How to Watch US Open Cup: Sporting KC vs. Tulsa Athletic

Sporting KC vs. Tulsa Athletic

WHEN: Tuesday, April 25th @ 7:30 PM CT

WHERE: Children’s Mercy Park

HOW TO WATCH

This US Open Cup matchup can be watched through the Sporting KC app, at SportingKC.com/Live or on the YouTube stream. It can also be listened to via Sports Radio 810 in English or La Grande 1340 AM in Spanish.

The Major League Soccer regular season has been absolutely atrocious for Sporting KC through nine games. They are 0-6-3 and have only found the back of the net three times. The hope is that this could be the cure for what ails SKC. They will meet up with NPSL’s Tulsa Athletic in the third round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Who are the Tulsa Athletic?

Tulsa play in the fourth division of American soccer, the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). This is the same tier as the USL League Two. For reference, Kansas City beat Union Omaha last year (who are playing St. Louis City SC this year in this same round) by a score of 6-0. Omaha are in the third division (USL League One).

The fourth division is full of teams that are only semi-professional. They actually have some amateur players on their roster. If the professional athletes cannot defeat them, it’s a cause of real concern (as if we aren’t already concerned).

To get to this round of the competition, Tulsa had to win twice. They beat Brazos Valley Cavalry FC in the first round and FC Tulsa of the USL Championship (second division) in the second round. Before that, they hadn’t played a game since July 30, 2022. They are essentially in preseason now with their season set to start in May.

Squad Rotation

Sporting Kansas City will have the opportunity to loan players from Sporting KC II up to the first team for this competition. It’s possible, with all the injuries they are dealing with, this may happen. In prior versions of the US Open Cup, teams were limited to just five international players. I wasn’t able to locate a rulebook for 2023, but that could limit the types of players loaned up since the team already has five internationals on their roster (Robert Voloder, Willy Agada, Nemanja Radoja, Tim Leibold and Dany Rosero). Of those players, we know Agada is out and Leibold and Radoja have barely played.

I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see only partial squad rotation in this match with many of the starters on the bench as Sporting KC look to get their confidence back by (hopefully) beating up on a lower division side. I’d expect guys like Marinos Tzionis and Felipe Hernandez, who aren’t everyday starters, to start a game like this. It could also be a chance to switch goalkeepers either back to John Pulskamp or to the third keeper Kendall McIntosh, at least for one match. It’s not uncommon for the backup keeper to play all the games in the US Open Cup.

Other players who could play, who didn’t see action for SKC II or the first team over the weekend, include Ozzie Cisneros, Jake Davis and Danny Flores.

Update 5:38 PM: Sporting KC has loaned three SKC II players to the first team for Tuesday’s game. Center back Mo Abualnadi, midfielder Ethan Bryant and winger/mid Sebastian Cruz. 

Update 4/25/23: SKC’s injury report is out and all it does is officially move Willy Agada to out, which we were aware of.

Official #SportingKC injury/availability report for tonight:

OUT – Agada (tibia stress fracture), Pierre (hamstring), Leibold (hamstring), Ford (achilles)

QUESTIONABLE – Zusi (muscle strain), Kinda (knee), Radoja (hamstring)#SKCvTUL

— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) April 25, 2023

Prediction

Russell said team's get beat when they look past lower division competition and they are in no position to do that. #SportingKC play a semi-pro team, the Tulsa Athletic, on Tuesday.

"We're not looking past any team, but especially with the position we are in right now."

— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) April 23, 2023

This game is essentially lose-lose for Sporting. If they win, then of course they should have won. If they lose, it’s an epic disaster.

This team’s confidence is so shaken, I’ve refrained from picking anything but losses lately. And as down as everyone is (including myself) on Sporting KC, they have to find a way to beat a team like Tulsa. Everyone will be rooting for the cupset (outside of KC at least), so let’s hope the boys are keyed in and ready to go.

I think if they score early and open up Tulsa’s defense, it could get out of hand. However, if they struggle to score, we could be in for a low scoring nailbiter.

SKC 1-0 over Tulsa

Key Dates

If Sporting KC were to advance past Tulsa, here are the important dates for the remainder of the tournament.

• April 27 – Round of 32 Draw
• May 9-10 – Round of 32 Matches
• May 11 – Round of 16 and Quarterfinal Draw
• May 23-24 – Round of 16 Matches
• June 6-7 – Quarterfinal Matches
• TBD – Semifinal and Final Draw
• August 23 – Semifinal Matches
• September 27– 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final