Sporting Kansas City secured a ticket to the final of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a convincing 2-0 victory over Indy Eleven in the weather-postponed semifinal on Tuesday at Children’s Mercy Park.

Captain Johnny Russell opened the scoring with a superb long-range effort in the 14th minute, Dany Rosero buried a powerful header in the 35th minute and goalkeeper Tim Melia saved five shots to secure his fifth career Open Cup shutout, a club record. Sporting have now won 16 consecutive Open Cup home matches since 2015 and reached the Open Cup final for the fifth time in the club’s history, having previously won the tournament title in 2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017.

Sporting will face either Seattle Sounders FC or LAFC in the U.S. Soccer Championship final on September 25. Seattle and LAFC will meet in the tournament’s second semifinal on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. CT. The winner of the 2024 Open Cup will receive $300,000 in prize money and a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.

To secure its spot in next month’s championship game, Sporting has this weekend off before returning to MLS regular season action on Sept. 7 with a visit to the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey. The cross-conference clash begins at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Three days after a 3-0 league win over Orlando City SC on Saturday, Sporting fielded a starting lineup with five new faces against Indy: Russell, Rosero, striker Alan Pulido, midfielder Remi Walter and left-back Logan Ndenbe, who made his first start since tearing his ACL in the MLS Cup Playoffs on November 5, 2023.

Undeterred by a weather-related delay of two hours and 34 minutes that pushed kickoff back to 9:44 p.m. CT, Sporting seized early momentum by dominating the field and possession against its USL Championship opponents. Midfielder Erik Thommy was the first to pose a threat in the 11th minute when his long-range shot beat Indy goalkeeper Hunter Sulte but hit the crossbar.