I know. Nobody cares about MLS. But technically, this wasn’t MLS. Last night, the Seattle Sounders won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by beating fellow MLS team D.C. United. I’m sure you’re saying, “But I thought you said it wasn’t MLS.” Well, U.S. Open Cup is a tournament that’s actually open to any team affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. The top eight teams from each level of the “American Soccer Pyramid” are invited to participate. So a men’s league team could theoretically win the cup… but it’s highly unlikely. Since MLS teams started participating in 1996, they’ve won every cup but one. In 1999, the Rochester Rhinos of the 2nd division A-League managed to take the trophy.
Via Seattle Times:
WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Open Cup had been won and the photos on the field taken and the shouts and cheers and songs of celebration bellowed and the blasts of champagne exchanged, there was only one question coming out of a jubilant Sounders FC locker room at RFK Stadium.
Where was Adrian Hanauer, Seattle’s general manager? No celebration would be complete without one of the city’s biggest advocates for soccer.
Someone immediately fetched Hanauer. The locker-room doors were opened to let the well-dressed executive in. In an instant, his suit was drenched in champagne.
More cheers and smiles.
The bubbly flowed Wednesday night in honor of Sounders FC’s first team tournament trophy, the shiny silver-colored U.S. Open Cup its reward for defeating D.C. United, 2-1. Seattle won two tournament play-in games and four matches in actual bracket play to bring the prize home.
Tags: d.c. united, lamar hunt u.s. open cup, mls, seattle sounders, soccer
