Sporting Kansas City will look to write another glorious chapter in club history on Sept. 20 when the New York Red Bulls visit Children’s Mercy Park for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, slated for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
In our 21-day Countdown to Cup, SportingKC.com is visiting the most relevant storylines, historical narratives and statistical trends surrounding the Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.
Our sixth installment of the daily countdown relives thrilling penalty shootouts from the 2012, 2015 and 2017 Open Cup tournaments, which saw Sporting Kansas City prevail by the very slimmest of margins.
Love them or hate them, penalty shootouts have produced some of the most memorable and iconic moments in the history of soccer.
These pressure-packed occasions, unpopular among certain fans due to their perceived reliance on luck rather than skill, become etched in club and national folklore as immortal memories of glory or heart-wrenching reminders of bitter defeat.
The same idea applies to the proud past of Sporting Kansas City. Each of the club's last three major championships — the 2012 Open Cup, 2013 MLS Cup and 2015 Open Cup — were decided via nail-biting shootouts following 1-1 draws. The 2015 Western Conference Knockout Round, on the other hand, saw Peter Vermes' men fall to eventual MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers in the wildest shootout the league has ever seen.
On Sept. 20, Sporting Kansas City will make its third Open Cup Final appearance in six seasons. In all three runs through the tournament, his team has survived penalties to send an opponent home empty-handed. We revisit those penalty shootouts in the space below.
Aug. 8, 2012 - Sporting KC 1-1 (3-2) Seattle Sounders FC
Seeking to dethrone three-time reigning Open Cup champion Seattle, Sporting Kansas City went ahead in the 83rd minute through Kei Kamara, but a Zach Scott header just three minutes later forced extra time. The sides entered the fifth round of penalties tied at 2-2 when Paulo Nagamura had his spot kick saved by Michael Gspurning, but referee Ricardo Salazar deemed the Seattle goalkeeper to have come off his line. Nagamura made no mistake with his second chance, putting the impetus on former Kansas City striker Eddie Johnson to keep the Sounders alive. Every Sporting KC fan knows what happens next.
Sept. 30, 2015 - Sporting KC 1-1 (7-6) Philadelphia Union
Hosting the Open Cup Final for a second straight year, the Philadelphia Union drew first blood in the 23rd minute thanks to Sebastian Le Toux, the tournament's all-time leading scorer in the modern era. The visitors restored parity near the hour-mark on a classy finish from Krisztian Nemeth, ultimately setting the stage for an eight-round shootout that tilted in favor of heroic goalkeeper Tim Melia.
Aug. 9, 2017 - Sporting KC 1-1 (5-4) San Jose Earthquakes
Already amidst his best season as a professional, Melia added another feather to his cap in the Open Cup semifinals last month. Despite Sporting KC's dominance throughout the night, first-half goals from Danny Hoesen and Diego Rubio had canceled out the Western Conference rivals over the course of 120 minutes. A rare penalty miss from Benny Feilhaber to kick off the shootout may have sent shockwaves through Children's Mercy Park, but it did nothing to deter Melia, who made two decisive saves to vault his team into yet another Open Cup Final.
