attendance record set in 2014. The 2015 average is up to 21,292 a game and showing no sign of dropping as seven of the nine crowds last weekend […]
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Open Cup: Philadelphia Union has 'unfinished business'
A year after losing to the Seattle Sounders in the final, the Philadelphia Union will get a second shot at winning its first crown in six years of existence as it beat the Chicago Fire, 1-0, in abattle of the two worst teams in MLS and moved into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final, […]
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Open Cup: Fire ties record with 11th semi appearance
Nigerian Kennedy Igboananike came off the bench to score twice and lead the Chicago Fire, last in the overall MLS standings. into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cupsemifinals with a 3-1 win against Orlando City SC on Wednesday. The Fire, which has won the Open Cup four times, returns to the semifinals for the third […]
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Open Cup: Short-handed Philly advances to semis
Despite playing 80 minutes with 10 men after the ejection of Conor Casey, the Philadelphia Union defeated the New York Red Bulls in a shootout to return to thesemifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In Tuesday’s other game, Sporting Kansas City also had a man advantage for much of the game but needed […]