The 2016 Desert Diamond Cup will conclude Saturday with a final match at Kino North Stadium. Whether it’s a championship match depends on the definition.
The New England Revolution, the side that has racked up the most points in DDC history, will face 2015 MLS Eastern Conference champions Columbus Crew SC at 7 p.m. at Kino North Stadium.
Columbus is replacing Sporting Kansas City, which opted against a second match with New England after finishing with a 1-0-2 mark in pool play. Sporting Kansas City and New England tied 1-1 last week.
Sporting Kansas City will instead face the Houston Dynamo at 4:30 p.m.
“The great thing that this tournament allows us to do is: obviously we’d be in the final with New England but we’re going to play Houston, because we’ve already played New England,” said Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes. “I don’t want to (and) none of us want to play each other now two times in the same tournament because we see each other during the season.
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“So us playing Houston will be good for us.”
New England coach Jay Heaps said Wednesday that he was looking forward to an appearance in the final.
The final features United States national team players Ethan Finlay and Wil Trapp from Columbus and Lee Nguyen of New England. The Revs’ Charlie Davies, Teal Bunbury and Juan Agudelo as well as Columbus’ Conor Casey, Michael Parkhurst and Tony Tchani have also earned caps.
“It’s going to be a great matchup: two teams that are looking very strong going into the season,” said FC Tucson general manager Jon Pearlman.
The Revolution opened the Desert Diamond Cup with a 3-3 draw against Real Salt Lake and then tied SKC. New England punched its ticket to the final with a 2-1 win over Houston.
Columbus began the DDC with a 2-2 draw with Sporting and then tied Real Salt Lake 1-1. The Crew dropped points in their last match, against the Swope Park Rangers of the United Soccer League, giving up a 90th-minute goal by Mark Gonzalez in a 2-2 draw.
The championship match could also determine the winner of the Tucson Electric Power Copper Boot, given annually to the tournament’s high scorer. Columbus’ Kei Kamara has three goals in the Desert Diamond Cup; Bunbury and Davies each have two.
Kamara tied for the league lead in regular-season goals last year with 22, while Davies scored in four straight matches in 2015.
“This game should be exciting, with a lot of attacking players,” Pearlman said. “Two powerful offenses going against each other. ”
