Your guide to the MLS Cup final

Much has been made over the last two years of Sporting Kansas City’s ascension into the firmament of Kansas City’s collective consciousness and its drastic departure from the moribund days of playing soccer in the outfield of a semipro baseball park.

But in some measures, it hadn’t quite meant that much because of the team’s surprising postseason losses the last two years, participating in the great Kansas City tradition of playoff letdowns.

Sporting Kansas City got over the hump on Saturday, jettisoning the Houston Dynamo from the Eastern Conference finals en route to a spot in the Major League Soccer championship on December 7. The game will take place at Sporting Park.

Who they play: Real Salt Lake easily beat the Portland Timbers on Sunday night, thus punching their ticket to Kansas City for the final.

Are they good? Yes and no. The truth is that no team has looked particularly strong over the course of this topsy-turvey MLS season. Even Sporting Kansas City at times throughout the season looked like they might not be that good. Nevertheless, Real Salt Lake finished second in the Western Conference with almost the same record that Sporting Kansas City posted.

Who on Real Salt Lake should I watch for? Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando is arguably the best player at his position in MLS. He sometimes gets called up for United States national duty. Sporting Kansas City will have its work cut out for them to sneak one by Rimando on December 7. Alvaro Saborio is RSL’s top goal-scoring threat, having picked team-leading 12 goals through the regular season, despite playing only about half a season’s worth of games. He has also missed games in the playoffs due to injury and isn’t a sure thing for the final. Midfielder Kyle Beckerman, a man of long dreadlocks, is one of the league’s best defensive midfielders and will be counted on to try and gum up the middle of the field against Sporting Kansas City’s attack.

These teams have played before, right? Of course. Sporting Kansas City all time has a 8-5-3 advantage over Real Salt Lake. Both teams met in Utah earlier this year when Sporting Kansas City scored a goal with barely any time left to win 2-1 in a gritty matchup where Real Salt Lake scored the game’s first goal.

Why is this game in Kansas City? Kansas City has a slightly better regular season record than Real Salt Lake and therefore gets home-field advantage for the final. The home crowd should help Sporting Kansas City, although home field hasn’t always treated them well. They’re 9-5-3 at home this year, having dropped some disappointing results at Sporting Park. But they played well at home late in the season and have been clearly the stronger team in both Sporting Park playoff games this year.

What’s the format for the final? Unlike earlier playoff rounds, the final is just one game, winner takes all. If the score is tied after two halves, the game goes into a pair of 15 minute overtime periods. Those extra periods get played to their entirety; there’s no sudden death goal. If the deadlock continues after 30 minutes of extra time, the game is decided by penalty kicks.

When can I get tickets? Season ticket holders get an exclusive presale starting noon Tuesday and ending Wednesday at 2 p.m. Everyone else has to take their chances when tickets go on sale starting at 10 a.m. December 2.

Who is going to win? This is clearly a different Sporting Kansas City team than those who suffered postseason collapses the last two years. Last year, Sporting Kansas City fell behind by two goals in their playoff series against Houston and played panicked soccer. They were clearly rattled, frustrated and unable to rally back against their playoff nemesis. This year, they fell behind two goals against the New England Revolution but played determined soccer and overcame that deficit. They also went behind early on Saturday against Houston. While the crowd went quiet at Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City seemed undaunted, dominating the rest of the game en route to a 2-1 victory. It’s hard to get a read on Real Salt Lake. They’ve been so up-and-down all year. But they’re coming on strong in the playoffs, having sent home repeat MLS champions L.A. Galaxy and a strong Portland team in the last two rounds. But they’re going to be outmatched on December 7. Sporting Kansas City wins this one 2-1.