Sporting KC falls short of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final, losing to Sacramento in PKs

Sporting Kansas City fell to Sacramento Republic FC in California on Wednesday night, missing out on a berth in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup’s championship game.

The semifinal match was scoreless through full-time and two overtime periods, so it went to penalty kicks.

Sporting and Sacramento were tied 4-4 in the penalty round, but veteran Graham Zusi missed a kick and the hosts’ captain, Rodrigo Lopez, put his past KC keeper John Pulskamp to the delight of a sellout crowd at Heart Health Park.

“It was a disappointing match tonight,” Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said. “I thought we did more than enough to get the result that we needed, but that’s the game sometimes. We played well. (I’m) proud of our guys.”

Sporting KC became the third Major League Soccer opponent that Sacramento — a USL Championship team — has beaten in this year’s U.S. Open Cup tournament. It’s the first time since 2008 that a lower-division team will play in the U.S. Open Cup final (the Charleston Battery fell 2-1 to D.C. United in that match).

The last non-MLS winner of the Open Cup was the Rochester Rhinos in 1999. They defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-0 for the trophy.

Now the underdog Republic will visit Orlando City FC, a 5-1 winner over the New York Red Bulls in the other Open Cup semifinal, for the championship.

“It happens around the world,” Vermes said generally of upsets in soccer. “This is why this cup is such a great competition. I loved playing in it as a player and I loved coaching it.

“So congrats to Sacramento. They fought for everything, they were throwing their bodies around, they were blocking shots and they worked really hard in the game.”

Sporting KC had its chances throughout the 120-minute match — 60% edge in possession, 31 shots taken — but came away empty-handed. The Republic let just eight of those shots reach target and blocked another 14

Sporting’s Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi and Khiry Shelton each had numerous opportunities. They just couldn’t find a way to finish them.

“We created more than enough,” Russell, Sporting KC’s captain, said. “We got in great space, had great opportunities ... We just were nowhere good enough tonight in that department (finishing).”

Given the struggles that Sporting KC (5-5-13 in MLS play) has endured this year, winning the Open Cup had been a tantalizing proposition.

“We know this was our chance to get to the final and win some silverware this year,” Russell said. “We’ve let ourselves down. Our fans back home, as well.”

Sporting resumes its Major League Soccer season on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park, playing host to Austin in a game that is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. CT. Based on where the postseason cut-line has been the past few seasons, Sporting would have to go win nearly all of its remaining matches in order to make the MLS playoffs.

“It’s going to take a huge effort to get us into the playoffs from where we are right now,” Russell said. “But there’s no other option. We have to believe we can do it. That’s it.”