CHESTER, Penn. – Sounders FC has the lofty goal of winning as many trophies as possible in the 2014 season. On Tuesday night at PPL Park, it checked the first off that list with a 3-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Union to lift the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the fourth time in six seasons.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, Seattle stormed back with a goal from Chad Barrett, holding off a late surge from Philadelphia before getting goals from Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins in extra time. Securing the Open Cup and launches Sounders FC down the path toward the treble of the U.S. Open Cup, Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup.
“People want to win championships and people want to win trophies,” Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid said. “That’s the attitude we have in our locker room and that’s the attitude that we approach the Open Cup with.”
Only two teams in Major League Soccer bear the distinction earned by Sounders FC on Tuesday, as Seattle joined the Chicago Fire as the only teams to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup four times.
It didn’t come without some resilience though.
Stefan Frei came up big throughout the night, finishing with four saves. However, Philadelphia still got on the board first in the 38th minute when Maurice Edu rose up to head in a free kick from Cristian Maidana for a 1-0 advantage.
It wouldn’t last long, though, as Seattle stormed back to start the second half.
In the 47th minute, Seattle equalized on a set piece of its own. Off a Brad Evans corner kick, Chad Marshall knocked the ball high into the air. When it came back down, he headed it on frame, forcing Zac MacMath into a save in traffic. However the ball fell right to Barrett, who barreled it into the net to even it up at 1-1.
Seattle continued to pelt the Philadelphia end with shots, but couldn’t add to that score over the next 42 minutes. On the other end, Frei made a stellar stop on a ball in the 88th minute. After a redirected ball into the box had Frei leaning one way, Pedro Ribeiro shot toward the far post, but Frei made a sprawling save to keep the match even at 1-1.
In the first 30 seconds of stoppage time, Vincent Nogueira got in on goal on a scramble in the box, but his shot caromed off the upright, narrowly missing on a go-ahead opportunity.
“Sometimes in Mexico we say champions have that kind of luck. Probably we had that champions’ luck,” Sounders FC midfielder Gonzalo Pineda said. “I think that’s part of being a champion. No matter what happens, you need to get the trophy.”
Instead the match went to extra time and in the 92nd minute, Seattle had the first opportunity. Marco Pappa played Martins into the box and Martins lifted a right-footed shot that looked bound for the net but MacMath reached to the sky to swat it away.
Seattle finally snatched the lead in the 101st minute. Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins took on three Union defenders on the run and Martins rolled it to the left for Dempsey in the box. The U.S. National Team captain hit a left-footed shot to beat MacMath for the goal and a 2-1 lead.
Seattle held that lead in 110th minute when Frei snared a header from Carlos Valdes as the Union threw numbers forward.
That opened up an opportunity for Seattle as Leo Gonzalez played Martins a long ball from the back that Martins pulled down on the Union side of midfield, held off his defender and lifted a shot over the oncoming MacMath to score his second goal of the tournament and iced the game at 3-1.
“It’s my first title with the Sounders. This is one out of three. We’re trying to win all three this year. We’re excited and we’re going to keep pushing forward,” Sounders FC defender DeAndre Yedlin said. “I love the city. I’m happy to bring any hardware back to the city. That one was for all of Seattle.”
Sounders FC will continue its pursuit of the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. Seattle is currently three points clear of second place in the chase for the best record in MLS and is the only club that has clinched a playoff berth.
