SANDY, Utah (Thursday, May 24, 2018)
–
Real Salt Lake
will host defending USOC champion
Sporting Kansas City
in the Fourth Round of the 2018
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
on Wednesday, June 6,
at Rio Tinto Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. MT, with this year's early-round matches INCLUDED in the club's 2018 RSL Season Ticket Memberships. Additionally, Utah Royals FC and Real Monarchs SLC season ticket members will have the option to access tickets for this date, while general public sale for the June 6 contest kicks off at 12 noon MT on Friday, May 25 at
www.RSL.com/Tickets
. The game will be carried LIVE locally on ESPN700 AM, with television/streaming options TBA.
Earlier today,
U.S. Soccer
announced the pairings for the Fourth Round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and held a draw to determine who would host matches in the upcoming round, the first which includes MLS teams. Emerging as one of two home teams in a pod which also included both Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids and USL upstart Nashville SC, the draw determined that Real Salt Lake will host Sporting Kansas City in the third meeting between the two clubs in the history of the U.S. Open Cup. They previously met in the 2007 U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Round, with RSL winning 2-1 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and again in 2015 when Kansas City knocked RSL out 3-1 at Children’s Mercy Park in the Semifinal Round.
With the June 6 date adding a third home game in a span of eight days for Head Coach
Mike Petke
's team - and a fifth game in 15 days overall - Real Salt Lake enters the 2018 tourney looking to go one step further than it has in its deep 2013 and 2015 Open Cup runs. The Claret-and-Cobalt reached the tournament final in 2013, losing 0-1 at home to D.C. United in a year which also saw RSL advance to the MLS Cup at Kansas City. Two years later, RSL again was eliminated at Sporting Park, this time in the 2015 semifinal stage. Including MLS “qualifiers” or “play-in” games from 2007-10, RSL’s all-time record in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contests is 11-12-3, outscored by opponents 45-46, and has yet to lift the trophy, one of the oldest and longest-running competitions in American sports.
Major League Soccer sides have won each of the last 18 Open Cup titles, earning a berth into the subsequent year’s CONCACAF Champions League. Last year, RSL lost to Sacramento Republic FC (USL) on the road in the Fourth Round. U.S. Soccer today announced all potential fourth-round matchups, which will see 20 MLS clubs across the United States enter the competition in the round of 32.
2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
- Fourth Round: Tues/Wed., June 5/6
- Round of 16: Sat./Sun., June 16/17, or Wed., June 20
- Quarterfinals: Wed., July 18
- Semifinals: Wed., Aug. 8
- Final: Wed., Sept. 26
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup serves as U.S. Soccer's national club championship and is open to all amateur and professional teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 103 straight years dating back to 1914.
