U.S. Soccer announced on Monday the officials for Wednesday's championship game of the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, with the Philadelphia Union hosting Sporting Kansas City.
Referee Ted Unkel, 37, who is in his second year calling MLS games, will be calling his first Open Cup final. He worked early-round Open Cup games the last three years in addition to a quarterfinal this year. Last season, Unkel officiated the NASL championship game.
In MLS play this season, Unkel has awarded 11 penalty kicks in 16 games and averages a league-high 4.75 yellow cards per game, while his 0.38 red cards per game are third most among officials who have called at least 10 games.
Unkel officiated one Philadelphia game this season, whistling the Union's Zach Pfeffer for a handball that led to a D.C. United win on an 85th-minute penalty kick by Chris Rolfe on May 30. Unkel has called one Sporting game this year, the Open Cup quarterfinal against Houston that SKC won 3-1, a game that featured a 30th minute red card to Dynamo midfielder Luis Garrido.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Philadelphia Union vs. Sporting Kansas City
PPL Park (7 pm ET), ESPN2, WatchESPN, UDN
REFEREE: Ted Unkel
AR1: Ian Anderson
AR2: James Conlee
4TH: Chris Penso
