Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders to play in 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final

The four-time champion Chicago Fire will face the two-time defending champion Seattle Sounders for the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. The match between former and current champions will take place at 7 p.m. PT on Oct. 4 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash.

Seattle’s path to the final was determined by a lone Fredy Montero goal in a 1-0 win against FC Dallas. The Sounders become the first team since 1984 with a chance to win three consecutive U.S. Open Cup titles after the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms won back-to-back titles in 1982 and 1983. The New York Greek-Americans (1967-69) are the only team to have accomplished the feat of winning three trophies in a row. Chicago advanced to the final with a 2-1 win against the Richmond Kickers (USL Pro).

The Fire went ahead 2-0 with goals from Sebastian Grazzini and Dominic Oduro on either side of halftime. Richmond pulled one back by way of William Yombi in the 68th minute, but it wasn’t enough to erase the deficit. The Fire will be looking for their fifth Open Cup title overall –matching the record held by legendary American soccer clubs Bethlehem Steel (1915-16, 1918-19, 1926) and Los Angeles Maccabee (1973, 1975, 1977-78, 1981) – and first since 2006. For the first time in history, all four semifinalists in the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup were previous champions. The winner of the 2011 event will earn a $100,000 cash prize, while the runner-up will collect $50,000. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which is recognized as U.S. Soccer’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer.

The tournament has crowned a champion for 97 consecutive years dating back to 1914.