Sporting Kansas City blasts FC Tulsa to advance to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals

On Tuesday night, Sporting KC faced another team from a lower division in U.S. Open Cup play.

This time, Sporting quickly and emphatically took care of business at Children’s Mercy Park.

Felipe Hernandez scored twice while Stephen Afrifa and Marinos Tzionis each added a goal, as Sporting knocked off FC Tulsa from the USL Championship division 4-0.

Sporting KC was dominant from the first whistle, unleashing 18 shots in the first half, eight of which were on target. Tulsa goalkeeper Michael Creek made seven saves on the night to prevent a more lopsided score.

Hernandez got credit for opening the scoring in the 37th minute. His free kick was marginally on frame but went into the net off a Tulsa defender. Afrifa, who hit the crossbar twice in the first 25 minutes, finally got one into the back of the net in first-half stoppage time, mopping up a rebound from a corner kick.

Just 30 seconds into the second half, FC Tulsa was reduced to 10 men when defender Patrick Seagrist picked up his second yellow card for a tackle on Jake Davis. Sporting quickly added two more goals.

Hernandez scored his second goal in the 63rd minute thanks to a pass from Willy Agada. Tzionis made the scoreline 4-0.

Sporting KC will learn its draw for the quarterfinal round on Wednesday night. The club’s next MLS match is Saturday night in Portland against the Timbers at 9:30 p.m. Central.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.