FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution, behind a 2-1 double-overtime victory over the Carolina RailHawks in Tuesday's semifinal in New Britain, Conn., has advanced to the championship game of the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup where the team will face MLS foe FC Dallas.
The championship match will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at FCD's Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, and will be televised live by Fox Soccer Channel.
The Revs will be making their second appearance in the championship of the U.S. Open Cup, also progressing to the final in 2001. That season, the Revs lost to the Los Angeles Galaxy, 2-1, in overtime in Fullerton, Calif.
On Tuesday night, after falling behind 1-0 in the sixth minute to the USL-1's Carolina squad, New England's Jeff Larentowicz scored the equalizing goal on a low diving header in first-half stoppage time. The teams remained tied through regulation, and went on to play 30 minutes of extra time. Three minutes in to the first 15-minute session, Pat Noonan's rocket from 19 yards out beat Carolina keeper Chris McClellan for the eventual game-winning strike.
Dallas, meanwhile, played the Seattle Sounders of the USL-1 to a 0-0 deadlock after regulation at the Sounders' Qwest Field. Carlos Ruiz changed that in the second minute of extra time, putting Dallas up 1-0. Abe Thompson then pushed the score to 2-0 after he converted a penalty kick, but his goal turned out to be the game-winner as Seattle's Leighton O'Brien struck in stoppage time to pull the hosts within one goal.
The final is set to be an all MLS clash, with the Revs venturing to Pizza Hut Park with a title on the line for third time in as many seasons. The Revolution have played in each of the last two MLS Cup matches, both contested at Pizza Hut Park.
Before they meet in the final of the U.S. Open Cup, New England and Dallas will play their second MLS regular-season match of the year against each other at Gillette Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 15. Earlier in the year on April 29, the Revs earned a 1-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park as Taylor Twellman - who missed the Revs' Open Cup semifinal against Carolina with the flu - scored the game's lone goal in the 13th minute to secure the Revolution's 18th all-time victory over the Dallas club.
The Revolution (12-5-6, 42 pts.) currently sits atop both the MLS and Eastern Conference standings and will face the team with which it's tied at the top - D.C. United (13-6-3, 42 pts.) - in a battle of the league's top two teams on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 3 p.m. ET at D.C.'s RFK Stadium. Fox Sports New England will televise the game live.
