The Revs look to defend their title on Tuesday night when they take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium. Photo: Keith Nordstrom

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On Tuesday evening, the New England Revolution continues its title defense in the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a semifinal match against bitter rival D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at RFK Stadium.

A live audio broadcast of the match will be available on www.revolutionsoccer.net.

The Revolution (10-5-3, 33 pts.) – the top team in MLS entering Tuesday’s match – is in the midst of its ninth appearance in the Open Cup, America’s oldest cup competition, where the club has compiled a 10-6-3 all-time record. Tuesday marks the Revs third appearance in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match, having also advanced to the semifinal in 2001 and 2007, emerging victorious on both occasions.

The defending U.S. Open Cup champion Revs entered the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the third round on July 1, defeating the Richmond Kickers, 3-0 behind second-half tallies from Sam Brill, Joe Germanese and Taylor Twellman at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Conn.

New England then returned to Veterans Stadium on July 8, hosting Crystal Palace Baltimore in the tournament quarterfinal where a 1-1 draw after extra time forced penalty kicks.

Kenny Mansally put the Revs on the board first in the sixth minute, finishing a feed from Brandon Tyler. Dan Lader answered for Crystal Palace in the 20th minute, poking the ball past Revolution goalkeeper Doug Warren off a scramble in front of the goal. The two teams remained in the 1-1 deadlock through the end of regulation and two 15-minute periods of extra time, forcing penalties to decide the match. Warren made the only save during penalties as Mauricio Castro chipped in the game-winner to secure a 5-3 penalty kick victory for the Revolution.

The Revolution captured the club’s first-ever cup championship in the 2007 U.S. Open Cup, advancing through four rounds of Open Cup play to claim the tournament title. The Revs entered the 2007 U.S. Open Cup in the third round, where they defeated USL-1’s Rochester Rhinos, 4-2. New England moved on to the quarterfinal round, where the team beat the USL-2’s Harrisburg City Islanders, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals, where it earned a spot in the Open Cup championship following an exciting, 2-1 victory over USL-1’s Carolina RailHawks after extra time. The Revolution capped off its Open Cup run on Oct. 3, when it defeated MLS foe FC Dallas in the tournament finale, 3-2, at Pizza Hut Park.

Tuesday’s match will mark the Revs first U.S. Open Cup match in more than a month as the club spent the majority of July and early August participating in SuperLiga – the second of three in-season tournaments for the Revolution this year. New England defeated the team’s growing rival, the Houston Dynamo, on penalty kicks in the SuperLiga 2008 Final on Aug. 5 to earn the title of North American champion. The Revs are also slated to begin play in the CONCACAF Champions League in late August with a two-game qualifying series against Joe Public FC of Trinidad.

Following its SuperLiga 2008 victory the Revolution also jumped back into MLS regular-season action after a month of in-season tournaments, falling to the Chicago Fire, 2-1, Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Taylor Twellman – making his first MLS start of the season – gave the hosts an early lead, snapping a header off a Castro corner past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch in the third minute. New England carried its 1-0 lead into the second half, but found itself at a disadvantage after Shalrie Joseph was sent off in the 74th minute for receiving his second yellow card of the match. Gonzalo Segares netted the equalizer for Chicago with an unassisted tally in the 81st minute before Wilman Conde added the game-winning strike in the 86th minute.

D.C. (8-9-1, 25 pts. in MLS) enters Tuesday’s match tied for fourth place on the MLS Eastern Conference table after a road loss to New York on Sunday.

United entered the 2008 U.S. Open Cup tournament in the third round on July 1, defeating USL-1’s Rochester Rhinos, 2-0, behind a pair of unassisted tallies by Marc Burch.

D.C. then hosted MLS foe Chicago Fire in a quarterfinal match on July 8 at the Maryland SoccerPlex, advancing to the tournament semifinal by virtue of a, 2-1, extra-time victory. A 36th minute tally by Chicago’s Daniel Woolard put United at a disadvantage going into the break but Francis Doe netted the equalizer in the 77th minute off a feed from Jaime Moreno, leveling the score, 1-1. A tied game at the end of regulation sent the match into extra time where Bryan Namoff scored the game-winner for D.C. in the 99th minute off a pass from Moreno.

This marks United’s 10th season of competition in Open Cup, in which it has compiled a 17-9-0 all-time record including a 4-6-0 mark against MLS clubs. D.C. has now reached the U.S. Open Cup semifinal round six times – in 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2008 – compiling a 2-3-0 record in previous matches. United was also won the U.S. Open Cup Championship in 1996 – becoming the first MLS team to capture the title – defeating Rochester, 3-0 in the tournament’s championship game.

United enters Tuesday’s match following a difficult 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium on Sunday night. Despite taking an early lead on a 16th minute tally by Moreno, D.C. could not contain the Red Bulls offense. Juan Pablo Angel netted the equalizer for New York with an unassisted tally in the 27th minute and Mike Magee added the go-ahead strike just before the half in the 45th minute. Angel scored his second goal of the match in the 50th minute to give New York a 3-1 lead before Sinisa Ubiparipovic added the insurance with an 87th minute tally to secure the 4-1 victory for the Red Bulls.

Overall, D.C. holds the edge in the all-time, regular-season series with New England, 17-24-7. Despite compiling an 11-9-4 record at home against United in the regular season, the Revolution has struggled on the road at 6-15-3.

Additionally, New England and D.C. have met once previously in the U.S. Open Cup, facing off at the old Foxboro Stadium in the semifinal round of the 2001 tournament where the Revs emerged victorious, 2-0, behind a pair of goals from Andy Williams.

The Revolution began its three-game, regular-season series with United on May 29 at Gillette Stadium, where New England battled back from a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw. United took an early lead as Luciano Emilio netted an unassisted tally in the 15th minute. Fred built the lead shortly into the second half with a 53rd minute strike to put D.C. on top, 2-0. Adam Cristman pulled the hosts within one in the 59th minute, finishing a feed from teammate Kheli Dube. The game-tying strike for the Revs came as Jeff Larentowicz headed a Steve Ralston free kick in perfect position for Dube to finish with a header past United goalkeeper Zach Wells. New England and D.C. will meet again in the regular-season shortly after Tuesday’s Open Cup match on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Gillette Stadium before closing out the series on Oct. 16 at RFK Stadium.

New England had a tough time with D.C. in two of three matches during the 2007 season. In the first meeting, the Revs earned a result on the road at RFK Stadium on April 19, holding on for a draw with the Red-and-Black, 1-1, despite being down a man after Joseph was red-carded for a tackle on Ben Olsen. United then made its only trip to Gillette Stadium of the season on Aug. 5, shutting out the Revolution, 3-0. The match ended under similar circumstances on New England’s return trip to the nation’s capital with D.C. upending the Revs, 4-2.

Twellman leads New England with 13 career regular-season goals against United, marking his second-highest total against any MLS team. Twellman is also the Revs career leader in Open Cup play with seven goals.

Ralston paces the Revs with 12 career assists against D.C., including six during his time with the Revolution. Additionally Ralston has recorded seven career goals against United, two of which were scored with New England. Ralston’s three goals in the U.S. Open Cup play rank as a second-best team mark.

If the Revolution defeats D.C. United on Tuesday, the Revs would advance to the final of the U.S. Open Cup for the second consecutive year and the third time in club history. Should the Revs win Tuesday and the Seattle Sounders beat the Charleston Battery, then the championship game would be played on Monday, Sept. 15, at 10 p.m. ET at Qwest Field in Seattle. Alternatively, if the Revs win on Tuesday and the Charleston Battery defeats the Seattle Sounders, the Open Cup title game would be played on Monday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. ET at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston.

Following Tuesday’s match the Revolution returns to MLS regular-season action, traveling to California to take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 10 p.m. ET at Buck Shaw Stadium. The match will be televised nationally on HDNet and regionally on TV38 while radio listeners can catch the action on the WEEI Radio Network.