SANDY, Utah / CHICAGO - Real Salt Lake will host the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Oct. 1 at Rio Tinto Stadium if it beats the Portland Timbers in the Open Cup Semifinal on Aug. 7 at home. The location of the championship match was decided Tuesday after a coin flip at the headquarters of the U.S. Soccer Federation in Chicago.
The winner of the Real Salt Lake-Portland match will host the winner of the Chicago Fire-D.C. United semifinal, which will be played at Toyota Park outside Chicago on Aug. 7.
Real Salt Lake has not played Portland yet this year. The Claret-and-Cobalt will take on former RSL man Will Johnson and the Timbers three times in August, starting with the Aug. 7 Open Cup match and continuing in MLS play at Portland on Aug. 21 and back in Salt Lake on Aug. 30. The two sides will face off again in MLS play at Portland on Oct. 19.
Tuesday's coin flip means that should RSL advance to the final, it would have hosted all five games in its Open Cup run. The Utah club beat lower-division sides the Atlanta Silverbacks, the Charleston Battery and the Carolina RailHawks earlier in the tournament to advance to the Aug. 7 semifinal.
The winner of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup wil advance to the 2014-15 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Tickets are on sale now for RSL's Aug. 7 Open Cup match against Portland and can be purchased online, at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office or over the phone at 801-727-2700.
