In years past, it was not uncommon to see teams from outside Major League Soccer make deep runs in the tournament, sometimes capturing the imaginations of fans of soccer in the country with visions of a Cinderella story in the storied tournament.
In 2008, Osvaldo Alonso helped lead the Charleston Battery to the tournament final against D.C. United. The USL’s Battery outlasted the Seattle Sounders – then in the USL as well – in the semifinal as both clubs sought to break the stronghold on the tournament by MLS clubs that had seen only the country’s top flight win the Open Cup every year since the shocking win by the Rochester Rhinos in 1999.
Since then, teams have made runs, but they have been much more abbreviated and much less frequent. A look at the history of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup reveals a slight shift in recent years for Major League Soccer clubs.
In 2009, the quarterfinal was made up of four lower division teams – two from the USL First Division and two from the USL Second Division. Two years later, the Richmond Kickers reached the semifinals and lost by a narrow 2-1 margin to the Chicago Fire. This after ousting the Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City along the way.
In the last three years, only two lower-division teams have reached the quarterfinals – the NASL’s Atlanta Silverbacks and Carolina Railhawks in 2014. In that time, eight lower level teams have advanced past MLS clubs in the round of entry for MLS teams and six of those teams were eliminated in the following round.
There is certainly good reason for the perceived changes in motivation for MLS clubs, according to Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jeff Cassar.
“There’s a lot more to it now. There is prize money. That’s big. There is Allocation Money with winning it. That’s big. You get into Champions League. That’s big and money,” Cassar said while his club trained to face the Wilmington Hammerheads in the tournament’s fourth round on Tuesday at Rio Tinto Stadium. “There is a lot to play for and it’s something that our club takes very seriously. Obviously we want to win championships, but I really want to get back into Champions League. Technically this is the quickest, but it’s not the easiest.”
Real Salt Lake has seen varying levels of success in the annual tournament, with a finals appearance in 2013 and a semifinal appearance in 2015. In that time, only one team, the Chicago Fire, has more matches won in the Open Cup than RSL’s six victories.
While the Claret-and-Cobalt has yet to lift the Open Cup trophy, it is certainly a target for the club.
“It’s another trophy on the schedule that we can play for. It’s a tournament I’d love to win,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said on ESPN 700 On Frame on Monday. “It’s a way to get into Champions League and a way to get a trophy for your club’s cabinet, so we’ll definitely be going for it and trying to win it, for sure.”
RSL kicks off Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in the return to Rio Tinto Stadium in a match that is part of the season ticket package. Tickets are available at RSL.com.
