photo by Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports

By JOE TANSEY

CHESTER, Pa. — In a town used to having goalkeepers in the headlines, it was the visiting netminder who made the defining play of the 2015 U.S. Open Cup final.

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia denied Andrew Wenger in the eighth round of penalties to clinch the U.S. Open Cup for Peter Vermes’ side in a rainy match played at PPL Park.

The highly-entertaining final was level at 1-1 after 120 minutes, and after a tense penalty shootout, the visitors came out on top, 7-6, to earn their third major trophy in four years.

Philadelphia had taken the initial lead in the match, as Sebastien Le Toux finished off a sublime through ball form Vincent Nogueira. Sporting KC found an equalizer after halftime, however, when Kriztian Nemeth whipped a perfect curler into the corner of the net.

The Union forced the first save out of Melia in the third minute as Maurice Edu’s shot off a corner was denied by the Sporting KC netminder.

Sporting KC’s first chance of the match came in the 12th minute as Paulo Nagamura struck the right post with a shot from the center of the field. The shot from the midfielder bounced straight off the post and into the arms of Andre Blake. The move forward was created by Benny Feilhaber, who outmuscled Cristian Maidana on the right flank.

Philadelphia had a golden chance to go ahead in the 15th minute, but C.J. Sapong scuffed his shot in front of goal after Kevin Ellis misplayed a header.

Sebastien Le Toux opened the scoring in the 23rd minute as he powered home a beautiful long ball from Vincent Nogueira into the left side of the net. The goal was the 16th for Le Toux in the modern professional era of the U.S. Open Cup.

Melia came up big for the visitors twice in the 37th minute as he stopped shots from Le Toux and Maidana. Le Toux’s shot was set up by a similar ball played by Nogueira on the first goal. Maidana then collected the remnants of the first save and forced Melia into a leaping save on his shot from the top-right corner of the penalty area.

Sporting KC had a late chance to pull one back in the first half, but Krisztian Nemeth put his header just over the bar following a Benny Feilhaber free-kick.

The first flash point moment of the second half came in the 56th minute as Chance Myers’ foot made contact with the head of Blake as the goalkeeper collected a ball in front of the net. The ball went into the back of the net because of the collision and it was rightfully disallowed.

Nemeth leveled the contest in the 65th minute with a beautiful curling shot from the left side of the box after the Union back line was pulled apart by a pass from Graham Zusi. The goal marked the fourth consecutive Open Cup game in which Nemeth scored for Sporting KC. The streak tied the best in the modern professional era of the tournament, which was previously set by Seattle’s Kenny Cooper

Substitute Conor Casey tried to make an immediate impact on the game late in the second half, but his two attempts in regular time failed to beat Melia.

Sapong had a go from distance in stoppage time, but his effort skirted off to the right of Melia’s goal.

The first extra time period yielded few significant chances on either end, but Philadelphia almost pounced for a goal if not for bad positioning on a run.

Five minutes into extra time, Melia made a mess of a Tranquillo Barnetta free-kick, but he was bailed out by the runs of Edu and Casey, both of whom were closer to the net than the rebound before it was cleared.

Edu, who was down on the pitch for a significant amount of time during the break in extra time, had the first chance of the second overtime period as he tested Melia with a shot from the right part of the area. Edu once again threatened the Sporting KC net before time ran out as his 118th-minute header barely missed the net off a corner kick.

Union manager Jim Curtin made a gutsy move in the final minute before the penalty shootout as he replaced Blake with John McCarthy.

Sebastien Le Toux and Benny Feilhaber opened the first round of penalties with goals that both found the left side of the net. Vincent Nogueira and Dom Dwyer traded goals in the second round.

The first difference-making play of the shootout came on Philadelphia’s third kick as Melia stoned Edu. McCarthy responded with a save of his own on Nemeth.

After four rounds of goals by each side, Melia denied Wenger on the left side of goal. Substitute Jordi Quintilla then finished off the match as he beat McCarthy to secure the title.

The win earned Sporting KC’s second U.S. Open Cup in four years and third trophy in that span. The club also won the 2013 MLS Cup.

The loss was the second straight in the tournament final on home soil for the Union, who lost last year in extra time to the Seattle Sounders.