Mehr auf deutsch

KJR950: Seattle Soccer Show with Mati Bishop

To advertise on this page, please inquire here.

MLS Stories Only  All Stories    Seattle Soccer Show Player Ratings Current Table

Prost Amerika Special Report - Kasey Keller Signs     

Montréal Impact 3 : 1 Seattle Sounders Impact win 4-3 on aggregate

 

Down and Out. Seattle's USL Story Ends Amidst Red Card Flurry

Impact Advance to Semis as Seattle Prepares for the Arrival of MLS

September 28

Red cards, late goals and a retaken penalty contributed to an evening of high drama at the Saputo Stadium, Montreal. Going into the game trailing by one goal, Montreal equalized the aggregate score in in the 56th minute with a strike from David Testo just inside the 18 yards box which Sounders keeper Chris Eylander only managed to fingertip. The score line didn't stay tied long, however, as the Sounders all-time leading goalscorer in the playoffs, Roger Levesque, scored three minutes later putting Seattle back up by one goal in the series. The goal was his seventh ever in the playoffs and came off an assist from recent substitute, Sanna Nyassi. Nyassi had come on at half time for the injured Leighton O'Brien and played to ball to Levesque from the left after having received a terrific back heel pass from Le Toux.

Seattle adopted a more defensive posture after the goal to hold their lead but were dealt a serious blow in the 74th minute when they were reduced to ten men after Roger Levesque was sent off for a violent tackle on Impact defender Adam Braz. On the ensuing free kick, the ball bounced around in the box eventually coming to the feet of Rocco Placentino whose shot deflected in off the post.

What followed next can only be described as bizarre. In the first leg, a red card for Seattle had been immediately followed by a red for Montreal. On the night, a goal for Montreal was immediately followed by one for Seattle. It was therefore almost symmetrical that a red was to follow for Montreal soon after Levesque's. In the 79th minute, after Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar took a free kick which Matt Jordan spectacularly saved, the ball rebounded to Sébastien Le Toux. Poised to shoot, Adam Braz pulled him down in the box to prevent the goal attempt. Seattle were awarded the penalty. Braz was shown a red card and Alcaraz-Cuellar stepped up to the spot for Seattle. He scored and at ten men each and with a goal lead, things look good for Seattle.

But referee Mauricio Navarro interrupted the Sounders' celebrations and ordered the kick to be retaken having seen an encroachment. Photographic evidence that has since emerged has suggested it was a Montreal player who entered the penalty area and the goal should have stood. A spokesman for the USL confirmed to Prost Amerika that Kenji Treschuk was mentioned on the USL live commentary as the offending Seattle player but nothing had appeared in the referee's report. Before the retake, Montreal indulged in several minutes of acute gamesmanship with both Roberto Brown and Matt Jordan confronting the waiting Cuellar with verbals to try and interrupt his concentration. Bizarrely, the eagle eyed referee failed to act. Inevitably the Montreal theatrics paid dividends and Cuellar's retake hit the right post. Matt Jordan later justified his approach, "Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar is a good player, but on the second penalty kick I just decided to stand him up and to react. don't know if he saw me and if that made a difference in the play but I'm just glad that he missed. "

It was mentally hard on Seattle and Montreal looked the likelier side from then on. It proved to be the difference as Antonio Ribeiro scored the winner in the 90th minute after midfielder Joey Gjertsen took a well-placed shot from about 35 yards out which hit the crossbar, but left an easy tap into an empty net for Ribeiro. Nyassi had an open chance to score late in the game but his effort was saved by Jordan.

Seattle's miserable night at the hands of the referee was completed when Danny Jackson received a red card for a trip on forward Roberto Brown during a Montreal breakaway in the last minute. According to the USL website, Leighton O'Brien who was brought off injured at half time was also shown the red card at the final whistle, a fact later confirmed by a USL spokesman.

Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer was livid with Navarro, basically calling the official incompetent after the game. He told the Montreal Gazette, "The referee took the game away from the players on both teams. He only thought of himself," he said. "He cheated us out of a chance to win. It was junior league stuff."

Seattle's season is now over, their last in this "junior league". Next year MLS football comes to the Emerald City and tonight's events will be a distant memory. However for those Seattle fans who huddled around their laptops or watched in the bars, the sense of grievance against the approach to soccer from the Montreal club may linger a little longer. At least until FC Dallas visit!

Montreal now face trans-Canadian rivals Vancouver Whitecaps in the semi finals after they survived a 4-3 goal fest in Minnesota to advance 5-4 on aggregate over the Thunder. First they must visit Tegucigalpa to meet CD Olimpia in the Champions League. Rochester also progressed and have the unenviable task of meeting Puerto Rico in the other semi.

Attendance 11134

Seattle Sounders 2 : 1 Montréal Impact

Fiery, Frothy and Far from Over

Sounders Travel to Quebec with Slim Advantage but without Sakuda

Seattle Sounders edged out the Montréal Impact 2-1 in the first leg of this play-off game which saw overworked referee Edvin Jurisevic issue red cards to Seattle’s Kevin Sakuda and Montréal’s Stefan Pesoli. Goals from Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar and a Leighton O’Brien penalty secured the home side a narrow lead to take to Montréal on Sunday. Jurisevic could have issued more cards as personal battles broke out across the field in a chaotic final fifteen minutes. Adam Braz and Felix Brillant can count themselves fairly lucky to have remained on the pitch. Nevertheless, there was a lack of finger pointing from a calm Brian Schmetzer after the match with the Seattle coach commenting “My players should know better. A championship team doesn’t make mental mistakes like that. That they tried to play physical was a positive in my eyes.”

Impact coach John Limniatis saw it differently. Asked if he was happy with the 2-1 reverse in the away leg, he said, “I don’t think happy is right. It’s not the worst score in the world but the thing is it forces you to win the game. Obviously a tie would have been a lot better. They outplayed us to some extent but the most important thing was they were far more physical than we were and we just didn’t respond to that. They seemed to want it just a little more than us and they were more physical, and in most cases when you’re not physical, you’re not intense. Then unless your quality is really high, you’re probably not going to win the game. In terms of quality I think the two sides are fairly equal, we showed that during the season. The only difference tonight was that they were more physical and they wanted the game more than us. In the return leg, it’s got to be us that are the initiators rather than the ones that are receiving all of it.”

Going into the game, Limniatis was forced to juggle his resources because of CONCACAF Champions League obligations. Therefore he left Quebec without Nevio Pizzolitto, Sandro Grande, Peter Byers and David Testo. In addition regular starters Joey Gjertsen and Adam Braz were left on the bench. All are available for the second leg which should be an absolute cracker of a game.

On the night itself, perhaps the biggest positive on the footballing front from a Seattle point of view was the inspirational performance of the returning Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar. His season has been severely injury hit and this was only his second start since July 11th. His fellow midfielder and scorer of the winning goal Leighton O’Brien, was effusive in his tribute to Hugo's influence after the match.

“Having Hugo back is good because he’s another playmaker on the field so he’s easy to combine with, takes a little bit of pressure off me. I can look for him and we have good combination play. He played well tonight. He hasn’t played in quite a while. He’s got good vision, a good touch, and it’s fun to play with players like that. Hugo’s a great player. He’s very crafty on the ball and we’ve missed that.”

All the goals came in the first half and all the cards in the second. The early chances broke narrowly in Seattle’s favor. Within the first ten minutes, Impact forward Rocco Placentino fired wide after a Mauro Biello cross landed favorably for him, and shortly after Josh Gardner shot straight at the USL’s statistically top keeper Matt Jordan following Taylor Graham's skillful protection of possession in the Montréal penalty area. A minute later, Montréal full back Davy Uwimana cleared from nearly underneath his own cross bar from a powerful Leighton O’Brien shot.

With such a plethora of goal attempts, it was no surprise that a goal came along soon. Roger Levesque has lost his shooting boots but not his spirit or his persistence, and it was his hard work in the Montréal penalty area that resulted in the ball falling kindly to Alcaraz-Cuellar. He too needed a little perseverance before he finally buried the ball past the helpless Matt Jordan.

But one thing you can be certain of with any John Limniatis team is that their heads don’t go down easily. Montréal were level within six minutes. A Leonardo Dilorenzo free kick found Biello in the area but his shot was superbly saved by Chris Eylander. Unfortunately for the Sounders keeper, the ball fell to Stefan Pesoli who had time and space to fire in the equalizer.

The next chance took only another 120 seconds to arrive but Roger Levesque slid the ball past Jordan’s left post when clean through on goal. Levesque was denied another opportunity to score on 39 minutes due to some razor quick defending by Cedric Joqueviel who nipped the ball off his toes after Josh Gardner and O’Brien had played a neat one touch movement.

Four minutes before the interval, there was the first real officiating controversy and it broke Seattle's way. Seb Le Toux had got goal side of Uwimana and seemed to go down due to the effects of his clumsy tackle. The referee awarded a penalty but replays showed that Le Toux had stubbed his foot into the turf and tripped. Nonetheless Seattle weren’t complaining and O’Brien gleefully netted the penalty to give the Sounders the lead. There was still time before the interval for Cuellar to find Gardner with a pin point cross but the midfielder’s downward header was pouched on the line by Matt Jordan in the Impact goal.

If the first half was a tale of three goals, the second was dominated by cards as Nik Besagno, Josh Gardner, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Adam Braz and Roberto Brown were booked, along with the two ejections. Sakuda lashed out at Felix Brillant after being floored by a tackle from behind in the 78th and Pesoli received his second yellow of the match five minutes later.

There was some football played in the second half. Six minutes in Le Toux found O’Brien whose effort produced a superb point blank save from Matt Jordan. If Seattle had been fortunate with the penalty call in the first period, then the official balanced it out by denying them as clear a spot kick as you will see in the second. Sanna Nyassi had come on in the 73rd minute, replacing Roger Levesque. Within seconds he was torturing the Impact defence and had beaten them all and worked his way into a shooting position. He was abruptly halted by Felix Brillant who, chasing back, hacked him down. Nyassi was in a clear scoring position and had the official called the foul, a red card should and would have been shown to the fortunate Brillant.

Instead of receiving one, four minutes later Brillant was goading Kevin Sakuda into getting one. Making the most of his apparent immunity, Brillant clattered into Sakuda near the half way line. The Seattle full back, by then filling in for Nik Besagno in the midfield holding role, had seen enough and foolishly lashed out at his opponent. The referee had no option but to dismiss him and he will be suspended for the return leg. After the game Schmetzer was generous to Montréal and rather than apportion blame admitted that “Kevin lost his head a little bit and he’s not flying to Montréal. I’m not giving him a free vacation.” He’ll be a more than welcome guest at the Atlantic Crossing where the Seattle fans will gather for the return leg.

Briefly it looked like the Impact could make their man advantage pay as they went in search of the equalizer. Roberto Brown took some time off from his constant negotiation with the referee and creatively found Antonia Ribeiro in the penalty box. Ribeiro did everything right but found Eylander in sparkling form to preserve Seattle’s lead. If Eylander can reproduce that in the hostile environment in the second leg, then Seattle may well be in with a fine chance of progressing.

After that though, what little discipline was left in the game evaporated. Stefan Pesoli was shown a second yellow card in the space of twelve minutes. A minute later, the more observant in the crowd saw Cedric Joqueviel deck Taylor Graham off the ball in the Montréal penalty area. It was all very unedifying and one suspects the effect will spill over into the second leg. Brian Schmetzer suspects it too, “Any time you have two groups of men with a lot of testosterone who play each other two days after a game that’s a little physical. It’s probably set up to be another physical match. I don’t think the guys are going to forget after a day and a half what went on out on the field. There are all the little individual battles outside of the major fracases. It should be a spirited affair.”

The return leg kicks off at 2pm Pacific time (5 Eastern). If the aggregate scores are level at full time, extra time will be played. Away goals do not count double. After extra time, a penalty shoot out will decide the winner. In the other qurter finals, Vancouver beat Minnesota 2-0 and Rochester beat Charleston 2-0 to complete a clean sweep of home victories.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott; Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (Youssuf Kante 88’), Josh Gardner (Kenji Treschuk 82’), Nik Besagno (Adam West 61’), Leighton O'Brien; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque (Sanna Nyassi 73’)
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon; Andre Schmid, Kevin Forrest,

Montréal Impact: Matt Jordan, Davy Uwimana (Adam Braz 55’), Cedric Joqueviel, Stefano Pesoli, Leo Di Lorenzo; Simon Gatti, Antonio Ribeiro, Mauro Biello (Severino Jefferson 81’), Tony Donatelli (Félix Brillant; 55’); Rocco Placentino (Joey Gjertsen 63), Roberto Brown
Substitutes: Andrew Weber, Pato Aguilera, Patrick Leduc

Attendance 2,865.

 

 

Old Friends Meet Again and Both Have Reasons to be Confident

But Could This Be "Sayonara" Starfire?

September 23

The Sounders now enter the play-off finale to the season and some would say their existence. They approach the quarter final match with Montréal Impact in a less than hearty mood with recent performances baffling coach Brian Schmetzer and fans alike. Goals have been shipped by experienced defenders making basic errors, but as a frustrated Schmetzer pointed out after the last game, the errors seem to emanate from a different player every time. But just as it seems to have broken itself, it may well fix itself and traditionally the play-offs have brought the best out of Schmetzer’s sides. Add to that the incentive that for the first time this season a loss poses the risk that it may cost Seattle their Champions title, and you get the feeling that a rejuvenated Sounders may show up on Friday for the first leg against Montréal Impact. That, at least, is the hope for the home side.

So what of Montréal? Against all predictions and despite a wretched start to the USL season which actually saw them occupy bottom place for a while, the have reached the league stages of the CONCACAF Champions League and performed admirably so far. They also saw a second half turnaround in their USL form that saw them finish a creditable third. This week they played Mexican giants Atlante and managed a goalless draw. They now have four points from two CL games having earlier defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Joe Public who humbled the MLS New England Revs. But will their schedule be their worst enemy? They flew into Seattle straight from the home game against Atlante and have to then fly back to prepare for the return leg. Perhaps Seattle can expose a little bit of fatigue tonight?

Seattle's league record is a symmetrical 10 wins, 10 draws and 10 defeats. Montréal have two more wins and two more draws. Defeat for Montréal will mean they can focus totally on their exciting Champions League run. Defeat for Seattle will mean the end of the club as we know it. Maybe just maybe, the Sounders will want this more? It certainly represents the very last chance for certain players to make that MLS squad and quite a few seem to be on that threshold where a good performance might just make a difference. So we have two clubs that couldn’t be at more diametrically opposite places in their lives. As if that isn’t enough, there is some bad blood between the clubs. After the last meeting the two coaches ‘had words’ and it is an understatement to say that Montréal's John Limniatis is a fiery character.

Team News

Seattle now seems to have a healthy roster. Taylor Graham’s absence contributes to uncertainty in the Sounders central defence and his absence against Vancouver exposed this. He’ll be back on Friday and midfielder Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar will be available to shore up the creative department should Schmetzer want to go down that route. Schmetzer retains confidence in his players till then end. "We’re still the defending champions and though we haven’t played up to our potential, that capability is still within this group of players," he said.

Montréal fielded a very strong squad against Atlante and didn’t appear to pick up any fresh injuries. Forward Peter Byers picked up his second yellow card of the tournament against Atlante and will miss their next CL game so there will be no need to rest him.

Past Meetings

The Sounders and Impact have met three times this season going 1-1-1 with each team winning one on their opponents’ home field. Seattle was host to the first match June 28 which ended in a 1-1 draw. Andre Schmid scored in the 80th minute to give the Sounders the lead, but Impact defender Stefano Pesoli equalised four minutes later earning the draw.

In their next meeting on July 13, the Sounders squeezed out a 1-0 win at Saputo Stadium in Montréal despite being out shot by the home side 15-4. The Sounders were playing their seventh game in two weeks including having played two MLS sides in the US Open Cup. Montréal controlled the match throughout but Sébastien Le Toux took advantage of one of the rare Sounders scoring opportunities and delivered the winner in the 73rd minute. That defeat dumped the Impact in Portland’s rightful place at the bottom of the table but John Limniatis who had replaced Nick De Santis as head coach a month earlier was already turning things round.

The Impact won the final match of the season two weeks ago, September 10, 2-1 behind second half goals from Tony Donatelli and Antonio Ribeiro. Youssouf Kante scored his second goal of the year in the loss.

Playoff Bracket

Friday, September 26
#2 Vancouver Whitecaps v Minnesota Thunder at #7
#4 Rochester Rhinos v Charleston Battery at #5
#6 Seattle Sounders v Montreal Impact at #3

Sunday, September 28
#7 Minnesota Thunder v #2 Vancouver Whitecaps
#5 Charleston Battery v #4 Rochester Rhinos
#3 Montreal Impact v #6 Seattle Sounders

*Puerto Rico Islanders finished #1 and earned bye to semifinals

Things You Should Know about the Play-offs (from Seattle Sounders Website)

Friday will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two clubs in the playoffs. In the 2004 A-League Championship game, Montreal defeated Seattle 2-0 behind goals from Mauricio Vincello and Freddy Commodore giving the Impact their second title in team history.

The Sounders returned the favor a year later defeating the regular season champion Impact in the semifinals 4-3 on aggregate on way to their third league Championship. Current Sounders Leighton O’Brien and Roger Levesque both scored in that series; Levesque’s goal was an extra time winner in the second leg catapulting the Sounders into the championship game. Last year, the Sounders went through the Carolina RailHawks (3-0) and Puerto Rico Islanders (3-3, 4-2 on penalties) en route to the Championship game where they defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-0 at Starfire.

The match is set for Friday, September 26 at Starfire; kickoff is 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $13 in advance through www.ticketmaster.com and $15 at the gate. $13 group tickets are available by calling 425-203-8303. First 1,000 fans receive a Sounders bobblehead Stadium gates open at 5:30 pm.

Seattle Sounders (probable): Chris Eylander; Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott; Kenji Treschuk, Josh Gardner, Youssuf Kante, Leighton O'Brien; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon; Jason Cascio, John Fishbaugher, Andre Schmid, Michael Rodriguez, Kevin Forrest, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Sanna Nyassi,

Montréal Impact (from): Andrew Weber; Adam Braz, Davy Uwimana, Stefano Pesoli, Alex Surprenant; Sandro Grande, Simon Gatti, Antonio Ribeiro, Pato Aguilera, Gason Gregory, Joey Gjertsen, Félix Brillant; Tony Donatelli; Severino Jefferson, Peter Byers, Substitutes: Matt Jordan; David Testo, Roberto Brown, Rocco Placentino, Leo Di Lorenzo

Seattle Sounders 1 : 1 Atlanta Silverbacks

One Defensive Lapse Robs Seattle of Win But Not Play-off

September 13

The Sounders secured the point required to qualify for the play-off stage of the 2009 USL season but there was little other reason for euphoria at the Starfire Sports Complex tonight. Against an average Silverbacks side who boasted the worst defensive record in the league and who hadn't beaten Seattle for over two years, a draw was hardly the pinnacle of achievement. Yet Sébastien Le Toux scored his twentieth goal of the season and became the first Sounder since Mark Baena in 1998 to do so and Kenji Treschuk provided the assist and had perhaps his best game for quite a while signaling a welcome return to form. Said Coach Brian Schmetzer "Kendji Treschuk had a decent game, not just because of the assist but that's better than I'd seen him play. In the middle of the season his hamstring was really limiting him but now he's ok."</p>

However, Coach Schmetzer was clearly irritated at the defensive lapse which allowed Atlanta their equaliser, especially as it was two of the normally most secure and reliable defenders, Danny Jackson and Taylor Graham, who were involved. Macoumba Kandji returning after a five game absence netted the 55th minute equaliser. "Letting in another soft goal after we worked on defending on our only training day, Friday. We worked on defenders with two lines of four. I hauled the guys up for a meeting, watched film, made it pretty clear to them that they're a veteran group, they don't make mistakes like that, you understand that if you make them it's worse than when the forwards don't score, you're mentally tough. We had a pat on the back meeting and said this is where we need to do better and then we end up giving away another soft goal."

Atlanta were buoyed at the start by the return of start striker Kandji who had missed the last five games, all losses. But it would be fair to say that Seattle had the better of a flat first half and passed the ball around with considerable confidence. Atlanta center half Justin Moore was forced to head a Kevin Sakuda cross over his own bar in the tenth minute and 19 minutes later Roger Levesque found Le Toux in the box but he couldn't direct his shot. A minute later came a talking point when the impressive Sean Cameron in his second game for Atlanta seemed to be fouled by Zach Scott when in a scoring position. Luckily for Scott, the referee hadn't seen the soft red card awarded to Chelsea's John Terry in a morning game from England; even luckier for Scott he didn't see a foul at all. The two number 17s had an impressive battle at both ends of the park and it was a shame that Cameron had to go off in 37 minutes, as the battle between the two was both intense and entertaining.

Four minutes later came Seattle's only goal of the game and it was Kenji Treschuk who signed and sealed it, if Le Toux was the deliverer. Treschuk picked up possession just outside the left side of Atlanta's penalty area and charged in. Buffeted about like a bagatelle ball, he refused to do the easy thing and fall down looking for a penalty. His patience and honesty were rewarded when he reached the goal line, looked up and saw Seb Le Toux standing there unmarked. A slide rule pass duly placed the ball at Seb's feet and he is unlikely to score an easier goal all year. Surprisingly this was only Treschuk's second assist of the season but hopefully his full recovery from an injury will herald more in the play-offs to come.

The Sounders held the lead to half time although ominously Cameron's replacement Aaron Payne turned Danny Jackson easily five minutes before half time but shot over. There was still time for Zach Scott to pass to Josh Gardner whose back was to goal. Rather than hold the ball up, Gardner laid off a beautiful one touch pass to Roger Levesque but the forward's shot went wide.

There really wasn't much incident to the second half outside the Atlanta equalising goal. Five minutes into it, Jackson and Graham combined to lose possession to Kandji, then were left leaden footed as he bore down on an undefended Eylander. A scorer of his quality odesn't require a second invitation and his finish stunned but hardly surprised the more knowledgable of the 3650 crowd.

The Sounders now have one regular season game left, at home to Vancouver in what will be the last regular season fixture in the USL Sounders history. The local rivalry spices up what is now a relatively meaningless game. Vancouver will have to settle for second unless Puerto Rico lose both remaining games including one that takes place before the match at Starfire. The Sounders may be in a position to grab third but more likely their fate is fourth or fifth, either of which leaves them the same opponent. By game day, the position will be far clearer. As Vancouver and Seattle now seem unlikely to meet at least in round one of the play-offs, it seems possible that the encounter will be the last competitive local derby for some time. A good crowd is expected from the north and kick off is 7pm on September 20th.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott; Kenji Treschuk, Josh Gardner, Youssuf Kante, Leighton O'Brien; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon;, Jason Cascio, John Fishbaugher, Noah Merl, Sanna Nyassi, Michael Rodriguez, Kevin Forrest.

Atlanta Silverbacks: Felipe Quintero-Monsivais; Brent Sancho, David Hayes, Justin Moore, Matthew Bobo, Josh Bolton, Rodrigo Rios-Rodriguez, Tony McManus, Sean Cameron (Aaron Paye 37'), Jason McLaughlin, Macoumba Kandji.
Substitutes: Duke Hashimoto, George Buete, Zach Kirby, Chris Mahaffey.

 

Atlanta Visit Prompts Great Memories for Seattle

But Sounders Have a Point to Move

September 12

Seattle go into this game finding themselves surprisingly in sixth place after Charleston's win in Portland last night. Their visitors Atlanta lie in eighth and are now the only club that can deprive Seattle of a top seven finish. A draw at Starfire will ease Seattle into the play-offs but perhaps more pressing is the inconsistent form of late. Seattle beat Miami comfortably but Montreal were able to leave Tukwila with all three points. Atlanta were of course the visitors on that glorious night 349 days ago when the Sounders clinched the USL title. That all seems a distant memory and of course much has happened in the soccer scene in Seattle since then. Another good omen for the Sounders is the fact that Atlanta haven't beaten the Sounders since June 10th, 2006.

Atlanta have lost five on the trot and have been missing Macoumba Kandji who may well choose Seattle to make his comeback from a sprain suffered in the 0-0 tie against Charleston on August 16. The Silverbacks will also look to new acquisitions Duke Hashimoto and Sean Cameron, who made their Atlanta debuts in the team’s final regular season home match against Rochester. The two previous games this season have seen two Sounders victories, both by two clear goals. Their defense has shipped 47 goals and is the worst in the USL.

In tonight's USL game, Rochester Rhinos entertain league leading Puerto Rico with the Islanders needing four points from their final three games to guarantee a bye into the semi final stage of the play-offs. Sounders stand to leap from over Rochester if they can add a victory to a Rhinos defeat. On Saturday, Minnesota host Charleston and Vancouver entertain the Impact with the former game scheduled to be completed by the time Seattle take the field. Unless Minnesota have won, the Sounders will be certain of a play-off under the somewhat complicated order of methods by which ties are decided.

Relive that night of triumph for the Sounders

Probable Squads:

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott; Kenji Treschuk, Josh Gardner, Youssuf Kante, Leighton O'Brien; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon;, Jason Cascio, John Fishbaugher, Andre Schmid, Sanna Nyassi, Michael Rodriguez, Kevin Forrest

Atlanta Silverbacks: Felipe Quintero-Monsivais; Brent Sancho, David Hayes, Justin Moore, Matthew Bobo, Josh Bolton, Rodrigo Rios-Rodriguez, Tony McManus, Duke Hashimoto, Sean Cameron, Jason McLaughlin, Aaron Paye; George Buete, Blake Camp, Martin Lancaster, Chris Mahaffey, Macoumba Kandji, Jerson Monteiro, Ryan McIntosh,

Seattle Sounders 1 : 2 Montréal Impact

Happy 400th Birthday for Montréal as Smash and Grab Raid Floors Seattle

Sounders Still Require a Point for Play-offs

September 10

Montréal Impact continued a very successful run against West Coast sides, adding three points from Seattle to the three collected from Portland earlier in the week. Second half goals from Tony Donatelli and Antonio Ribeiro were split by an equalizer by Seattle midfielder Yousuff Kante. The win guarantees Montréal their play-off place but Seattle have to wait until Saturday’s visit from Atlanta, although intervening results from other games could give them a gentle shove, or in one case a push over the edge.

Coach Brian Schmetzer left Sanna Nyassi on the bench as the returning Zach Scott was the only change from the victory over Miami. Montréal left a slew of players in Quebec for their West Coast tour, victims of injury, suspension or an increased schedule due to their CONCACAF Champions League heroics. Keeper Matt Jordan sat out the game allowing Andrew Weber only his fourth start of the season in what was the Impact’s 400th game in their history.

There were few chances in a hopelessly undistinguished first half which left one wishing the word pulsating had an opposite. The Sounders were the better side but such chances as there were rare and of poor quality. The first chance came for Seattle after two minutes when Youssuf Kante found Sébastien Le Toux, but Antonio Ribeiro reacted first to clear for a corner.

The Sounders had the better of the further early exchanges with Leighton O'Brien once again at the centre of everything, dropping back to collect possession off the back line, as was Yousuff Kante to a greater degree than in previous matches. Nonetheless it was a full quarter of an hour again before either goal came under threat and then it was the Sounders goal under attack as a Joey Gjertsen right wing corner found Adam Braz whose shot was bravely blocked by Kenji Treschuk. Further efforts were speculative. Alex Surprenant was bored enough to try his hand from 40 yards just before the half hour. The ball hadn’t even reached the penalty area when Chris Eylander already knew it was going way wide. Perhaps Seattle’s best chance came just after that when Roger Levesque hesitated after Leighton O'Brien laid it on for a snap shot. His best chance to shoot went as he sought position for a better one.

If the first half was devoid of goalmouth incident, the second was a joy to watch for those who like attacking play. Dominating defences gave way to clever and creative midfields with Josh Gardner on Seattle’s left particularly outstanding. Four minutes into the second period, Leighton O'Brien found him on the wing and his cross beat all defenders but was marginally too hard for two onrushing colleagues, Roger Levesque and Taylor Graham.

A minute later, a Kevin Sakuda cross was headed behind by Davy Uwimana who waited in vain for a call from his keeper. Taylor Graham rose to meet Leighton O'Brien’s corner, but headed just over the bar. Gardner continued to torment the Impact defence beating Antonio Ribeiro on the goal line, and this time his low cross was just out of O'Brien’s reach. 58 minutes in, it was O’Brien creating the offence out on the left. He found Roger Levesque inside the penalty area but Levesque scuffed the shot allowing Andrew Weber to pick up easily. Sadly it was from Weber’s subsequent clearance that Montréal took the lead. Joey Gjertsen found himself in space on the Montréal left and his cross was headed in by Tony Donatelli to give Impact the lead. They only held it for three minutes. Josh Gardner’s purple patch hadn’t been halted by the Montréal goal and his cross found Yousuff Kante whose initial effort was blocked. The Frenchman persisted however and the ball ricocheted favourably for him to strike the equaliser.

However, it just wasn’t to be Seattle’s night though there was a level of fortune about Montréal’s winning goal. Tony Donatelli crossed the ball in from the Impact left but Zach Scott’s clearance went more lateral than forward, landing at Antonio Ribeiro’s feet. Ribiero made no mistake with the opportunity to give his side a 2-1 lead that they were not to lose.

With this win, Montréal move into third place where they trail Vancouver by six points but with a game in hand. The two meet in the final leg of Montreal’s west coast tour. Seattle drop to fifth but are still a point away from securing a play off berth. Atlanta visit on Saturday and kick off is at 7pm.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott; Kenji Treschuk, Josh Gardner (Sanna Nyassi 78’), Youssuf Kante, Leighton O'Brien; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque (Kevin Forrest 74’)
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon;, Jason Cascio, John Fishbaugher, Andre Schmid, Michael Rodriguez.

Montréal Impact: Andrew Weber; Adam Braz, Davy Uwimana, Stefano Pesoli, Alex Surprenant; Sandro Grande (Simon Gatti 51’), Antonio Ribeiro (Leo Di Lorenzo 78’), Pato Aguilera (Gason Gregory 89’), Joey Gjertsen (Felix Brillant 70’); Tony Donatelli; Severino Jefferson (Peter Byers 63’)
Substitutes: Matt Jordan; David Testo.

Attendance: 2539

 

Two On Form Teams Collide with Plenty to Play for

September 9

The Sounders are now tantalizingly close to securing a play-off place and may already be eyeing up the best attainable tactical position. Brian Schmetzer is known to be keen to avoid Puerto Rico who seem to be the pick of the USL. With a two point lead over Vancouver and another game left, it seems likely that they will get the bye to the semi finals and Seattle may be able to avoid them until a potential final. But if coach Schmetzer has noticed the form of Ulsterman Colin Clarke's side, then you can be sure so have others. This may keep the USL fixtures competitive to the end although no spice will need to be added to the visit of of neighbours Vancouver for the final regular season game in USL Sounders history.

First though, Seattle welcomes Vancouver's compatriots from the province of Quebec. Montreal have recovered rapidly after a poor start to the season and have won four and drawn one of their last five USL games. They also won the Canadian Cup to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League where they eliminated Real Esteli of Nicaragua to reach the Champions League stage of that tournament. Their last outing was a 2-0 win over Portland with goals from midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo and forward Peter Byers. Impact are one point behind Seattle with a game in hand, so Wednesday's game is very important to get the best play-off place, not to mention being a match between two teams really hitting form at the right time.

It also may be a good pointer as a cursory look at the table suggests a reasonable chance the two clubs may be play-off opponents. Zach Scott will be available again after a two game suspension for the home side but Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto will serve the third of a three game suspension and forwards Roberto Brown and Severino Jefferson both missed the Portland victory due to knee injuries. Seattle forward Roger Levesque was day-to-day after receiving a back injury in the win over Miami.

Seattle Sounders 3 : 0 Miami FC Blues

Rampant Sounders on Brink of Play-offs

Leighton O'Brien Returns with Goal Double to Sink Floridians

September 6

This was the night it all came right for the Sounders as two goals from Leighton O'Brien and one from Sébastien Le Toux earned a decisive victory over Miami. O'Brien was making his competitive return after a wrist injury had sidelined him for 6 weeks and he played with a cast. Notwithstanding any tentativeness, he had one of his most outstanding games for Seattle and seemed to cover every inch of the pitch. After the match Brian Schmetzer paid tribute to his influence on the team, "Leighton always seems to be the guy who takes over the games down the stretch, the big games. He's a leader on the field with his play more than through his words. He is fiery and sometimes uses bad words to referees. But with his play, if a player is under a bit of pressure, Leighton comes along yelling 'Give it to me' and as a player you know how valuable that is because if you can find that one guy, that makes your job a little easier. You can play a little better. So the guys are more confident in their own abilities because there's a guy there who always wants the ball."

Seattle had new signing Sanna Nyassi on the bench and Adam West started again in place of the suspended Zach Scott. It took less than four minutes for the ominous signs of a busy night for Miami when Cristiano Dias cleared a Yousuff Kante effort off his own line with Blues keeper Josh Saunders stranded having flapped at a cross. It was a harbinger of things to come as Dias generally made a nuisance of himself and Saunders proceeded to make several further errors of judgment. Ten minutes after the first scare Kevin Sakuda's cross found the head of Seattle's tall center-half Taylor Graham. His intelligent nod down landed at the feet of Roger Levesque but once more a defender cleared from under his own bar. It was to be Roger's last action of the night as Dias stuck his knee into the small of Levesque's back and the Seattle forward had to be replaced by the lively Kevin Forrest.

Five minute's later Chris Eylander made his only difficult save of the night, comfortably handling Ansu Toure's free kick. But it was to be one of his quieter nights and it was his opposite number Saunders that was about to make the headlines. In a bizarre sequence of events, Leighton O'Brien found Le Toux with a piercing through ball. The Frenchman found himself in the Miami penalty box but still a good twelve yards out and well wide of the goal. He also found himself confronted with Saunders who had charged out to tackle him. Le Toux tried at first to shield the ball from him and then to round him. No defender came to Saunders' aid and as Le Toux tried to swerve around the keeper, Saunders stuck out a hand and tripped the Seattle forward. Referee Andrew Gage had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. O'Brien stepped up and hammered the ball in convincingly to give the Sounders a well deserved 1-0 lead.

Miami nearly hit back instantly but Eylander grabbed Ricardo Cavalcante's header at the second attempt after an accurate Walter Ramirez corner pinpointed him. On the stroke of half time, Leo Inacio Nunes missed what was to be Miami's last chance as he volleyed wide after an unseemly mix-up in the Sounders defence.

The second half was unquestionably dominated by Seattle. Four minutes into it, Kenji Treschuk made progress into the penalty box from the left and his cross, though not hit powerfully, wasn't dealt with by either defender or goalkeeper. To his glee, Le Toux found the ball at his feet and the goal wide as the Bois de Boulogne as he slotted home for a 2-0 lead. At that point Miami's heads went down and Seattle looked comfortable. They even began to show some deft touches and some of their football was among the best they have played in the USL all season. There wasn't too much to show for it in the way of goal attempts but Kevin Forrest drew foul after foul from a harassed Miami defence. Half way through the second period, Josh Gardner playing his first USL game as a married man produced a good save from Saunders but it only delayed the inevitable.

On 76 minutes, Leighton O'Brien picked up the ball inside the Miami half and ran at the defenders, beating a couple before coolly and accurately drilling the ball past Saunders' despairing right hand. 3676 were there to witness the match, Tukwila's largest crowd of the season. New signing Sanna appeared for the last seven minutes and showed just why Brian Schmetzer described him as "Quick, lightening quick." Fans will be hoping to see more of him against in form Montreal on Wednesday although Kevin Forrest's excellent outing tonight may put him first in the queue should Levesque not be fit.

The Sounders are now one win away from securing a play-off place although a draw against Atlanta on September 13th will probably be enough. First up, they receive Montreal Impact on September 10th at Starfire. Before that Vancouver face Minnesota Thunder in BC and Montreal host Portland at the Saputo. Two Canadian victories will leave Seattle just one point short of a confirmed play-off place.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Taylor Graham, Danny Jackson, Kevin Sakuda, Adam West (Jason Cascio 73'); Kenji Treschuk, Youssouf Kante (Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar 71'), Josh Gardner, Leighton O'Brien (Sanna Nyassi 82'); Roger Levesque (Kevin Forrest 24'), Sébastien Le Toux.
Substitutes not used: Ben Dragavon, Michael Rodríguez, Nik Besagno.

Miami FC Blues: Josh Saunders; Eric Brunner, Chris Williams, Cristiano Dias (Juan Pablo Falavis 60'), Walter Ramirez (Eric Vasquez 60'); Jarryd Goldberg, Bruno Menezes (Connaly Edozien 79'), Ricardo Calvacante, Leo Inácio Nunes (Cauê da Mata 60'); Ansu Toure, Sean Fraser.
Substitutes not used: Sam Reynolds, John Pulido.

Attendance: 3676

 

Preview: Sounders Take On The Miami FC Blues At Starfire

Four Home Games Left To Make Play-Offs

The Seattle Sounders (9-8-9) continue their quest for postseason position against the Miami FC Blues (6-10-10) Saturday, September 6 at Starfire. Miami may be the only side not actually in contention for a play-off place. With three games left, they would need to take all nine points to have any chance and would need a slew of other results to go their way. The Sounders seem certain to book their berth if victory over Miami is coupled with Portland losing to Rochester today, or Vancouver beating Minnesota on Sunday.

In the two-week break from league play, the Sounders played three friendlies, all victories, beating Seattle University (3-0), University of Washington (1-0) and San Jose Earthquakes of MLS (2-1).

The Sounders last league game came August 24 at Starfire in an exciting 4-3 victory over the Carolina RailHawks. Josh Gardner ended a 281-minute Sounders scoring drought with a first-half goal, then scored the equalizer midway through the second half. Sébastien Le Toux netted the game-winner with his 11th of the season in the 65th minute as Seattle rallied twice to pull out the win despite a hat trick from RailHawks forward Hamed Diallo. Gardner’s two goals earned him USL-1 Team of the Week honors.

Miami have proved a tough defensive nut to crack. Their two games against Seattle have finished goalless. Miami has 13 clean sheets and forward Alex Alfonso leads the USL-1 in points and goals with 32 and 14 respectively, but the club has just six wins this season. Last week, Miami and Minnesota faced off in back-to-back contests with the Thunder winning 2-1 on Friday, and drawing 1-1 on Sunday. In their last outing however, Miami lost to the Portland Timbers 4-0 Thursday at PGE Park and currently lie in tenth place with 28 points.

Seattle Sounders  4 : 3 Carolina Railhawks

Swashbuckling Sounders Soak Dry Spell in the Pouring Rain

Sounders Keep Their Heads above Water as Jolly Roger Nets One and Gardner Two in Goal Romp

August 24

The Seattle Sounders returned to winning ways in style with a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Railhawks. Two offensive minded sides traded goals in a thrilling encounter that kept 2008 spectators enthralled till the final whistle. On a night of heroes, Josh Gardner claimed a brace as both Ciaran O'Brien and Yousuff Kante put pinpoint crosses on his head. Returning forward Roger Levesque looked fully fit for the first time since an injury kept him sidelined and much to the delight of the crowd put himself on the scoresheet again with a header. Seb Le Toux also returned to his scoring ways as Seattle showed an attacking flair they've been missing in recent weeks.

But that's only one side of the story that unfolded tonight. Carolina's Hamed Diallo scored a hat-trick and became the first player to score three goals and lose against the Sounders since a pre season match against the Salem Surge in March 1996. Lively and threatening throughout, the Railhawks will lament their set piece defending which allowed Seattle so many chances to strike.

The drama didn't take long to start as within 80 seconds of kick off Seattle had a strong claim for a penalty when Carolina keeper Chris McClellan appeared to hold back Ciaran O'Brien. It wasn't the last problem O'Brien caused them as fourteen minutes later he sent over a powerful cross from the right onto the head of Josh Gardner. It landed perfectly for Gardner to stoop and send a firm header beyond McClellan to give Seattle the lead. He later admitted he had considered volleying it, half volleying it, and the effect the meteorological conditions might have on either of those options before opting to use his head. In short, he had plenty of time so good was O'Brien's cross. The Sounders were rampant and four minutes later Yousuff Kante, having his best game in a Sounders uniform, thumped a wicked shot against the bar with the keeper beaten after Levesque laid the ball back for him. A minute later the underfoot conditions foiled Le Toux as he tried to round one defender too many and slipped.

At that point it looked like the Sounders might blow away their challengers but Carolina displayed a devastating turn of pace and some slick passing just two minutes later. The effervescent Marti Nunez slipped an accurate pass to Diallo who blasted the ball into the Seattle net from just inside the penalty area. He repeated the feat shortly after, finding Santiago Fusilier on this occasion but his shot was too high. The play swept up the other end of the pitch within seconds and a Kenji Treschuk header from a corner was cleared off the line as the Hawks continued to struggle at set pieces.

But it was just the break the visitors needed and the next move of the game saw them take the lead for the first time. Ronald Cerritus took the ball off Kante in the center circle and ran at the home defence. He played the ball out to the right where Fusilier was overlapping and his cross was scrambled home by the onrushing Diallo. It was tough luck for Seattle who were playing some of their finest football in weeks at this point.

Unlike the defeat against Puerto Rico, the heads stayed up this time and just two minutes after going behind, Yousuff Kante had another try from a distance, producing a fine save from McClellan. The match refused to pause for breath and the action was pulsating. Five minutes later came the moment the Sounders have all waited too long for. A corner from Ciaran O'Brien landed firmly on the head of Roger Levesque and the Maine man made no mistake heading decisively into the net. Four goals had been scored in twenty minutes and the half time whistle was greeted with one last Kante long range effort which sailed narrowly by.

However once more the home euphoria was punctured by a game opposition and it didn't take long. The second half was just three minutes old when Diallo completed a fine hat trick. Defensively this was probably the worst of the goals as he found himself with the ball in Seattle's penalty area with not much company, Sanfillipo claiming the assist. At that point despite all the great things they'd done in the first fifty minutes, things looked bleak for Seattle. But Monsiuer Kante was far from finished and on 63, he sent over another perfect cross which Gardner gratefully thumped home with his head. If you're seeking an explanation as to why Josh Gardner was having things handed on a plate to him by his colleagues, we can help. Josh is getting married this weekend and perhaps these were the best presents his team mates could think of. We of course wish him all the best and if the sound of wedding bells continues to be accompanied by the ball hitting the back of the net, maybe Coach Schmetzer will be seeking to marry a few more of them off!

The crowd was still celebrating the equaliser when O'Brien's free kick was floated in to the Carolina box intended for Le Toux. Despite the attentions of a Railhawks defender, the Frenchman kept his balance and rounded the keeper. However, he seemed to have been forced too wide by the fallen McClellan to score, but somehow slotted the ball home from a tight angle to giver Seattle a 4-3 lead.

There were more scares and spills thereafter and substitute Cascio blasted over a good chance for a fifth after Michael Rodriguez on for O'Brien had tested the keeper, but the Sounders had done enough to win. They dug deep, survived a very threatening period of Carolina pressure, came from behind twice and deserved the points.

They have a little breathing space now and many of the their play off rivals play each other while they get a 13 day break before resuming the battle.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander; Adam West, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Kevin Sakuda; Kenji Treschuk, Ciaran O'Brien (Michael Rodriguez 78'), Yousuff Kante (Jason Cascio 74’), Josh Gardner (Kevin Forrest 65'); Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque.
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon; Nik Besagno, Noah Merl, John Fishbaugher.

Carolina Railhawks: Chris McClellan; Frankie Sanfilippo, Maricio Segovia, Caleb Norkus, Eddie Gutierrez, Matt Watson; Kupono Low, Santiago Fuslier (Steve Curfman 72'), Martin Nunez (David Stokes 85'); Ronald Cerritus (Dan Antoniuk 81'), Hamed Diallo (Rey Martinez 74')

Substitutes: Brian Levey; Chad Dombrowski, David Lilly.

On Form Railhawks Present Different Challenge for Sounders

Play-offs within Sight for Sounders

Say the word Hawks around any Sounders fans at the moment and you’ll usually get a good reaction. Whether you call it a marriage or an adoption, the relationship between the Sounders and their NFL future roommates has been harmonious. Well, there are some less friendly Hawks in town this weekend in the shape of the Carolina Railhawks. Like Seattle the Railhawks have their hawk’s eye set on a USL play off position. Unlike Seattle, they’re moving in the right direction.

In their last match played Friday, Carolina defeated Minnesota 2-1 and moved up to 27 points. The win was their second in a row after defeating Miami 3-2 on August 15 and they sit just one point from playoff position behind Montreal and Portland both on 28 points. Seattle have been struggling lately and a loss to Minnesota was followed by their elimination from the US Open Cup. Puerto Rico and Vancouver have since visited Starfire and the Sounders have failed to score. Not counting the own goal in Charleston, is it 344 minutes since the last Sounder netted. Worse still, the Sounders haven’t netted Carolina so far this season with one point of a possible six.

For Seattle, Zach Scott is suspended. Cuban midfielder Rey Angel Martinez who played the past three and a half seasons with the Rochester Rhinos, could make his debut for Carolina.

Play Off Picture

Puerto Rico (44 points), Vancouver (42) and Charleston (36) are standing one, two and three. They look certain to make the play offs and Vancouver’s victory over Portland on Friday kept them well in the hunt to win the league. Seattle are fourth on 33 but all their remaining games are at home: Carolina (August 25), Miami (September 6), Montreal (September 10), Atlanta (September 13) and Vancouver (September 20). Behind them lie Atlanta and Rochester, sitting just one and two points back of Seattle. They meet each other twice in the next week and one of them could overtake Seattle, while the other may well fall further behind. Montreal and Portland are currently tied for the seventh and the final playoff spot (28 points), while Carolina's victory Sunday was enough to draw level with Minnesota for eighth (27 points). Miami currently is last (24 points), but with seven games remaining have hopes of climbing into playoff position.

Kick off is at 7pm.

Seattle Sounders  0 : 0 Vancouver Whitecaps

Rain Falls but Sounders Resist Vancouver Tide

Eylander’s Heroics Save Seattle

August 20

Seattle Sounders can thank Chris Eylander for leaving Starfire Complex with a point tonight after the Vancouver Whitecaps dominated a scoreless tie. The visitors from the north were missing three key players in Jeff Clarke, Justin Moose and Eduardo Sebrango while the Sounders had to manage without either O’Brien. Whereas the last sub par performance by Seattle had seen their opponents leave with all three points, this time the Sounders did just about enough to scrape a draw although some poor Vancouver finishing assisted. They did however keep fighting till the final whistle and credit must be given to some players who are clearly struggling for form for their continued effort in the pouring rain.

A quiet opening was devoid of goal mouth action as 3203 hardy spectators tried to protect themselves from the elements. It took well over twenty minutes before Kenji Treschuk fired the first shot straight at Jay Nolly in the visitor’s goal and at the other end Alfredo Valente took advantage of a Taylor Graham slip to feed the lively Nick Addlery whose header was cleared. Shortly after, Lyle Martin hit the side netting after Charles Gbeke’s pass released him.

Just after the half hour, Taylor Graham rose above everyone in the Whitecaps box but headed Yousuff Kante’s cross wide. It was a good period for the Sounders, and seconds later Roger Levesque’s pass put Sébastien Le Toux through but Nolly was up to the challenge and saved.

Seattle did not control the game for long and soon it was swinging back Vancouver’s way. Seven minutes before the interval, Chris Eylander denied Nick Addlery again after good work from Martin. From the resultant corner, Kevin Forrest became an unlikely Sounders defensive hero as he hooked the ball out from under the cross bar.

Despite all Eylander’s good work, the most remarkable save of the night came from Jay Nolly nine minutes after half time. Taylor Graham rose to meet a corner and although Nolly was going in the wrong direction, he stuck out a hand to get just enough on the ball to frustrate the Seattle center-half. Three minutes later, an off form Le Toux was given a chance from a quick Kenji Treschuk throw but lobbed wide. As the rain came down, conditions were difficult for defenders and Graham was the next to slip providing Alfredo Valente with the best chance of the night. He missed. Two minutes later on 74, it was Michael Rodriguez’s turn to lose possession to Lyle Martin. His pass found Addlery whose shot produced yet another fantastic save from Eylander.

Vancouver found time to give a debut to youth system product Randy Edwini-Bonsu, and luckily for the Sounders he was still finding the pace of the game when another Eylander save rebounded at his feet. The youngster blasted the ball over an open goal. A minute later, after Eylander made yet another save, Whitecaps heads seem to go down and accept this wasn’t to be their night.

Incredibly there was yet one more scare for Seattle and one more gallant act of bravery by Eylander. This time the threat came from his own player. In trying to foil the pacey Edwini-Bonsu, Zach Scott propelled the ball to his own goal. It looked like curtains for Seattle but Eylander scrambled back to scoop the ball away.

Seattle will be grateful for a point against one of the league's leaders, especially as several key players just can’t seem to find form at the same time. It happens in football and the squad did show a certain amount of gumption and grit to work their way through it tonight. Their next fixture is home to the bottom side Carolina and with the Railhawks having to play in Minnesota just 48 hours before they fly in, Seattle must surely welcome this opportunity to get back to winning ways. And scoring ways. It’s now 344 minutes since a Seattle played scored a goal, Jason Cascio’s against Minnesota. With Eylander in this form, one may be enough.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander, Zach Scott, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Kevin Sakuda; Kenji Treschuk (Adam West, 85’), Michael Rodriguez, Yousuff Kante (Jason Cascio 79’), Kevin Forrest; Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque.
Substitutes: Ben Dragavon; Nik Besagno, John Fishbaugher, Craig Tomlinson, Josh Gardner

Vancouver Whitecaps: Jay Nolly; Luca Bellisomo, Wesley Charles, Omar Jarun, Takashi Hirano; Martin Nash, Alfredo Valente, Lyle Martin (Vicente Arze 86’), Mason Trafford; Charles Gbeke (Jason Jordan 45’), Nick Addlery (Randy Edwini-Bonsu 83’)
Substitutes: Simon Thomas, Diaz Kambere, Steph Leslie, Ethan Gage.

Sounders Seek to Bounce Back against Title Chasing Whitecaps

Always Welcome Guests Visit for the Penultimate Time

Vancouver Whitecaps trail USL leaders Porto Rico by three points with a game in hand. That game is a Cascadia Cup encounter at Starfire this Wednesday with Northwest rivals Seattle Sounders. Seattle sit fourth on goal difference although Atlanta sitting fifth have two games more to play. The Sounders would be fifth but for Rochester being penalised a point for failing to withdraw the suspended Andrew Gregor in the right game. (See? We told you he was trouble!)

Unlike the rivalry with Portland, most Sounders fans look forward to friendly and sporting banter with their friends from the north, and despite it being midweek everyone concerned will welcome the appearance of a vociferous away support. There is one more visit for the Caps to Seattle on September 20th, but thereafter only a USL play off this year can guarantee another match. Vancouver Whitecaps are ineligible to enter the US Open Cup due to being Canadian, so there won't be any future Seattle-Vancouver games from that source. Hopefully other ways can be found to preserve this longstanding local rivalry.

Whitecaps Team News

Teitur Thordarson's side face another busy week of league action, with Vancouver's visit to Tukwila coming three nights after an eventful goalless draw with Puerto Rico at Swangard and two days before hosting Portland at Swangard. Despite creating numerous chances, the Whitecaps were unable to find a way past Islanders goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. At least they didn’t concede three. Eduardo Sebrango and assistant coach Todd Wawrousek were shown red cards for dissent. Consequently Sebrango will miss the match through suspension. Also missing are two midfielders, club captain Jeff Clark with a hamstring and Justin Moose with a groin strain. Randy Edwini-Bonsu may make his first team debut.

The Whitecaps will win their third Cascadia Cup title, should they beat Seattle on Wednesday and take a further three points at home versus the Timbers on Friday.

Sounders Round up

Long term injury Leighton O’Brien is still unavailable, although Zach Scott’s suspension doesn't begin until after this game. Josh Gardner and Ciaran O'Brien are listed as questionable with hamstring problems and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar is still struggling and is doubtful. Seattle need a win and a draw in the final two matches with Vancouver, and this would give the Sounders their third straight Cascadia Cup title.

Enough has been written about the effects of the hangover from Tuesday’s US Open Cup defeat in Charleston on the subsequent game against Puerto Rico. Sounders fans will be hoping some of the more experienced players will help lift heads and deliver a battling performance such as the one that ended a previous bad run against the Battery. Seattle dug very deep that night and were not found wanting in spirit. Fans will also be looking for evidence that Roger Levesque is continuing his return to match fitness, although Kevin Forrest was one of the few Sounders who impressed and Brian Schmetzer may be tempted to give him more minutes.

Wednesday's game will be the 82nd meeting between the two Pacific Northwest clubs starting back in 1994. The Sounders lead the overall series with a record of 43 - 24 with 14 draws. They also lead the all-time series against the Whitecaps in Seattle with 24 wins, eight defeats, and six draws. The match kicks off at 7pm.

Seattle Sounders  0 :  3 Puerto Rico Islanders

Tired Sounders Stranded by Islander Goal Avalanche

Slick Puerto Ricans Take Advantage of Seattle Woe

August 15

The Sounders crumbled to a second consecutive defeat as an on form Puerto Rico side excelled at every facet of the game. Tuesday's extra time and penalties, coupled with the disappointment of losing and the long flight home were all factors in Sounder fatigue but it would be churlish to cite them as sole factors. Two weeks ago the Islanders outplayed Seattle in Puerto Rico and the Sounders stole three points. This time justice was done.

The game was less than five minutes on when the visitors first threatened. An Osei Telesford header from a corner was brilliantly tipped round by Chris Eylander within five minutes of the start. Two minutes later it was Seattle’s turn to threaten when Taylor Graham laid off a chance to Sébastien Le Toux whose effort was blocked. The Sounders in fact, well marshaled by Ciaran O’Brien, competed well for half an hour but when O’Brien began to fade no colleague stepped into the breach to replace him. From about the half hour mark on, Puerto Rico began to gain an ascendancy which they were soon to convert into chances. In the 33rd minute, the red booted Sandi Gbandi ran diagonally unchallenged into the right hand side of the Sounders box. He produced another great save from Chris Eylander. But four minutes later, Puerto Rico’s superiority was repaid when Noah Delgado repeated Gbandi’s run on the other side of the box. His shot seemed to squirm under Eylander’s right hand for the 1-0 lead. It was Delgado’s first goal of the year. It was an effort that Eylander would normally have saved and one wondered what effect the penalty shoot out in Charleston coupled with the signing of Kasey Keller may have had on him.

PR nearly doubled their lead before half time but Telesford headed tamely into the side netting after Alexis Rivera had fed him the ball and Nigel Henry headed his cross so woefully wide that it went back to Telsford wide of the goal. He reacted quickly but not in time to direct the ball goalward. The last chance of the half did fall to Seattle after Kevin Sakuda and Le Toux combined on the right. Sakuda’s final shot from a tight angle brought out the best in Mike Behonick who twisted in the air to tip the ball to safety.

Three minutes into the second half the Islanders threatened again when Kendal Jagdeosingh’s fee kick put Eylander to work although his save was less convincing than usual. Five minutes after that, Delgado struck the post after Jagdeosingh put him through. The clock was ticking for Seattle and thirteen minutes into the second half, the bell chimed. Jagdeosingh was the provider as Elcock’s finish left Eylander little chance. It was also his first goal of the season. Their third goal came just seven minutes after that and this time the red booted Gbandi was the provider and Elcock doubled his tally for the match and the season. It was a sublime finish and no fault could be attributed to Eylander.

Seattle had few chances. Kante shot wide three times and O’Brien had a better pop from a full 35 yards. The out of form Le Toux volleyed the best of the over and Zach Scott volleyed one wide. But the cold statistic is that Behonick was called on to make just three saves.

Zach Scott will serve a two game ban starting after Vancouver visit on Wednesday.

Seattle Sounders – Chris Eylander, Zach Scott, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Kevin Sakuda; Ciaran O’Brien (Adam West 69'), Kenji Treschuk (Kevin Forrest 61'), Yousuff Kante (John Fishbaugher 82'), Nik Besagno (Michael Rodriguez 55'); Sébastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque (Andre Schmid 72').

Puerto Rico Islanders - Mike Behonick, Daniel Ojeda, Nigel Henry, William Yomby, Alexis Rivera, James Marcelin, Sandi Gbandi, Osei Telesford (John Krause 89'), Noah Delgado, Edson Elcock (Josh Hansen 77'), Kendal Jagdeosingh

Charleston Battery   :  Seattle Sounders

US Open Cup Semi Final Special Report: Sounders Biggest Game Ever?

Cup Final at Qwest Would be Fitting Farewell to USL Sounders

August 11

The Sounders leave Minnesota for South Carolina where the Charleston Battery await them in what could be described as one of the most important games in Sounders history. Having won the bidding process for hosting rights to the final, Qwest field would see perhaps the biggest competitive soccer game in its history should Charleston be overcome. However that will be far from easy given the Battery’s outstanding home form. Sounders officials have been quick to point out that this is far from a foregone conclusion.

Looking forward to the game, David Wittstock Sounders Media Relations Manager said, "We're obviously very excited to be hosting a potential cup final but Charleston are a very good team, among the best. This will be a very hard match.” Certainly their last meeting was very close with Sounders ekeing out a hard won 1-0 win at Starfire with a Seb Le Toux goal. Seattle's last trip to the Blackbaud was less successful, resulting in a 1-0 reverse. The goalscorer that day was Lazo Alavanja who will be suspended for Tuesday’s match.

The Sounders recent form has been better of the two despite losing 3-1 in Minnesota with a side composed partially of second string players. Three consecutive victories before that have seen the Sounders climb up the USL table and it is no coincidence that this has coincided with the gradual return from injury of star players. In fact, with the sad exception of Leighton O’Brien, Brian Schmetzer has a fuller squad to select from than he has enjoyed for quite a while.

Leighton’s injury has provided an opportunity for his younger brother Ciaran, and his early Sounders performances have earned him a growing band of admirers. Roger Levesque has only played 77 minutes since his return from injury and he may not be considered fit enough for 90 minutes. However key players Eylander and Le Toux are both in fine form, Treschuk looked very aggressive in the half he played in Minnesota, Danny Jackson has commanded the defence well since his return, and Taylor Graham looks every inch a candidate to play in the MLS. In passing, we should also mention that Nik Besagno has impressed in the small amount of playing time made available to him recently.

In short, no-one in the Emerald City will be seeking excuses if they are unable to prevail.

Battery Expecting a Charged Crowd

But Seattle's task will be far from easy. Charleston stand 10-7-5 in the USL and their home record is even more impressive, 9-2-2 with only ten goals conceded in 13 games. However, recent form hasn’t been so good with just one win in their last six games although it has to be said that only one of those games was at their Blackbaud Stadium. And that was the game they won! So the Battery can be forgiven for the quietly confident air with which they have approached this game.

The main threat from the Battery would appear to come from forward Randi Patterson. With nine goals, the former Red Bulls striker is comfortably the Battery’s top scorer, four ahead of Darren Spicer on five. Mike Richardson leads with just four assists; one ahead of a clutch of team mates which suggests that the Sounders may have to be aware of threats from varying departments. Lazo Alavanja will be unavailable after a red card in the sensational quarter final win over FC Dallas.

But as Charleston Battery President Andrew Bell points out, the Battery are hardly out of their depth at this level. “We are thrilled to be in the semifinals again and look forward to a difficult match against the Sounders. This is our third time in the semis but the first game we have hosted so it’s a chance for our fans to experience the drama of a semifinal in Charleston." Looking forward, he added "We know that Seattle is a good team but we are focused on the potential rewards that a win would produce. Ticket sales have been good, there are no injury worries but Lazo Alavanja will be unavailable for selection due to his ejection in the quarterfinal. The Club’s form has actually been very good over the last couple of weeks, sometimes results are not a good reflection."

The populace, like those in Seattle, are expectant, and Bell acknowledges their past efforts. "Charleston supports us well and if the atmosphere is at all reminiscent of the match versus Houston it will be a special night."

It is sure to be a special night in at least one of these cities separated by an entire continent. DC United and New England Revs will not be taking anything for granted. Live coverage will be available online at >USL Live.