In their second Open Cup Final in 2015, SKC won away at the Philadelphia Union after yet another 1-1 tie and a 7-6 penalty shootout result. "We proved we could win the Final away from home," Vermes said.
Sometimes it isn't necessarily the Final that stands out, but a vital moment or game on the long journey to the title. Take, for example, what transpired during Kansas City's 2017 run.
Only 15 minutes into their Quarterfinal against FC Dallas, defender Seth Sinovic was red carded for fouling Michael Barrios, who was on his way to goal. It forced the hosts to play the rest of regulation a man down. "Now, we have to defend for 70 minutes and still try to score or defend, defend for another 30 [in extra-time] and go to penalty kicks," Vermes said.
Good strategy, but things worked out differently.
"I remember coming in at halftime and telling the guys, There's no way we're losing this game. We're not losing this game, no way," the coach said before admitting of his team’s performance that night: "The effort that they put in was fantastic."
At the start of extra-time, Vermes brought on USMNT midfielder Benny Feilhaber for Diego Rubio.
Things started to tip KC's way. Eleven minutes into the extra period, FC Dallas' Maximiliano Urruti was shown a second yellow card for an overhead kick that injured Ike Opara (he was stretchered off the field in a neck brace) evening up the sides.
Latif Blessing recorded a brace in first-period stoppage time. Sandwiched between his goals was a red card to Javier Morales for a hard foul on Feilhaber, forcing Dallas to finish with nine men. Feilhaber, who set up the first goal, assisted on Daniel Salloi's tally in the 119th minute of the 3-0 triumph.
"What an adrenaline shot for the team," Vermes said of that vital win that unlocked a path to a Final.
KC defeated the San Jose Earthquakes on PKs in the Semifinal (5-4) following a 1-1 draw, and then bested Jesse Marsch’s New York Red Bulls in the Final at home (2-1). Blessing and Salloi scored on either side of halftime before Bradley Wright-Phillips' consolation goal in the 90th minute.
SKC Aim to Party Like it’s 2017
"That was big for us, because we're a small market," Vermes said. "If you're playing against any of the New York teams, any of the LA's teams, we're a small market, they're a big market."
For their first two contests in this year's Cup, SKC were the bigger market side as they topped a pair of lower division teams. But if you think Vermes – who knows better than most the jeopardy of Cup play for an MLS team – was counting any Open Cup chickens before they hatched, you can guess again.
"Those are always really, really, difficult matches," he said of taking on lower-division opponents. "You have to know how to play them, and you have to know how to win against them. There's a difference between those two things."
