First the bad news:
Tomorrow at the Starfire Sports Complex at 7 p.m. PT the Sounders will kick off Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal action against the Houston Dynamo. The 2,000 seat, general admission only stadium is completely sold out for the evening, so those looking to catch some mid-week Sounders action are simply out of luck.
The good news:
Should the Sounders defeat Houston and the USL-1 Rochester Rhinos defeat DC United, the tournament championship will be held in QWest field. I can imagine a lot more than 2,000 people would show up for that one.
The USL side already sneaked by Columbus 1-1 (5-3 PKs) earlier in the tournament. Last year, the Rochester Rhino's fell 2-0 to DC United in 3rd round of the cup, who went on to hoist the cup. In the finals, DC United faced another USL team, the Charleston Battery, who defeated none other than the Seattle Sounders for a spot in the cup final.
So, without intending to look past Houston, let's still ask the question, could we see a cup final in Seattle? Rochester is a mid-table USL team with plenty to prove when facing the big dogs. Can we hope for some kind of karmic, USL vengeance on the best from the East, DC United?
Well, the best we can do is hope for the best and send "buenas vibras" towards the Rhinos, because it would be nice to see the Sounders raise some silverware in QWest on September 1st... plus, it might be good practice for when we hoist the MLS cup...
There will be a live videocast of the Seattle v. Houston matchup at www.SoundersFC.com