You may not have noticed, but the Seattle Sounders [1] have been quietly beating up on some of their soccer peers this summer. With little fanfare, they've made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup [2] and have a chance to go to the finals if they can beat MLS team FC Dallas [3] Sept. 4.
If you don't follow soccer (or at least American soccer), the U.S Open Cup is a nationwide soccer tournament that is open to all United Soccer Federation teams, from amateurs to the top level of American professional clubs (aka Major League Soccer). The Sounders are a United Soccer Leagues (USL) first-division team, one step below the MLS in the professional ranks. The U.S. Open Cup is based on the more famous F.A. Cup [4] in England, which follows a similar format of pitting lower-division teams against higher-division teams.
In the last two rounds of the tournament, the Sounders upset and eliminated MLS teams Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids, and they're now gearing up to take on the MLS once again. On Tuesday, Sept. 4, they face FC Dallas for the right to go to the finals. Since the debut of the MLS in the tournament in 1996, only one USL team has made it to the finals: The Rochester Raging Rhinos made the underdog run in 1999 to win the U.S. Open Cup.
The early word is that more than 10,000 fans could be headed to Qwest Field, which would be a nice crowd for the Sounders, especially on a weeknight. So if you've never seen the team in action, check out the game and have some fun on a late-summer night. Tickets, available at the Sounders Web site [5], are $15 for general admission and $20 for reserved seating.
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