US Open Cup: DC, Battery in Final

The final of the US Open Cup will feature DC United of MLS and the Charleston Battery of the USL first division, after both squads advanced in their semi-final matches tonight.

DC United got a brace from Brazilian striker Luciano Emilio and beat the SuperLiga champions New England 3-1 at RFK Stadium. New England fell down a goal after just four minutes thanks to Emilio, but then Revolution rookie Joe Germanese scored in his MLS debut. In the second half, it was all DC, as Santino Quaranta, who has missed a lot of time due to injury, final scored his first goal of the season. Things got worse for the Revs in the 71st minute, when midfielder Wells Thompson received his second caution and was sent off. And then in the 81st minute, Emilio added his second.

New England clearly couldn't be bothered to suit up their A-team for America's oldest soccer competition, as only two starters from Saturday's MLS contest were in the Revolutions starting 11 -- Adam Cristman and Shalrie Joseph. Joseph of course will have an extra league game off after receiving a red card in the Saturday match against the Fire, so no sense in giving him the night off. With one trophy won, Steve Nicol seemed to thumb his nose at this tournament by sending on the B-team. 

But United head coach Tom Soehn is still on the hot seat after DC's up-and-down season, so the red-and-black played their regular starters. It really is a shame that the defending champions of this storied tournament didn't really bother showing up to defend their crown. I know that the SL win puts them in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League, regardless, but is it really all about the money, then? I thought Steve Nicol and the Revolution organization had more class than that.

Seattle and Charleston, on the other hand, were two teams in it to win it, as an Open Cup championship in the "Professional Era" carries some weight among the United Soccer League clubs. And both clubs were out to show that they deserved to be counted among America's top clubs, as they each disposed of MLS clubs to get to this semi-final, and then fought hard in this semi-final.

Charleston and Seattle took their battle into overtime, after the score remained 1-1 following regular time and overtime. A Seattle own goal in the 20th minute put the Battery up, but Seattle responded just 12 minutes later, as Randi Patterson scored the equalizer. The match remained 1-1 through regular time and overtime, sending the match to penalty kicks. It was the fifth penalty kick shootout of the tournament and the second consecutive shootout for Seattle, who beat Kansas City 6-5 in PKs in the quarterfinals.

It came down to the final kick of round five, but Charleston keeper Dustin Hudock made his third save of the shootout to give the Battery the 3-2 PK win.

Seattle already has been awarded a promotion to Major League Soccer next year, but it boggles the mind how a team as consistent as the Charleston Battery, with a beautiful (and upgradable) facility and dedicated fan base, aren't even in the conversation for possible expansion into MLS. Rather than shipping teams in America's league to Canada and Mexico, why not buy American? But I digress.

The final will take place at RFK Stadium on September 3rd at 7:30pmET. And it better be on TV because the fact that the semifinal featuring two MLS clubs wasn't televised but you could watch the other one featuring two USL.1 teams online was an absolute embarrassment to the U.S. top flight. But I digress.