Real Salt Lake and D.C. United today announced that the two sides will face off in a MLS Play-in Round qualifier for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, June 2, at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. MT. The winner of the June 2 contest in our Nation’s Capital will qualify for the 96th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, held annually by U.S. Soccer to determine its National Champion. RSL Nation will be able to follow the action live on the club's English radio flagship station, KALL 700 Sports - and its online home of www.KALL700Sports.com - beginning at 4:30 p.m. MT with the America First Credit Union Pre-match Report.
For those RSL fans in the D.C. area looking to attend the qualifying contest, tickets for the general public will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, May 4, via dcunited.com and all TicketMaster outlets. Single-game tickets at RFK Stadium begin at $23 for seating in the Spectator section, are $32 at the Premium level, $42 at the VIP level, and are available at the Mezzanine level for $52.
Real Salt Lake continues its path towards a spot in the tournament proper, a qualification process that began with a 5-3 penalty shootout win over the San Jose Earthquakes that followed their 3-3 draw in an opening round MLS Play-in contest in California back on April 14. D.C. United reached the final MLS Play-in Round qualifier after dispatching FC Dallas from consideration via a 4-2 win at RFK Stadium last Wednesday. Real Salt Lake will be spending the bulk of the first week of June in the D.C. area, as the Claret-and-Cobalt and Black-and-Red will square off in League play at RFK three days later on Saturday, June 5 (5:30 p.m. MT kickoff, live on KUSG).
Real Salt Lake now holds a 2-3-1 record in six previous qualifying matches for U.S. Soccer’s national championship since MLS was limited to eight representatives in the competition beginning in 2007. When combining those Play-in contests and its 2005 and 2006 appearances in the tournament proper, Real Salt Lake has an all-time record of 3-5-1 across U.S. Open Cup play.
Five MLS teams – RSL, Colorado Rapids, D.C. United, New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls – continue to battle it out for the two available qualifying spots in an effort to join six teams that have their spots set in the Third Round. Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, and defending tournament champion Seattle Sounders FC all automatically qualified for the tournament proper courtesy of their point totals from the 2009 MLS regular season.
MLS Play-in Bracket for 2010 Lamar
Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Game
A: New York Red Bulls 2 :
1 Philadelphia Union
Game
B: New York Red
Bulls v. New England Revolution – Wednesday, May 12
Game C:San Jose Earthquakes
3 : 3 Real Salt Lake (RSL advances 5-3 on PKs)
Game D:
Kansas City Wizards 1 : 2
Colorado Rapids
*Game E: D.C. United 4 : 2
FC Dallas
^Game F: New York/New England winner v. Colorado Rapids (Date TBA)
^Game G: D.C. United v. Real Salt Lake – Wednesday, June 2 (5:30 p.m. MT)
^ Winners of Games F
& G to enter the Third Round (Round of 16) of the 96th edition
of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in June.
