Judging solely by the starting lineups Tuesday night, D.C. United couldn’t have shown more determination to get a victory in its U.S. Open Cup semifinal at RFK Stadium while New England couldn’t have cared less.

But while a full-strength complement of starters suffered occasional lapses against a Revolution squad of mainly reserves, goals early in each half propelled United to a 3-1 win in front of 6,797, earning a return to the U.S. Open Cup final for the first time since 1997.

D.C. can win its first tournament trophy since the 2004 MLS Cup against Charleston (USL-1) at RFK or at Seattle (USL-1) on Sept. 3.

While D.C.’s first eleven lacked only Marcelo Gallardo (hernia surgery), the schedule-challenged Revolution lined up with only two players having more than seven regular-season starts, four without a single regular-season start, and just four on the bench.

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It took less than four minutes for United to open the scoring, with Bryan Namoff’s cross meeting Luciano Emilio in stride for an easy header past former United goalkeeper Doug Warren.

But D.C. took its foot off the gas, and Joe Germanese’s rebound equalizer in the 34th minute was no surprise given the predominantly sloppy play over the first half hour.

Khano Smith should’ve put the visitors ahead with a wide-open chance just before the halftime whistle.

Santino Quaranta reclaimed the lead for United just after halftime. Making his first start in more than a month after a hamstring injury, Quaranta shook off the rust of two narrow first-half misses by lifting a ball over Warren on a deft pass over the top of New England’s defense by Jaime Moreno in the 48th minute.

Ten minutes after the Revolution went down to ten men following Wells Thompson’s second yellow card in the 71st minute, Emilio finished off Ivan Guerrero’s long run down the left side to seal the result.