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Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Advances to U.S. Open Cup Final

August 13, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City advanced to the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. Olmes Garcia and Soni Mustivar traded first-half goals at Sporting Park, setting up a dramatic final 10 minutes in which Benny Feilhaber and Krisztian Nemeth provided the goals to send Sporting Kansas City into the September 30th championship against the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park.

Ticket information for Sporting Kansas City supporters interested in attending the 2015 U.S. Open Cup Final will be available by Friday on SKCAwayTickets.com. The Union, 1-0 winners over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, will host the championship match for the second straight year after falling 3-1 in extra time to the Seattle Sounders FC in 2014.

PAPA JOHN'S: The day after Sporting KC scores two or more goal, use promo code SPORTINGKC at papajohns.com to get 50% off each regular menu price pizza in an order placed with participating KC area locations.

JACK IN THE BOX: The day after Sporting KC has four or more shots on goal, receive a free breakfast biscuit sandwich with any purchase at Jack in the Box locations in the Kansas City area.

Meeting for the fourth time this season, Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake renewed the burgeoning rivalry with a high-stakes showdown reminiscent of their match-up in MLS Cup 2013. In front of more than 16,000 fans - a record crowd for the U.S. Open Cup's modern era - Sporting Kansas City rallied after falling behind in the 24th minute.

Tim Melia, who began his MLS career with Real Salt Lake in 2010, had made a superb foot save to deny Designated Player Sebastian Jaime minutes earlier but found himself one-on-one with Garcia after a ball played behind the Sporting KC defense by Tony Beltran. Garcia made no mistake with a first-time finish to cap off a 14-pass scoring sequence for his second goal against Sporting KC in 2015, following his 93rd minute game-winner in June.

Sporting Kansas City responded just over 10 minutes later on a free kick won by Nemeth near the left corner. Feilhaber served a driven delivery inside the six-yard box, where Mustivar beat Nick Rimando to the cross with a darting run and leveled the score at 1-1 with his header into the back of the net.

Feilhaber now has 17 assists across all competition in 2015, one shy of the club's single-season record, and has contributed a goal or assist in six straight games across all competition. His five assists in this year's U.S. Open Cup are most by any player in the tournament and most by a KC player all-time in the competition.

The match would remain deadlocked until the 80th minute thanks in large part to Rimando's seven saves. The U.S. Men's National goalkeeper turned away a shot from Amadou Dia - one of two rookies to start on Sporting Kansas City's backline - in the 41st minute and was called into action again to deny Dom Dwyer in the 48th minute.

Moments later, however, Sporting Kansas City were inches from pulling ahead when Nemeth latched on to Feilhaber's through ball and pushed a shot past Rimando only to see Beltran clear the goal-bound effort off the line with a crucial recovery. On the opposite end, Melia did his part to hold Real Salt Lake at bay with his save on Devon Sandoval in the 53rd minute.

The game's final 30 minutes would belong to a home side seeking a third U.S. Open Cup title (2004, 2012) and the ultimate reward of a berth in the 2016/17 CONCACAF Champions League. Feilhaber's free kick was on frame in the 60th minute but smothered by Rimando with a low dive to his left, the same direction in which he was required to react toward minutes later to thwart Dwyer.

Nemeth took his turn to threaten with a scoring chance in the 71st minute. The Hungarian international looked poised to to bury the breakthrough goal until the shot's deflection off Elias Vasquez directed it wide of the post.

The decisive goal would finally come to fruition in the 80th minute with Dwyer doing the lion's share of the work. The Englishman initially brought down a clearance from Mustivar, spun past Vasquez and eluded the challenge of Aaron Maund before sending his shot off the post with a left-footed strike. Feilhaber was first to the rebound and hammered home a shot from 10 yards out for his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.

Feilhaber again proved pivotal on the game's final goal, sending a 65-yard ball forward that Maund errantly headed into the path of Nemeth. The 26-year-old newcomer danced around Rimando and calmly placed his shot into the empty net for his 12th goal in all competitions, sealing Sporting Kansas City's fourth straight win in the U.S. Open Cup.

Sporting KC will now resume the MLS regular season against Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL while supplies last.

FAST FACTS

Sporting Kansas City defeated Real Salt Lake 3-1 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals at Sporting Park on Wednesday.

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes made three changes to his starting lineup from the club's last match, a 3-1 victory against Toronto FC at BMO Field. Dom Dwyer, Amadou Dia and Saad Abdul-Salaam started in place of Connor Hallisey, Chance Myers and Jimmy Medranda.

In 23 meetings across all competitions, Sporting KC broke the series stalemate with a victory on Wednesday. Sporting KC is now 9-8-6 against Real Salt Lake all-time.

In three MLS regular season matches and one U.S. Open Cup match in 2015, Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake have combined for 20 yellow cards and one red card.

Last time Sporting KC reached the U.S. Open Cup semifinals was in 2012 on the way to the tournament title. At that point in 2012, Sporting KC had a +6 goal differential (8-2) through the competition's first three games. In 2015, Sporting KC had a +7 goal differential through the first three games (10-2).

Real Salt Lake opened the scoring on Wednesday in the 24th minute of the match.

Olmes Garcia scored the goal for RSL. Garcia scored the game-winner against Sporting KC on June 21 in the 93rd minute.

Garcia now has a goal or an assist in three of Real Salt Lake's four U.S. Open Cup games this year.

Garcia received a red card in the 93rd minute of the match for violent conduct.

Sporting KC's Soni Mustivar equalized for Sporting KC in the 35th minute - his first goal since joining Sporting KC.

Benny Feilhaber notched the assist on Mustivar's goal. The assist was Feilhaber's 17th assist of the year across all competitions (one shy of the club record).

Feilhaber now has five assists in 2015 U.S. Open Cup competition - that's the most in the tournament by a Kansas City player all-time.

Feilhaber has a goal or an assist in six straight games across all competition.

Feilhaber has goal or an assist in all four U.S. Open Cup games for Sporting KC this season.

Only two previous players in club history have recorded 17 assists in a season (Preki in 1997 and 2003, Graham Zusi in 2012).

Feilhaber has a goal or assist in three straight games against RSL this year.

Feilhaber also notched the game-winner on Wednesday. The goal was his second goal of the 2015 U.S. Open Cup and 10th in all competitions.

Nemeth added the third goal for Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday.

The goal was Nemeth's fourth goal in the 2015 U.S. Open Cup and his 12th goal of the season in all competitions.

With the win, Peter Vermes broke a tie with Bob Gansler for most wins across all competition in club history (109).

Real Salt Lake is 0-3-3 all-time at Sporting Park.

Real Salt Lake took seven points in three games versus Sporting KC during the regular season but hasn't won in Kansas City since August 2009 and has never won a U.S. Open Cup road game in club history.

Wednesday's attendance broke the modern era record for the semifinal round. The previous mark was 14,742 - set by Real Salt Lake in 2013.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final will be on September 30th at Philadelphia (time TBD).

Sporting KC returns to MLS competition on Saturday as they host first place the Vancouver Whitecaps at 8 p.m. CT.

QUOTES

Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes

On the work rate of Sporting KC throughout the game...

Every time we've played this team, we have been on a short rest period. We've always had multiple games prior, too. This week was no different. We played a majority of the same guys that we played this past weekend in Toronto and like I said before, it shows the character and culture we have in our group. One thing we have made a big deal about since I have been apart of this club is the idea of being Sporting fit. Sporting fit is we have to be able to apply the pressure, not only for 90 minutes, but in crucial parts of the game as well.

Most of their guys didn't play this past weekend but one thing our guys sensed is that they were breathing pretty heavy going into the locker room at halftime. Our whole objective was to come out in the second half and get in behind and pressure them. We wanted to be in their end the entire half and I think it paid off.

On the performance of Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando...

When we got even at half, I knew that the second half was going to be full of opportunities. Nick is a great goalkeeper and it's not just against us -- it's on a consistent basis over the years in this league. He's been a big part in the good performances Salt Lake has had over time. He's a very good goalkeeper and he's not easy to beat.

But on that goal Benny (Feilhaber) scores Dom (Dwyer) did an incredible job to run onto goal -- I can't tell you how many players would have dove, or stopped, but he just kept trucking to goal. The guy is allowed to catch up to him after holding him, he cuts across the grain and hits a great shot. One of the things that we have been talking about is getting numbers in the box. We wanted to make sure we were on the front foot in this game and Benny was in a great position to finish it. That's not an easy finish. There are a lot of guys that blow that ball wide or over the net because they are thinking about it too much. He hit it with a lot of confidence and he stuck it in the back of the net as hard as he could. It shows a lot about who we are that we don't dive.

On the importance of Soni Mustivar's first-half equalizer...

There is no doubt that getting in even at halftime was a big thing for us. They could've gone in ahead and came back out and packed it in for the second half. Us getting that goal back was huge for us. We did a really good job in the second half of not exposing ourselves and also putting ourselves in dangerous situations which eventually created some opportunities and led to some goals.

One becoming the winningest coach in team history...

I really don't really pay too much attention to those things. The thing I care about is winning, and winning championships. The best thing about tonight was that we are now in the final of the U.S. Open Cup. That is one of the most important things to me and I know for the team as well. That's why we won tonight, because it was a team effort. The guys have a commitment for each other, but it's one thing to play for each other and it's another to execute the gameplan.

On Feilhaber's ability to play well in important games...

I've known Benny since I was the coach of the U-20 team. At that time, Benny was just making a name for himself. He was able to perform well in the bigger games that he played. That is something that is a part of his make-up. The majority of it is he is able to do consistently. One of the things I just told him walking in here was that his work ethic has been fantastic on both sides of the ball. That's why he's found opportunities and we have been successful. He seems to be much more in tune, and because he defends, he has more opportunities to get the ball. That is a credit to him. You need balls to be able to do that, and that's not soccer balls I'm talking about.

On the opportunity to win a trophy...

It's what we're all about. We want to win. It's what we start the season off thinking about and we make a plan to try to do that. It's very pleasing for all of us when we get there. We've been in this place before and we know you have to be prepared for that game when it comes. It is a long way down the road and we have a lot of stuff in front of us at the moment prior to that . We're going to make sure we take care of business Saturday, but we are now in the final and we have a chance to give this club another championship -- and that is what we're all about.

Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber

On if he has ever been in better form during his career...

I feel good and confident. The team is performing at a high level right now and that makes it easier, but to answer your question I haven't felt this good, this confident, this fit in my whole career.

On his thoughts on the game...

We played a pretty good game. Obviously, the goal we gave up was a little bit of a lapse, but we came back strong and I thought we had a good game for the 90 minutes. We created chances and obviously it's a little worrying when you create chances and don't put them away. You know how soccer is. Sometimes the other team gets one chance, puts it away, and they win the game. That's something very far in the back of your head but we were able to keep creating chances and put some away in the second half.

On the excitement of playing against Real Salt Lake...

It's always exciting to play against a rival and I think Salt Lake has been our biggest rival since I've been here. They always play us tough. Every single game against them has been a one goal game, or a draw, always with a lot of fouls. Both teams play each other real tough. The fact that we lost two games in Salt Lake made us want to get them back and prove to ourselves that we can beat them. It's not so much revenge but we do want to beat every team in this league. So because we didn't play very well it felt good to win.

On the intensity of the game...

This felt like a playoff game. From before the game, to during, and then celebrating after it all felt like a playoff game. It essentially is. Obviously it is not MLS, but it is Open Cup and that is a championship that we want to win. It's a playoff game at home to get to the finals, and that's how it felt.

On the balance in Sporting KC's scoring...

Dom is going to get his goals. Krisztian is going to get his goals, as well as Zusi when he is here. We have a lot of goals coming from center backs and defensive midfielders. When you don't have the pressure to score every goal like Dom did last year, it is more difficult for other teams to defend that. There are plenty of guys on our team who can score. There are plenty of guys that can pass the ball so that relieves pressure from our team and puts pressure on the opponent's defense.

Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar

On the differences in Real Salt Lake's play between the two halves...

I think if we get through to the half at 1-0, it'd be a different second half. Where we are at right now, that goal put our heads down a bit. And against a team like Kansas City, you can't do that because they'll start to impose their will. It was never going to be an easy night and I think the fort held down for a long time. We had a few opportunities, some individual mistakes that led to some goals but giving up that set play goal really put our heads down.

On the effect of the team's travel...

I think we've had some odd results. The D.C. game was 6-4, against Vancouver 4-0 and we need to keep the lead longer than we did. Seemed like we were a little frazzled and the travel doesn't help, but credit to Kansas City for applying pressure and staying alert.

On Nick Rimando...

I thought he did a great job. I don't think they had a lot of shots on goal per se and at the end of the day I think we gifted them three goals, and we can't do that.

On the Salt Lake's play in the first half...

When you have aggressive outside backs like Kansas City, you want to look to get into those channels that they leave and I thought we did a good job of that. We problably needed to do more of that and move up the field and put pressure on them, but we weren't particularly good with the ball tonight. Sometimes you have to take the steam out of the game so that Kansas City's not pressing so hard.

On the pace of the game...

It's a semifinal with two teams that were sniffing the final. I thought our energy was good and I think that us giving up that goal right before halftime really took a lot out of us, and it shouldn't but we've had some really tough games before that haven't gone our way and I think our confidence dipped a bit.

On the importance of Benny Feilhaber...

He's a player that a lot of things are coming off his foot, whether it's free kicks, corner kicks, final balls, whatever. He seems to be all over for them and showing up in different spots. And we talked about his play and not one person dealing with him, but the whole team. He's playing well right now.

Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran

On Real Salt Lake's 3-1 loss to Sporting KC...

The first 15 minutes, I thought we did a good job handling their pressure. They pushed their outside backs up so high and it's tough to get out of their half sometimes. But after getting past that wave of attack, I thought we did pretty well to dictate the first half. It was a great finish by Olmes (Garcia) to get that goal.

The second half was a different story. We didn't have the composure to play out of the back and credit to them: they did a good job pressuring us. We weren't good enough on the ball and that gave them opportunities offensively.

On if there was a swing in momentum after Sporting KC's equalizer...

There shouldn't be. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. At the end of the first half and coming into the second, it's a tie game. There's everything to play for, so it's disappointing from that aspect.

On his goal-line clearance to deny Krisztian Nemeth in the second half...

To be honest, I let my man get in behind. I'm glad there was an opportunity for me to make up for that play. We were in a position to try and not give them anything to keep ourselves in the game. It's unfortunate we gave up those two in the second half.

On the difficulty of playing at Sporting Park...

I feel like every time we play here, there's always a couple waves of maybe 15 or 20 minutes where we're really under (pressure). They push numbers very high and serve a lot of balls in, and that puts you under pressure. With the crowd behind them, it can be tough. With that spell in the first half we did a good job not giving them anything, but obviously the second half is a different story.

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