Sporting Kansas City will enter the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a fourth round match-up at 7:30 p.m. CT on June 16 at Sporting Park against the winner between St. Louis FC (USL) and Minnesota United FC (NASL), U.S. Soccer announced on Thursday.
Tickets for the match are included in Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Member packages as Special Game A. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning at 10 a.m. CT on May 26 via Ticketmaster.com.
Sporting Kansas City defeated Minnesota United FC 2-0 in the fourth round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Minnesota won the 2014 North American Soccer League Spring Season and earned the 2014 Woosnam Cup with the most points over the course of the regular season. The club is managed by former MLS midfielder Manny Lagos and is led by U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Miguel Ibarra, who has featured three times under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Saint Louis FC, a USL affiliate of the Chicago Fire, is currently in the club’s inaugural season and sits in sixth place in the USL’s Eastern Conference standings with a 3-3-1 record. Sporting Kansas City has never played a competitive match against a team from St. Louis in the team's 20-year history.
The 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is headlined by the largest field in the modern era (1995-present) with 89 teams in contention when the first round began with 42 amateur teams last week. Last night, all 21 USL teams – including Sporting KC’s USL affiliate OKC Energy FC – entered the competition and second round winners will now be joined by the NASL’s nine teams for the third round on May 27.
The fourth round is highlighted by the introduction of the 17 MLS teams based in the United States, followed by a Round of 16 that features a fixed bracket under the tournament’s revised format. Fourth round winners will be divided geographically (regardless of league affiliation) into groups of four prior to a random draw on June 18 that will determine the fifth round pairings within each group.
2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Fourth Round June 16-17
Fifth Round June 30-July 1
Quarterfinals July 21-22
Semifinals August 11-12
Final Sept. 29 or 30
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has been held annually since 1914 and is open to all amateur/professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. Sporting Kansas City has twice lifted the Dewar Challenge Trophy as champions of the competition in 2004 and 2012.
This year’s winner will earn $250,000 and a berth into the 2016-17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
