Seattle Sounders win 2nd straight US Open Cup

The Seattle Sounders rallied for a 2-1 victory in front of a wild home crowd Tuesday night to win their second straight US Open Cup title.  It was the largest crowd in the 97 year history of the US Open Cup to see the final and the Sounders FC fans were treated to a special evening.

The Columbus Crew were worthy opponents coming into the match sitting 2nd in the MLS Eastern Conference.  The crew were content to sit back and absorb the Seattle pressure and look to counter early in the match.  The Sounders dominated possession, but the strategy paid off in the 25th minute as Columbus took the lead against the run of play.   Crew midfielder Kevin Burns gave the visitors the lead and momentarily quieted the home crowd.

Seattle would strike back before halftime though.  Starting from a throw-in, the ball was served into the penalty area by defender Tyson Wahl towards Sanna Nyassi but Gruenenbaum came dashing off his line to punch it away. With the ‘keeper well off his line, the ball fell to Nathan Sturgis before Schelotto poked the ball away and it fell back towards the top of the box and the feet of Nyassi who fired it home.

Sanna Nyassi provided the winner in the 2nd half with an easy finish into an open net. Fredy Montero sent in a cross from the right side to the left corner of the six yard box where Zakuani got in front of Hejduk and nodded the ball past Genenbaum, only to be denied by the crossbar.. The ball fell directly in front of the goal and Nyassi pounced to finish with a left-footed strike.

Along with getting their team name engraved on the Dewar Cup, Seattle is awarded $100,000 in prize money and has earned a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League. As the second place team, Columbus takes away $50,000.