10:34 PM ET: Thank you for joining us tonight here at VAVEL USA! Our final score, Seattle Sounders 3, Philadelphia Union 1. Goodnight!
10:33 PM ET: The VAVEL USA Player of the Tournament is Kenny Cooper! Player of the Game is Stefan Frei.
10:30 PM ET: Brad Evans lifts that trophy high! It is passed to Alonso, Dempsey and Martins. The team is taking the trophy over to celebrate with their fans!!!
10:29 PM ET: And here....comes....the.....trophy!!!!
10:26 PM ET: And now the champion Seattle Sounders FC are receiving their medals!
10:23 PM ET: The Philadelphia Union are receiving their runners-up medals now. It is a disappointing result for them but congratulations for making it this far!
10:22 PM ET: The officials are receiving their gifts from US Soccer.
10:19 PM ET: Sounders thanking the fans!
10:18 PM ET: We are getting ready for the trophy ceremony.
10:17 PM ET: It is so nice to see Sebastien Le Toux out there talking with some of his old teammates. A classy guy indeed. The Union played a great game tonight, no doubt about that.
10:14 PM ET: Seattle is going over to thank their traveling support.
10:12 PM ET: The Seattle Sounders are the first team to qualify for the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League!
120': FINAL WHISTLE!!! Final Score: Seattle 3, Philadelphia 1. The Sounders are now 4-time champions of the US Open Cup!
119': Props to the Sons of Ben still going strong!
119': A short corner played to Pappa who holds the ball in the corner for a few seconds.
118': Corner coming for Seattle.
116': Philadelphia is still pressing, a goal here would make things interesting.
114': GOALLLLL!!!!!! MARTINS CHIPS MACMATH AND THIS ONE IS OVER!!!! 3-1 SEATTLE!!!!
112': Seattle trying to kill some time but Martins is offside.
111': MacMath off his line to intercept a throughball towards Martins.
110': SAVE!!! FREI comes up big on Valdes with the costless header.
110': BLOCK! Zach Scott gets in the way of a shot from Cruz. Sounders are living dangerously.
110': Philadelphia final sub: Sheanon Williams (Out), Fred (In)
109': A big clearance by Gonzalez to deny a wide-open Union shot.
107': Osvaldo Alonso misses a shot badly and looks to have cramped in the process. At least we hope that is what it is.
106': Le Toux fouls Frei on a run into the box. Nothing too serious just a little tap.
106': Philadelphia kicks off the second half of extra time and here we go!
9:54 PM ET: The teams will now switch sides and play 15 more minutes. If the score is still tied they we go to the dreaded penalty shootout.
105+3': POST!!! Pappa nearly ends it but his curling shot rings off the post and that will do it for the first extra time session.
105+2': Union continue to throw attack forward but they cannot get anything going here.
105+1': Two minutes of stoppage time.
105': Nogueira cannot get on the end of a pass from Maidana. Out for a goal kick.
103': DeAndre Yedlin is limping very noticably. Union with a corner here in the 104th but it is cleared by Dempsey.
102': That is the kind of combination play that Seattle fans are used to seeing and it is Deuce with the Deuce!
101': GOAL!!!!! SEATTLE!!!! CLINT DEMPSEY!!!! Off of the beautiful feed from Martins! It is 2-1 Seattle!!!!
100': Ball out for a corner after a big clearance by Chad Marshall.
100': The costless kick is deflected but goes right to Frei.
98': Alonso pulls down Le Toux in a dangerous position. Costless kick coming.
96': Pineda with some great defending there on Le Toux, not allowing the dangerous striker any space.
94': Seattle with a costless kick here that is sent towards the back post but gathered by MacMath.
94': Evans cannot continue and Seattle will bring on Gonzalo Pineda. There is your last sub.
92': SAVE!!! Martins gets through and puts a shot on the goal that MacMath stretches to get. What a save!
91': Fans howl for a penalty as Danny Cruz goes down but he tripped on the ball. No call.
91': The teams are back on the field and we are ready to go at PPL Park! Seattle will get us started moving right-to-left on your keyboard. Strap in folks, here we go!
90+': MISS!!! The ball goes all the way through the box!!! There is the whistle and we are going into EXTRA TIME!!! Costless soccer tonight at PPL Park.
90+': Corner to Philadelphia, there cannot be much time remaining.
90+': This game is getting even more intense as neither team wants to see this go into extra time.
90+': POST!!! VICENT NOGUEIRA gets in behind and smashes his shot off the post!
90': Boy were we right, SIX minutes of added time.
89': Brad Evans is now down in the middle of the field. We will get significant stoppage time here in the second half.
88': SAVE!!! Gaddis takes a shot that is deflected to Ribeiro who puts his shot at a wide-open goal right at Frei. Nervous time for sure.
85': Le Toux nearly gets in behind the defense but Zach Scott is there to clear out for a corner. The corner is poor and out for a goal kick.
84': BLOCK! Chad Marshall gets in the way of a dangerous shot by Vincent Nogueria. We are still level at 1-1.
82': The trainer looks to be working on Scott's left knee. The stretcher is out but it looks like Zach will be able to walk off under his own power. Jalil Anibaba is warming up just in case.
81': Danny Cruz is set to come on for Andrew Wenger. And it looks like Zach Scott is down back in the Sounders penalty box.
79': Corner coming to the Union. A dangerous ball is cleared by DeAndre Yedlin.
78': Philadelphia sub: Conor Casey (Out), Pedro Ribeiro (In)
77': MISS!!!! Martins off the turn hooks his volley just wide!
76': MISS!!!! Dempsey is wide open on the back post as Pappa fires a bullet across the face of goal. He just cannot direct it into the open net.
75': Yedlin to Brad to Oba but the final pass to Dempsey is just behind him. That would've been a huge chance there.
74': Seattle makes their second sub: Lamar Neagle (Out), Marco Pappa (In)
72': Wow. Philadelphia gets on a breakaway, clear to the goal and DeAndre Yedlin makes up THIRTY YARDS to cut off Maidana before he can take a shot.
71': SAVE!!! Brad Evans finds himself wide open in the box and fires a low shot to the far corner but MacMath gets down to make the save. Corner kick upcoming.
70': Chad Marshall wins the ball off of the throw-in to clear for Seattle.
69': A deep throw-in coming up for the Union.
67': The pace of the game has slowed down a bit here. Not too many shots in the last few minutes.
64': If you listen in the background, you can hear the Sons of Ben singing, "I Just Can't Get Enough" in support of their team. My colleague Liam McMahon pointed out to me that the songs is traditionally associated with Celtic FC of Scotland. Very cool tidbit there, thank you Liam! You can check out his work here on VAVEL USA.
63': A nice run by Maidana there who slides the ball into Le Toux but the shot is blocked. Wenger eventually blasts a shot over the bar after a non-called hand ball.
62': Wow there is a lot of space in the center of the field for Martins to work in.
60': Here comes the first change for Seattle: Obafemi Martins coming on for Chad Barrett.
59': Wenger once again beats Yedlin to a header but the ball is wide. It seems that Obafemi Martins will be coming in shortly.
57': Casey gets called for a foul on Alonso in the Seattle half before being called for another foul on Alonso not 15 seconds later. Yellow card to Conor Casey.
55': MISS! Barrett attempts a volley from a tight angle that goes up and over the bar.
55': Seattle earns a costless kick just inside the half line. Edu makes a couple of big clearances there to keep the score tied.
52': We do not know what was said in the Seattle locker room at halftime but it seems to be working.
51': Seattle is amping up the pressure here. Leo Gonzalez puts a cross in that cannot find a teammate.
50': Alonso misses on a wide-open header from 10-yards out. That could've been big.
49': Nogueira fancies a shot from the top of the box off a corner kick that sails over the bar.
47': GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!! SEATTLE!!!! CHAD BARRETT!!!! Off of the corner kick, the ball bounces around before finding the waiting forehead of Chad Barrett! 1-1
46': A big chance early as the Sounders gets a ball through the middle but nobody can get a shot on.
8:38 PM ET: The teams are out for the second half. You'll notice that Frei has changed into a yellow kit.
8:30 PM ET: What are your thoughts on the first half? Leave them in the comments section or tweet me @tenorman85
8:29 PM ET: Seattle held the possession for 58.6% of the first half. The two teams were equal in shots at five with the Union leading the shots on target category at 2-1.
8:24 PM ET: Stay tuned for the halftime statistics.
45+1': Barrett whips a ball across the face of goal looking for Dempsey but it is too far in front. More pressure coming from Seattle but nothing to show as the halftime whistle blows. 1-0 Philadelphia Union at the half.
45': One minute of stoppage time here in the first half.
44': Clint Dempsey is called for a foul on Maurice Edu. It looked to be a fair shoulder challenge.
42': Yedlin takes Wenger to the corner. Wenger with some good defense to give away the throw-in deep in Union territory. Brad Evans' throw is easily cleared.
41': The second corner is hit too long and is cleared by Seattle.
40': Philadelphia earns another corner. The cross is hit towards Edu but it pushed out by Neagle for another corner.
38': GOAL!!! UNION!!! MAURICE EDU!!!! Edu gets on the end of the Maidana costless kick and puts it back-post past Frei. 1-0 Union
36': Evans looks for Dempsey over the top but MacMath is first to the ball.
36': Seattle's defense is looking lost at times. They are bailed out by a foul called on Wenger for his slide-tackle on Andy Rose.
33': Wenger again with a nice cut-back but he sends his shot wide. Casey gets a header on the ensuing corner kick but it is out near post for the goal kick.
31': Wenger is making Yedlin look like an amateur tonight on that left side.
30': SAVE!!! Stefan Frei comes up HUGE on a point blank save on Le Toux after a cross from Wenger.
27': A nice chip down the line to spring Maidana but Leo Gonzalez with some nice defending to make sure the ball goes out for a goal kick.
26': Zach Scott gets away with one there having hauled down Conor Casey. That could've been a dangerous costless kick.
25': We have our first booking of the game as Osvaldo Alonso goes in the book for a tough tackle on Valdes.
24': MISS! Chad Marshall gets on the end of a corner kick from Brad Evans but cannot sneak it in the near post.
21': Le Toux puts a cross towards the wide-open man on the backpost but Frei gets there first.
21': Seattle is finding some good possession in the Union third but they cannot find any shots.
18': Andrew Wenger gets the first good look at goal for Philadelphia as he outjumps Yedlin but pushes his header just wide of the near post.
17': Wenger makes a run down the left hand side, he is tracked by Yedlin. Wenger's cross goes right to Frei in goal as there were no Union players in the box.
16': Valdes runs off the field under his own power. It looks like he is holding his wrist possibly? We cannot really tell off of the television angle.
15': Not a good sign for the Union as defender Carlos Valdes is down, he looks to be holding his hamstring. Amobi Okugo is warming up.
13': SAVE! MacMath has to come up big as the Sounders press again. This time it is Barrett who gets the header across goal before the keeper makes the save.
10': MISS! Dempsey puts a shot from inside the six-yard box over the bar after a great diagonal run from Andy Rose.
9': Dempsey with a sweet move on Valdes before being pulled down. No call from the official. That would have been a big chance there.
8': Dempsey looks to spring Barrett down the wing but Gaddis easily makes up the ground to intercept the pass.
7': Philadelphia is holding a majority of the possession here. They look to spring Le Toux but the ball is cleared.
5': Seattle keeping the pressure on with a deep throw-in in the Philadelphia end. Brad Evans looks for the long throw but it falls right into the hands of MacMath in goal.
4': The corner kick from Brad Evans bounces around the box, nearly falling to Clint Dempsey but it is cleared by the defense.
3': Both teams feeling each other out here in the beginning.
1': Seattle is in the Rave Green moving from right-to-left on your keyboard.
7:37 PM ET: And here we go! The Sounders get us underway.
7:33 PM ET: It is time for the anthem!
7:27 PM ET: We are getting ready for the walk-out and the anthem. Seattle Sounders FC and the Philadelphia Union coming your way in mere moments.
7:20 PM ET: We have announcers! Matt Johnson and Ross Fletcher on the call on the audio inline at SoundersFC.com if you want some audio.
7:18 PM ET: It is very interesting that the Seattle support was put on the same side of the stadium as the Sons of Ben.
7:17 PM ET: The 350 traveling fans are making themselves be heard.
7:13 PM ET: One thing is for sure looking at the Seattle lineup, barring injury we know what the three subs will likely be, Martins for Barrett; Cooper for Neagle; and Pineda for Rose.
7:10 PM ET: The Emerald City Supporters are coming through the audio inline loud and clear. They really did come to drink and come to sing.
7:08 PM ET: The teams are out on the field for the pre-game warmups.
7:03 PM ET: Two very good lineups ahead of this final. We are less than 30 minutes away to kick off at PPL Park.
6:49 PM ET: Here is the starting eleven for the Seattle Sounders FC: 4-4-2 GK: Stefan Frei; DEF: DeAndre Yedlin, Chad Marshall, Zach Scott, Leonardo Gonzalez; MID: Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, Lamar Neagle; FWD: Chad Barrett, Clint Dempsey
6:45 PM ET: And now here are your starting lineups first for the home side Philadelphia Union. It will be a 4-2-3-1. GK: Zac MacMath; DEF: Raymon Gaddis, Carlos Valdes, Ethan White, Sheanon Williams; DM: Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira; AM: Andrew Wenger, Sebastien Le Toux, Cristian Maidana; FWD: Conor Casey.
6:41 PM ET: Two other MLS clubs are in action tonight in the CONCACAF Champions League. DC United is on the road at Waterhouse FC of Jamaica. While the Portland Timbers play host to CD Olimpia.
6:35 PM ET: As we await the lineups, how do you think tonight's match will end? Who walks out of PPL Park with the silverware? Leave a message in the comments section below or on my twitter page @tenorman85.
6:23 PM ET: We are just moments away from seeing the lineups for today's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
6:18 PM ET: As we mentioned earlier, the winner of this game will get a berth into the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League in fact, they will be the first team to qualify.
6:13 PM ET: The Sounders are in the building! Led out by Captain America himself Clint Dempsey.
5:54 PM ET: Stay tuned for more pre-game coverage here on VAVEL USA.
5:52 PM ET: The kickoff temperature should be around 70 degrees.
5:48 PM ET: It looks like a beautiful day in Chester, PA for tonight's match between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Philadelphia Union.
5:47 PM ET: The locker rooms are set!
5:46 PM ET: What are your thoughts or opinions on this game? Leave them below in the comments section or send me a tweet at @tenorman85.
5:45 PM ET: Seattle and Philadelphia have met three times at PPL Park during their short history against one another. Philadelphia holds the edge having one win to go along with two draws. Expect this game to be very hard fought with strong lineups on both sides.
5:44 PM ET: Since joining Major League Soccer in 2009, the Seattle Sounders have amassed an impressive record of 20 wins, three draws and one loss in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Penalty kick results count as draws not matter if they end in a win or a loss. Seattle has three championships and a runners-up medal in their six appearances in the tournament to this point. Their record on the road is three wins, two draws and one loss in the competition during which they have scored seven goals and allowed five.
The Sounders FC have never allowed more than one goal in their previous 24 matches in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. They are also averaging 2.4 goals scored per match to this point.
5:43 PM ET: The Seattle Sounders FC welcomed in the Chicago Fire to Starfire Sports Complex for the U.S. Open Cup Semi-Final. That sentence right there was about as close as Chicago got to a victory as Seattle scored early and often in a 6-0 win to advance to U.S. Open Cup Final. Chad Barrett, Obafemi Martins, Andy Rose (x2) and Kenny Cooper (x2) were all on the score sheet. You can read my recap of that match here.
5:42 PM ET: A Cascadia Derby was in the cards for the quarterfinal stage as the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders met for the first of two games in a week against each other. This match was another classic Sounders-Timbers U.S. Open Cup Match as the Seattle fans thought that they were through to the semi-finals in second half injury time. Osvaldo Alonso had given Seattle the 1-0 lead in the 69th minute on what was described as a move that was “half soccer, half gymnastics.”
Darlington Nagbe though scored a goal from a tight angle in the third minute of stoppage time to force thirty more minutes of soccer between the two clubs. The game turned when Portland midfielder Diego Chara was sent off in the 99th minute. The man-advantage was taken by Seattle as they added goals from Kenny Cooper and Marco Pappa in the 111th and 116th minute respectively to dispatch their rivals. You can read my match recap of that game here.
5:41 PM ET: Next up came the San Jose Earthquakes in the fifth round. This was another great battle between these two sides. Steven Lenhart opened the scoring in the 24th minute but was answered just two minutes later by Kenny Cooper. The game found its way to penalties where a miss by Alan Gordon and a Marcus Hahnemann save on J.J. Koval lifted the Sounders to a 4-1 win in penalty kicks.
5:40 PM ET: The Seattle Sounders FC road the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final started on home soil at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington against amateur side PSA Elite. The club sent out a lineup that was not the strongest by any means but it really did not need to be against PSA Elite.
Seattle pressed from the opening whistle trying to break down the door to the PSA Elite goal early and often. It took them until the 22nd minute when Brad Evans converted on a penalty kick to finally get on the board. Zach Scott, Sean Okoli and Kenny Cooper (x2) would round out the scoring in a 5-0 rout to move into the fifth round.
5:39 PM ET: The Philadelphia Union have played 12 games in the U.S. Open Cup coming into the final. They have a record of seven wins, two draws and three losses in those 12 matches but the stat that is very interesting is that they have allowed two or more goals in half of those games. Their record in home USOC matches is 6-1 with 17 goals scored and seven goals allowed.
5:38 PM ET: It was a second appearance for the Union in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semi-Final Round but it was their first time playing the game on the road. This one was a tough test away to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium. Amobi Okugo was the recipient of a first-touch pass from Sebastien Le Toux and Okugo did not miss with a hard shot past Raul Fernandez to give Philadelphia Union the 1-0 lead.
FC Dallas would equalize in the 81st minute when Fabian Castillo beat the charging Zac MacMath to a ball outside of the box. Castillo did not miss putting the ball into the gaping net to bring the score to 1-1. It was a good read by MacMath and probably something that most goalkeepers would have done but you have to make sure to get to the ball first which he didn’t.
He would make up for that blunder though in the penalty shootout making two saves to help the Union win 4-3 on penalties and advance to their first Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
5:37 PM ET: The quarterfinal stage would bring an MLS Eastern Conference foe in the New England Revolution to PPL Park. It was a crazy game that was actually delayed for a long period of time due to a pretty wicked thunderstorm that kicks up massive amounts of dust. Thankfully for the Union, they already had a 2-0 lead when the storm hit and that would be the final behind goals from Conor Casey and Sebastien Le Toux.
5:36 PM ET: Next up for the Philadelphia Union was the NASL’s New York Cosmos. They came in to PPL Park with upset on the mind after dispatching the New York Red Bulls in the fourth round. It would be the Cosmos to get on the board first in the 56th minute when Alessandro Noselli slid the ball past the on-rushing Andre Blake to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. That play was set up by a beautiful diagonal ball from Danny Szetela to spring Noselli into space.
The Union would not wait long to level the score as Sebastien Le Toux tapped home a low cross from Andrew Wenger. Wenger made a great run to the end line turning Sebastian Guenzatti every which way but sideways to give himself the space. His low cross actually touched the goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer on the way by but he could not a finger on it to slow it down before Le Toux evened the score.
Le Toux would add a penalty kick in the 114th minute to seal the victory 2-1. There were some fireworks though before the end of the game as three players would be sent off for an altercation in one of the corners. Philadelphia finished with ten men and the Cosmos finished with nine as Michael Lahoud, Ayoze Perez and Jimmy Ockford were all sent off.
5:35 PM ET: The road to final for the Philadelphia Union almost came to an early end in the fourth round of the competition. Philadelphia was drawn against their developmental affiliate Harrisburg City Islanders in a pseudo-derby match at PPL Park. Harrisburg would get on the board first in the 38th as midfielder Jason Pelletier was in the right position to slot home a rebound after rookie goalkeeper Andre Blake made a beautiful save on the initial shot.
Philadelphia pushed the tempo of the game looking for the equalizer and it just was not happening for Jim Curtin’s men. The last thing that they needed was to put the first loss in the win column for their interim coach. Finally after 89 minutes, it was designated player Maurice Edu to the rescue.
The American international had pushed forward into the attack as the team looked to tie. They would get that goal after Sebastien Le Toux passed a ball back into the middle looking for one of three Union attacker between the penalty spot and six yard box. The ball would find its way to Edu who trapped the pass and slammed a half volley in from eight yards out to level the scoreline and force extra time.
Fitness would play a major role in extra time as it was obvious how drained the Harrisburg players were. Union forward Andrew Wenger scored twice in extra time in the 110th and 117th minute to give the Union a 3-1 win and a ticket into the fifth round where they would host the New York Cosmos of the NASL.
5:34 PM ET: The Philadelphia Union are playing some great football right now under the direction of interim manager Jim Curtin. The former Chicago Fire and Chivas USA defender has compiled a record of nine wins, five draws and two losses in his 16 games in charge to quickly make him a favorite to have the interim tag dropped from him job title.
5:33 PM ET: On top of the silverware at stake tonight, the winner will receive $250,000 as well as a berth in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League, where they will be one step closer to the FIFA Club World Cup to face the winners of every confederation’s club championship.
5:32 PM ET: This is the first opportunity to obtain some silverware during this 2014 season. The Union will be looking for their first U.S. Open Cup Title while the Sounders will be looking for their fourth. The match is available on television through GolTV but it is not a channel that most people get so we will keep you feeling like you are watching along with us tonight.
5:31 PM ET: My name is Matthew Evans and I will be your host for tonight’s game.
5:30 PM ET: Good evening and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Tonight we will be bringing you the final from PPL Park in Chester, PA as the Philadelphia Union welcome in the Seattle Sounders FC. Our match kicks off in two hours, we will be here to guide you through pre-game all the way to the trophy ceremony and beyond.