Sporting Kansas City will put a six-game home winning streak on the line when the team is host to FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.
The match is part of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. A limited number of tickets for the Round of 16 match-up is available on Ticketmaster.com and match tickets and parking are included in Sporting Kansas City season ticket packages as Special Game A.
For those not in attendance, SportingKC.com will provide a live stream and in-game updates can be found by following @SKCGameday on Twitter.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will secure a berth in the quarterfinals on July 21-22 to face tonight’s victor between the Houston Dynamo and Colorado Rapids.
Sporting Kansas City last reached the quarterfinal round in 2012 and has suffered home losses in the Round of 16 each of the past two years, while FC Dallas are aiming to advance into the final eight for a third straight season.
Both teams are past champions in the competition, making tomorrow’s encounter the only match-up of the round to feature two teams with their name on the Dewar Challenge Trophy. Sporting KC is a two-time trophy holder (2004, 2012) while FC Dallas was the tournament’s top team in 1997.
Sporting Kansas City began this year’s U.S. Open Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over St. Louis FC (USL) earlier this month at Sporting Park.
Graham Zusi provided the game’s only goal, however the U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder is now one of two players currently on international duty along with Marcel de Jong (Canada).
FC Dallas eliminated OKC Energy FC — the USL affiliate of Sporting Kansas City — in the previous round with a 4-1 victory courtesy of braces from Michael Barrios and David Texeira, two of seven international players on the club’s roster. Manager Oscar Pareja will be without three players on Wednesday due to national team call-ups as Blas Perez (Panama), Tesho Akindele (Canada) and Kyle Bekker (Canada) are among six FC Dallas players named to Gold Cup rosters.
Wednesday’s meeting is the third of 2015 between the Western Conference sides and comes after each earned multi-goal home victories in the series. FC Dallas handed Sporting KC the team’s first loss by a 3-1 score at Toyota Stadium in Week 2 (March 14), while Sporting KC responded with a 4-0 victory over FC Dallas at Sporting Park in Week 13 (May 29).
The two teams have been drawn together only once in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup history. In 2004, KC prevailed 4-0 in the quarterfinals en route to the team’s first U.S. Open Cup championship.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has been held annually since 1914 and is open to all amateur/professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer.
The 2015 edition is headlined by the largest field in the modern era (1995-present) with 89 teams in contention when the first round began. This year’s winner will earn a $250,000 grand prize and will qualify for the 2016-2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
