Numerous Major League Soccer teams have resorted to using alternate venues for US Open Cup matches for different reasons over the years, but when the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy take the field at Starfire and Titan Stadium Tuesday night, they will be hoping history repeats.
It has been quite a long time since the Galaxy last stepped on the pitch at Titan Stadium for a US Open Cup match. They have not played a competitive match at their former alternate home since the debut of the Home Depot Center in 2003, a span of nine years since they defeated the then Dallas Burn 4-1 in the semifinals of a runners-up campaign in the 2002 US Open Cup. It was the final of nine Open Cup matches played at the venue over the course of four years.
And it was a successful four years in Fullerton. The club lost at Titan Stadium only twice in the nine matches, falling 3-1 to the Columbus Crew in the 1999 Quarterfinals, the first-ever match there, and 2-1 to the eventual 2000 champion Chicago Fire in the Semifinals.
After that defeat, the Galaxy won five consecutive at their second home to the Rose Bowl, including four the very next year as they won the first of two US Open Cup championships. It started with a 5-0 thumping of then A-League (pro second division) Nashville Metros, followed by a Third Round 3-1 win against the Seattle Sounders Select, who had nabbed a shocking 3-2 overtime road upset against the Dallas Burn the round before. They avenged the previous year’s loss with a 1-0 Semifinal win against the Fire.
They concluded the 2001 championship run with a 2-1 victory against the New England Revolution at Titan Stadium. It still stands as the only Final in the US Open Cup Professional Era (since 1995) in which a club’s alternate venue has been the host location.
Starfire’s history as an alternate MLS venue is much briefer, but has played a key role in back-to-back tournament championships for the Seattle Sounders, who have played the Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches there the past two years.
In 2009, the Sounders edged Kansas City 1-0 on a Sebastien Le Toux strike in the Quarterfinals. Since then, it has been Nate Jaqua’s playground. He scored in the 2-1 Semifinal win against Houston en route to their first title. Then last year he struck for two goals in each game as they blanked the Galaxy 2-0 in the Quarterfinals and downed the other Los Angeles side Chivas USA 3-1 in the Semifinals.
And Starfire has trophy-lifting championship history too.
The USL Seattle Sounders began using the Tukwila venue as an alternate to then named Qwest Field in 2005, winning a regular season contest and playing to a win and draw in the playoffs in addition to a Second Round 3-1 victory over the Salinas Valley Samba. Although they used it for several league contests the following year, they would not play another Open Cup match at Starfire until 2007 when they defeated Banat Arsenal 4-1 in the First Round and rival Portland 2-1 in the Second Round.
But it was later in the 2007 campaign that Starfire became the center of attention. Returning to the venue for postseason action for a second time the team suffered its first-ever loss at the alternate home in a 2-1 playoff defeat to the Puerto Rico Islanders in which they would advance via penalties at the conclusion. That penalty kick decision proved critical as the team won the 2007 USL First Division title with a dominant 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks at Starfire.
In 2008 the Sounders USL side registered their first win against an MLS club at the venue, downing Chivas USA 3-1 in the Third Round after blasting Hollywood United 6-0 in the previous round.
More importantly, 2008 was the club’s final campaign in the USL First Division, and was played entirely at Starfire where they had suffered only one loss in all competitions in nine previous matches.
The Sounders would drop four more matches during the 2008 regular season, giving the Sounders a final record of 15-5-7 overall record at the venue during the USL era. The home fans have seen only five losses, none in the US Open Cup, in 31 total games since 2005.
One common link between the two venues is current Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, who led the Galaxy to the 2001 Open Cup title at Fullerton during his 1999-04 tenure with LA.
LA Galaxy Open Cup Matches at Titan Stadium
1999: 1-3 L – QF – Columbus Crew (MLS)
2000: 2-1 W – R2 – Seattle Sounders (USL)
2000: 2-0 W – QF – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
2000: 1-2 L – SF – Chicago Fire (MLS)
2001: 5-0 W – R2 – Nashville Metros (A-League)
2001: 3-1 W – R3 – Sounders Select (PDL)
2001: 1-0 W – SF – Chicago Fire (MLS)
2001: 2-1 W – F – New England Revolution (MLS)
2002: 4-1 W – SF – Dallas Burn (MLS)
Seattle Sounders (MLS) Open Cup Matches at Starfire
2009: 1-0 W – QF – Kansas City Wizards (MLS)
2009: 2-1 W – SF – Houston Dynamo (MLS)
2010: 2-0 W – QF – LA Galaxy (MLS)
2010: 3-1 W – SF – Chivas USA (MLS)
Seattle Sounders (USL) Open Cup Matches at Starfire
2005: 3-1 W – R2 – Salinas Valley Samba (USASA)
2007: 4-1 W – R1 – Banat Arsenal (USASA)
2007: 2-1 W – R2 – Portland Timbers (USL-1)
2008: 6-0 W – R2 – Hollywood United (USASA)
2008: 2-0 W – R3 – Chivas USA (MLS)