Tickets are now on sale for Sporting Kansas City's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup fifth round match against the Portland Timbers. The two teams will square off at Sporting Park on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Tickets, starting as low as $14, can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. Tuesday's Open Cup match is not part of the 2014 Season Ticket Member package.
Sporting Kansas City entered the U.S. Open Cup in the fourth round and defeated Minnesota United FC 2-0 Wednesday night at Sporting Park. Soony Saad scored his third goal in four career Open Cup games and Alex Martinez scored his first professional goal in the shutout victory. Overland Park native Andy Gruenebaum started his first match for Sporting KC and made three saves in the win.
The Portland Timbers advanced to the fifth round of the tournament after defeating the Orlando City U-23s 3-0 Tuesday night. Portland advanced to the semifinals of last year's tournament before losing to eventual runners-up Real Salt Lake 2-1. After going winless in their first eight matches to start the MLS season, the Timbers are 4-1-3 in their previous eight matches and are currently in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, recognized as U.S. Soccer's National Club Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The oldest annual team tournament in American sports history, the U.S. Open Cup has origins in 1914 and is named after Lamar Hunt, the original founder of Sporting Kansas City.
This year's competition began on May 7 with the largest field in the modern era (1995-present) featuring 80 teams. The single-elimination tournament will continue through the championship match on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1 with the winner receiving $250,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League and their name on the Dewar Challenge Trophy.
Sporting Kansas City are two-time champions in the competition, winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2004 and 2012.
