Sporting Kansas City vs. FC Tulsa
2024 U.S. Open Cup | Round of 16
Tuesday, May 21 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:33 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Broadcast Schedule:
Live Stream | Free on MLSsoccer.com
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Sporting Kansas City will continue the club's quest for a record-tying fifth U.S. Open Cup trophy on Tuesday when the team hosts USL Championship foe FC Tulsa at 7:30 p.m. CT at Children's Mercy Park.
Tickets for the Round of 16 match-up are included in Sporting Kansas City season ticket packages and are also available via SeatGeek. All of the action will stream free on MLSsoccer.com in addition to coverage on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 with live audio feeds of each broadcast available via the Sporting KC App.
Separated by approximately 215 miles, Sporting Kansas City and FC Tulsa will meet for the first time on Tuesday. FC Tulsa launched in 2015, originally known as the Tulsa Roughnecks, and is now in the club's 10th season in the second-division USL Championship. FC Tulsa has reached the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time in team history this year after a 2-1 home win over Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (USL League One) in the third round and a 1-0 victory on the road at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL Championship) in the Round of 32.
Led by first-year head coach Mario Sanchez – a former draft pick of the Kansas City Wizards in 1998 – FC Tulsa's roster features two players with MLS experience in Justin Portillo and Patrick Seagrist as well as Suriname international goalkeeper Joey Roggeveen and 25-year-old Edwin Laszo who has previously played in the first divisions of Colombia, Venezuela and Bulgaria. Forwards Stefan Stojanovic and Phil Goodrum are tied for the team lead with three goals this season in all competitions, highlighted by Goodrum's 88th-minute game-winner in the last round of the U.S. Open Cup after he tied a single-season club record with 12 goals a year ago.
Tuesday will mark the third time FC Tulsa will play an MLS opponent - previously falling 2-1 at FC Dallas in the 2017 (Round of 32) and 2022 (Third Round) editions of the U.S. Open Cup -- as the visitors look to bounce back from a 5-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in league play on Saturday that dropped Tulsa into 11th out of 12 in the USL Championship's Western Conference standings.
Similarly, Sporting Kansas City shifts attention to the U.S. Open Cup amidst an unsatisfying start to the regular season. Sporting sits 13th out of 14 teams in Major League Soccer's Western Conference table and will be aiming to snap a current five-match home winless run in a competition that has seen SKC prevail in 13 straight U.S. Open Cup home matches since 2015.
Sporting has advanced in 26 U.S. Open Cup matches since 2012, more than any other team in American soccer, and the club proudly boasts four U.S. Open Cup titles (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017). The trophy haul is tied for the most among MLS clubs and one behind Maccabi Los Angeles and Bethlehem Steel for most in the tournament's 109-year history.
The U.S. Open Cup, named in honor of former Kansas City Wizards owner Lamar Hunt, has crowned a national champion since 1914 and Sporting Kansas City advanced to the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win in extra time at USL League One perennial power Union Omaha. Marinos Tzionis played a part in both goals, scoring the game-tying goal in the 48th minute and recording an assist on Alan Pulido's game-winning goal in the 120th minute that went into the record book as the latest extra-time goal in club history.
Tuesday's winner will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played on July 9-10. U.S. Soccer will divide the eight quarterfinalists geographically into two groups of four and conduct a draw this Wednesday night to determine the match-ups and hosts for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The competition will crown a champion in September and the winner will claim the Dewar Challenge Trophy along with $300,000 in prize money and a berth in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
