The first team to win three straight U.S. Open Cups in the professional era is the Seattle Sounders and it took them all of three years to do it. The Sounders have now won all three Open Cups they have played in since moving to MLS after defeating the Chicago Fire, 2-0, in the 2011 Cup final at CenturyLink Field before more than 35,000 people. It took 78 minutes for the Sounders to finally go in front, but Fredy Montero was there to put them on top then Osvaldo Alonso found a second goal in injury time to seal the trophy for Seattle.
Seattle Sounders Vs. Chicago Fire, 2011 U.S. Open Cup Final: Sounders Win Third Straight Open Cup
At no point did it look like the Fire would win. Seattle were better from the get-go and the surge in form that saw Chicago win match after match was missing. The Fire gave the ball away regularly and the Sounders had chances. For much of the match, those chances went begging though. That is partly because Sean Johnson was in top form, making several great saves to keep the Sounders off the board. The post also did its part, denying Montero in the first half then Mike Fucito in the second half.
Finally, Montero broke though with just a dozen minutes left in the match. Jeff Parke rose to meet a corner kick and headed it down for what could have been a goal, but Johnson was there to get down and deny him. The Fire players just watched as Montero jumped on the rebound though and blasted it home for the go-ahead goal.
To put a nice ribbon on the championship, Alonso scored a tremendous goal six minutes into injury time to send CenturyLink Field into a frenzy. The midfielder, who had done a brilliant job all match breaking up every Chicago attack, got forward on his own this time and danced his way through the Fire defense. Finally, he split two defenders right in front of goal and sent Johnson sliding out to take out his own defender before finishing into an open net.
The final whistle blew and the Sounders players stormed onto the field. They gathered in a circle, dancing in celebration before getting together on the stage where Kasey Keller lifted yet another Sounders U.S. Open Cup trophy.
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