Coming into this match the Seattle Sounders FC had played 15 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches in the main stadium at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila; they had advanced all 15 times. The sixteenth though was the sweetest of them all as the Seattle Sounders FC beat the Chicago Fire 6-0 to advance to the final of the tournament on September 16th away to the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park.

It would be the Sounders who struck first in the 6th minute. Kenny Cooper timed a run perfectly to get in behind the Fire defense. He took the ball down the right wing towards the corner drawing out the left-back Gonzalo Segares. Cooper cut the ball back onto his left foot and fired a low cross which foiled Lovel Palmer but not Chad Barrett who slammed a shot into the top of the net.

Seattle would see another good couple of chances just five minutes later. The first came from another Barrett-Cooper combination, this time though it was Cooper with the shot. Barrett sent a perfectly weighted ball behind the Fire defense into the run of Cooper who takes a dribble to clear space and fires a shot low to the far corner but Sean Johnson got a palm on the ball out for a corner.

Marco Pappa whipped the corner across the box finding Andy Rose making the back-post run. The ball was a little high for Rose but he was able to get a looping header on the cross which rang the top of the crossbar before being cleared by the defense.

The half was not all Seattle though, in the 17th minute the always dangerous Quincy Amarikwa shook loose from the defending of Jalil Anibaba. Amarikwa fired a low shot towards the far post which looked destined to level the scoreline. Stefan Frei though came up with a big diving save to his right pushing the ball into the path of Osvaldo Alonso who cleared the rebound from danger.

Stefan Frei came up big once again in the 22nd minute. Amarikwa drew a costless kick in a dangerous position about 25 yards out with a slight angle left. Jeff Larentowicz fired a shot that deflected off the wall and hit Frei right in the chest. Frei regained his composure to clear the ball out of danger.

The Sounders lead would double in the 33rd minute off another corner kick. Marco Pappa found a wide-open Andy Rose just in from the back post and he did not miss this attempt. It was the first goal of the season for Rose who has been battling injury for most of the year.

Chicago looked for a quick response just moments later. Grant Ward dispossessed Osvaldo Alonso at midfield, he took a few strides towards the net before firing a shot from at least 35 yards out. It was a solid shot that nearly caught Frei off his line but it just sailed out for a goal kick.

Cooper and Barrett were once again up to their old tricks with yet another combination between the two. This time it was Barrett who bent in a cross towards Cooper; the Seattle forward headed the ball across the face of goal nearly finding the run of Lamar Neagle before being cleared out for a corner by Segares.

Jair Marrufo would blow the halftime whistle after the one minute of added time. The Seattle Sounders would be just 45 minutes from their five appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final in six years.

The Fire would come out with a more attacking approach in the second half. They would not see many shots find the net though as the Sounders defense tightened up. Chicago had some looks from two different costless-kick opportunities after needless fouls around the top of the box.

You would see the frustration come out from the Fire in the next stanza of play. Lovel Palmer hacked down Marco Pappa to earn a yellow card on one end of the field. Just moments later, Razvan Cocis nearly earned his second yellow of the evening after he swept the feet out from Pappa on the other end of the field.

Pappa would swing in the costless kick from a tight angle but it was too close to Johnson who punched the ball out for a corner. The corner was taken towards a front post run from Brad Evans but was deflected back to Pappa. After working into some space, Pappa whipped a cross towards the back post where, guess who, Andy Rose was there to head the ball into the back of the net to lift the lead to 3-0 for the men in Rave Green.

Despite the result getting out of hand, Sean Johnson continued to make huge saves in net for the Fire. A slew of Seattle passes found DeAndre Yedlin open on the right wing looking to cross. His ball was headed towards the goal by Kenny Cooper drawing a great save from Johnson. Cooper got a good look at the rebound which was saved again by Johnson.

Johnson came up big again in the 72nd minute as Brad Evans nearly curled a ball around the keeper to make it 4-0. The Fire goalkeeper got a hand on the shot which fell to Chad Barrett, open in the box but he could not find the trigger.

Sigi Schmid decided to give Obafemi Martins some playing time considering that he will miss the big match with Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Martins did not disappoint scoring within five minutes of coming on to the pitch. The play started after the Nigerian stole the ball away from Bakary Soumare at the center line. Martins passed the ball to Cooper who back heeled a pass into space for Martins to run onto, he muscled off the other center-back Larentowicz before firing a low drive past Sean Johnson to bring the scoreline to 4-0 in favor of Seattle.

The Sounders extended the lead to 5-0 just three minutes later after a quick restart caught the Fire defense napping. Pappa sprung Yedlin down the right side with space. The Tottenham Hotspur signee sent a ball towards the back post which found the forehead of Kenny Cooper, who hit the ball into the side netting.

Seattle's relentless attack continued just 79 seconds later when Kenny Cooper scored his second goal of the night to make it 6-0. Obafemi Martins started the play when he drew two defenders on him after collecting a pass in the center of the field. He found Cooper on a diagonal run behind the defense and then it was all Kenny as he nutmegged Johnson to finish off the scoring.

Chicago will look back on the match with frustration knowing that converting just one of their scoring chances in the first half could have sent this match into another direction. They didn’t and it will be Seattle against Philadelphia for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Championship and a berth in 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League