Blake & Union Fall to SKC in USOC Final
- Updated: September 30, 2015
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
Four days after collecting a club-record 10 saves in a draw to the Revolution, Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was unable to steer his squad to victory in Wednesday’s Open Cup final, which Sporting Kansas City won 1-1 (7-6 on PKs).
The UConn product, who got the nod over Open Cup hero John McCarthy, made five saves to put his club in a position to win. Sebastein Le Toux scored the opener in the 23rd minute, but Krisztian Nemeth leveled it in the 65th minute.
Blake played 119 minutes before McCarthy replaced him right before penalties were employed. After each side converted four of their first five, three more rounds were required. On the Union’s eighth try, Andrew Wenger’s shot was stopped by Tim Melia. Moments later, Jordi Quintilla coolly finished his shot from the spot to send the Union to their second-straight runner’s up finish.
With the win, Sporting has now won three Open Cup championships (2004, 2012, and 2015). The Union became the first club since 1976 to drop consecutive Open Cup finals. New York Inter-Giuliana fell short of the Dewar Trophy in 1975 and 1976.
In addition to Blake, who starred at UConn from 2011-13, a few other players involved in Wednesday’s final have connections to New England. Union forward Connor Casey hails from Dover, N.H. while Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber played for the Revolution from 2011-12. Feilhaber’s teammate, defender Seth Sinovic, was drafted by the Revolution in 2010 before he was waived in 2011.
The Revolution were eliminated from the 2015 tournament during the fourth round after dropping a 1-0 loss to USL side Charlotte Independence on Jun. 17 at Harvard.
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