Sounders defeat Caledonia AIA 3-1; Close in on a second straight Champions League Quarterfinal birth

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders have inched closer to a second straight CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal birth. Last night, the Sounders defeated Caledonia AIA 3-1 and are only one win away from clinching a place in the Quarterfinal stage of the Champions League. The Sounders next Champions League match won't be until September 19th when they travel to Honduras to take on C.D. Marathon. Both these teams have faced eachother twice in the group stage of the 2010-11 Champions League. The first meeting was in Honduras with Marathon coming out on top 2-1. The second match was here in Seattle with the Sounders returning the favor and winning 2-0.

In the 10th minute of the match, the Sounders should've been a goal up. Mario Martinez was making his first competitive start for the Sounders and he whipped in a great cross to the far post for a free header from Sammy Ochoa, but his header was saved by Glenroy Samuel as it bounced off his face.

In the 25th minute, Caledonia failed to clear the danger and they gave the ball away in their own area as Ozzie Alonso stepped in and from about 19 yards away fired his shot low and hard with his left foot, but it didn't trouble the goalkeeper and it was an easy save for Samuel.

In the 36th minute, Michael Gspurning found himself under a bit of pressure. Kareem Joseph whipped in a high lofted ball to the far post which started to dip as it came down, and Gspurning had to punch the ball away because there was a player ready to head the ball into the goal or at least put home the rebound if he had any chance.

A few minutes later, Alex Caskey took the corner kick for the Sounders. Glenroy Samuel came out and tried to punch the ball away and the ball bounced to Marc Burch at the far post. Burch looked to take advantage of the goalkeeping mistake but his shot was blocked as Caledonia had four guys on the line to clear the ball away.

In the 45th minute, the Sounders found the breakthrough. Zach Scott made a run forward from his right back position and worked a give and go with Sammy Ochoa, although it was nearly broken up after Ochoa nearly had trouble controlling the ball. Scott got the return as squared the ball across to the near post for Alex Caskey to tap it in for his third goal in all competitions this season and the Sounders took the lead in Trinidad 1-0.

About five minutes into the second half, Caledonia should've pulled level. There was nice through ball played into the area. I don't know who played that ball, I think it might have been Stephan David. Anyway, there was a ball played through and Cornelius Stewart got onto it, but somehow he put it wide.

In the 60th minute, the Sounders doubled their lead and looked to be walking away with all three points. Fredy Montero picked up the ball from Ozzie Alonso and made a nice cut to get past Radanfah Abu Bakr before laying the ball off to Sammy Ochoa. Ochoa received the ball, settled and from the top of the penalty area ripped his shot into the top left hand corner to make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

That was until the 67th minute when Caledonia were awarded a penalty. There was a chip into the penalty area that was intended for Jamaal Gay and Zach Scott appeared to have pulled him down in the area. Referee Javier Santos pointed to the spot immediately, but I didn't think there was enough for that to be a penalty. I thought Gay went down rather easily there. Much like in MLS, CCL officiating has been controversial to say the least. And just like the first Champions League match, Kareem Joseph stepped up to the spot and took the honors for Caledonia AIA and he put his kick inside the left post to cut the Sounders lead in half.

The Sounders responded quickly however and in the 69th minute, they would add a third goal. Alex Caskey made a nice move to get away from Aubrey David and squared the ball across toward the near and Fredy Montero was right there once again to add to his goalscoring tally in all competitions this season and that was the decisive goal for the Sounders as they defeated Caledonia 3-1.

The Sounders turn their attention back to MLS play on Sunday as they head to Frisco to take on FC Dallas.  The Sounders have come away victorious in their last two visits and will look to make it three in a row at FC Dallas Stadium as they chase the San Jose Earthquakes for the Supporters Shield.  Kickoff time is 4pm and will be televised on KONG-TV.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Alex Caskey (Zach Scott, Sammy Ochoa) 45'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa (Fredy Montero) 60'

Caledonia AIA - Kareem Joseph (penalty kick) 67'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (Alex Caskey) 69'


Misconduct summary:

Caledonia AIA - Walter Moore (caution; foul) 17'

Caledonia AIA - Densil Theobald (caution; foul) 29'

Caledonia AIA - Jamaal Gay (caution; foul) 71'

Caledonia AIA - Radanfah Abu Bakr (caution; foul) 87'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mario Martinez (Cordell Cato 29'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Alex Caskey; Sammy Ochoa (Christian Tiffert 86'), Fredy Montero (Leonardo Gonzalez 74')

Caledonia AIA - Glenroy Samuel; Aubrey David, Nuru Abdullah Muhammad, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Walter Moore; Kareem Joseph, Densil Theobald, Stephan David, Cornelius Stewart (Conrad Smith 72'); Jamaal Gay (Abdallah Phillipsa 84'), Kerlon Ferguson (Trevin Caesar 63')

LA Galaxy starts their first team in this match and what happens? Sounders crush them 4-0

By Money Mike


Back on May 2nd, following the Sounders 2-0 home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, so many LA fans were making dumbass excuses. Saying a bunch of stupid bullshit like, "You beat us only because we played our reserves, if we had our first team out there things would've been different." I watched every single minute of that match last night and the LA Galaxy did play their starters. David Beckham was out there, so was Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Omar Gonzalez, Juninho, Josh Saunders, etc. and I got to tell you, all of them played like complete shit. The Seattle Sounders destroyed the Galaxy 4-0 in front of a crowd of 60,908 at CenturyLink Field.

In the fourth minute of the game, Brad Evans went long for Alex Caskey. Now at first the attack looked to have been broke down, but a mistake by defender Omar Gonzalez sent Caskey on a two on one break. Caskey looked to curl the ball into the far corner but Josh Saunders got his hands to it and Fredy Montero couldn't put away the rebound. I don't know how much Montero knew about it, but that would've been the start the Sounders were looking for.

A minute later, the Sounders were on the attack again and this time they got the opening goal. Ozzie Alonso sent Mauro Rosales streaking down the right hand side. Eddie Johnson made a brilliant run into the penalty area and Rosales found him with a terrific cross and EJ puts it away with a snap header from point blank range for his team leading 10th goal of the season which makes him the third player in MLS history to score at least 10 goals in a season for three different clubs. The other two players to do that were Jeff Cunningham and Dwayne De Rosario.

LA started to create some opportunities and they probably should've equalized in the 31st minute. David Beckham played in a good long ball into the box for Landon Donovan who got away from Jeff Parke. Just as Donovan was ready to put the ball away, it took an awkward bounce which forced Donovan to play it back to Robbie Keane whose first timed shot was deflected wide by Parke.

The Sounders doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Eddie Johnson fed the ball to Fredy Montero who poked the ball through to Alex Caskey who may have been offside. Caskey tried to get to the ball before Josh Saunders but Saunders denied Caskey of his first MLS goal. The ball was still in the box however. Fredy Montero chased the ball down and he saw Saunders retreating to his goal, so Fredy decided to give it a go and found the back of the net. Saunders did get a touch to it, but the Sounders extended their lead to two goals with Montero's sixth league goal of the season and his ninth in all competitions.

Nine minutes later, added a third goal. David Beckham was looking to play in a cross to either Robbie Keane or Landon Donovan, but he got it all wrong and instead gave the ball away to Seattle who quickly poured down field in a counter attack. Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero sprinted forward to put pressure on both center backs for LA. Johnson tried to get around David Lopes, but his final touch was too heavy and Josh Saunders broke up the play. However, Alex Caskey stepped in and gave it a go from a long way out because he saw that Saunders was well off his line and he found an empty net for his first MLS goal and more importantly to put the Sounders ahead 3-0.

With just over two minutes to go in the game, the Sounders would add one more to cap of LA's embarrasing night. Mauro Rosales played a good ball down the left side for Marc Burch who slowed the play down before squaring the ball across and there to finish it off was Andy Rose for his first MLS goal and to seal a 4-0 victory over the Galaxy.


Observations:

I'm pretty sure Andy Rose has had a difficult day yesterday leading up to this match with the loss of a friend. Yesterday morning, Rose got a call found out that Columbus Crew player Kirk Urso had passed away. Rose and Urso were close friends, going back to the early days when they were club teammates in Chicago. For Rose to score his first MLS goal in front of over 60,000 strong was a special moment for him and he recieved several messages on his phone from people around the nation who watched this match on ESPN2 last night. To hear that a close friend had died is something that's hard to believe and it's something nobody even wants to believe. You just have to wonder what's been going through his mind leading up to the match.

Christian Tiffert made his debut for the Sounders, coming on in the 64th minute of the match. Tiffert joined the Sounders back on July 28th as a Designated Player. I thought Tiffert did very well on his debut. He gave the ball away only once all match, he did a good job defensively and the partnership with Alonso in the midfield seems to be working to perfection. Sometimes you got to have more than one playmaker on your team, so I'm glad that Tiffert is here in the Emerald City and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with our team getting back to full fitness.

"Pete Carroll @PeteCarroll
Huge 4-0 win for @SoundersFC! And a crowd of 60,000+ too... Seattle fans are unbelievable!"

Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, was at the game last night. There's his picture that he posted on Twitter. Just goes to show that Seattle truely is America's Soccer City. The entire stadium will be open again for the Sounders next home match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 18th and on October 7th when the Portland Timbers come to town. Unlike RFK Stadium, the Rose Bowl, Gillette Stadium or Soldier Field, CenturyLink Field is a great venue for soccer. It was built remember in 2002 to bring in an MLS team and it's great to have one here in Seattle.

So how about we take a look at the highlights from this match.....



This win will really boost the confidence of this team with a couple more tough games ahead of them. Of course on Wednesday, the Sounders will go for their fourth straight U.S. Open Cup title against Sporting Kansas City and then a big road match on Saturday against the first place San Jose Earthquakes. So to get a win like this is a real confidence booster for sure.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 10 (Mauro Rosales 8, Osvaldo Alonso 1) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 6 (unassisted) 52'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alex Caskey 1 (unassisted) 61'

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose 1 (Marc Burch 3, Mauro Rosales 9) 88'


Misconduct summary:

Los Angeles Galaxy - A.J. DeLaGarza (caution; foul) 24'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (caution; time wasting) 60'


Lineups:

Los Angeles Galaxy - Josh Saunders; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, David Lopes (Jose Villarreal 80'), Bryan Gaul; Sean Franklin (Mike Magee 57'), David Beckham, Juninho (Hector Jimenez 70'), Marcelo Sarvas; Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Christian Tiffert 64'), Alex Caskey (Marc Burch 81'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero (Andy Rose 73')

Sounders open up Champions League Group play with a 3-1 win over Caledonia AIA

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders kicked off another big month on a good note. Last night, the Sounders kicked off CONCACAF Champions League group play on a winning note as they defeated Caledonia AIA of Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 at home. With a huge home match on Sunday against the Los Angeles Galaxy and an Open Cup final match next Wednesday at Sporting Kansas City, that win should boost the teams confidence as we near the late stages of the 2012 MLS season.

In the opening minute of the match, the Sounders nearly scored on a set piece opportunity. Alex Caskey took the corner kick from the far side and found Andy Rose at the near post, but his header just sailed high. A few minutes later, the Sounders had another corner and Caskey this time found Jeff Parke at the near post, but again the header was a little too high.

In the 19th minute, the Sounders opened up their 2012-13 Champions League account. Cordell Cato on the far side was looking to play the ball into the box, but he put too much under his cross and it went through the box. However, Alex Caskey was over on the near side to pick the ball up and he played the ball back into the mixer which rolls to Sammy Ochoa just outside the six yard box and Ochoa sides the ball inside the near post with his left foot to put the Sounders ahead 1-0.

A couple minutes later, Caledonia had a chance to pull level. Jamaal Gay slid the ball across to Kareem Joseph who had plenty of space on the left side of the box. With Marc Burch backtracking, Joseph hesitated before cutting to his right foot and shooting for the far corner, but Andrew Weber got a piece of it to keep it out.

In the 30th minute, the Sounders doubled their lead. Cordell Cato made a nice cut inside and sent Andy Rose away down the right hand side with a brilliant through ball and Rose slid the ball right across to the six yard area where Fredy Montero was there for an easy tap in for his eighth goal in all competitions this season and more importantly to put the Sounders ahead 2-0. Seconds later, Ozzie Alonso took the ball away and had a go from distance which forced a save from Glenroy Samuel.

With just over two minutes to go till halftime, Seattle would add a third goal. Ozzie Alonso slid the ball into the box, Alex Caskey let the ball roll to Fredy Montero who turned and tried to curl his shot into the far side which forced a save from Samuel, but right there were both Andy Rose and Sammy Ochoa going for the same ball. Originally I thought Ochoa got a touch to it, but the replay showed that it was Andy Rose who got the goal to put the Sounders ahead 3-0.

Five minutes into the second half, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado got whistled for a foul in the box and Caledonia were awarded a PK. A long throw in was intended for Jamaal Gay in the box and Hurtado had his arms around him as he tried the clear the ball away. Normally the officials don't see those in the box so I was a little surprised that the referee saw that, but he saw it and he pointed to the spot which I believe was the correct decision. Kareem Joseph stepped up to take the PK and he went top right as Andrew Weber guessed incorrectly and Caledonia got on the board in this match. However they couldn't create any real chances in the second half and the Sounders walk away 3-1 winners in the Champions League Group opener.


Observations:

Despite his little creativity here and there during the match, I don't think Cordell Cato had the best of matches as a Seattle Sounder. I can think of at least 30 times Cato went up against former Charlotte Eagle Walter Moore down the right hand side. In the early minutes of the match Cato quickly opened the flood gates and outperformed Walter Moore, but as the game progressed Moore got his number and began to shut him down, not letting him get a shot on goal, not letting him play in an easy cross. In the Champions League, no matter how good or bad you are, how much potential you have or how good or bad the opposition is, you got play with a bit of consistency and I didn't see that from Cato.

I did see it from rookie Andy Rose however. The former UCLA Bruin on his Champions League debut looked to be the best player in this match. From the start of kickoff to the final whistle, this guy brought it 120% in this game, never looked back and he gets awarded with a goal and two assists. This guy has gone from a Supplemental Draft selection to possibly to candidate for MLS Rookie of the Year. He has a great future ahead of him.

With the change of the format for the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League, with eight groups of three and the winner of each group advancing, the pressure in the first match of group play is usually on the home team.Seattle took it to their opponents and got a much deserved win to kick off the month of August. The question is can they play with that same enthusiasm against an LA Galaxy side that has been on a roll lately? That's for everybody to find out on Sunday.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa (Andy Rose, Alex Caskey) 19'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (Andy Rose, Cordell Cato) 30'

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (unassisted) 43'

Caledonia AIA - Kareem Joseph (penalty kick) 50'


Misconduct summary:

Caledonia AIA - Keyon Edwards (caution; foul) 39'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; dive) 56'


Lineups:

Caledonia AIA - Glenroy Samuel; Aubrey David, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Nuru Abdullah Muhammad, Walter Moore; Kareem Joseph, Stephan David, Keyon Edwards, Trayon Bobb (Trevin Caesar 58'); Jamaal Gay (Sheldon Holder 83'), Conrad Smith (Cornelius Stewart 58')

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber; Brad Evans, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Cordell Cato, Osvaldo Alonso (Servando Carrasco 46'), Andy Rose, Alex Caskey (Leo Gonzalez 75'); Sammy Ochoa, Fredy Montero (Adam Johansson 92'+)

Ozzie Alonso caps off his 100th MLS match with a game winning goal, Sounders win 2-1

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders have played the Colorado Rapids three times and they beat the Colorado Rapids three times. On Saturday, with the playoff race really heating up in the Western Conference, the Sounders got a big win on the road as they defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. With a big month ahead of the Sounders with a home match against the LA Galaxy, an away match at San Jose and of course the U.S. Open Cup final match a week from now against Sporting Kansas City, it was important for the Sounders to get a big win to boost their confidence going into August.

A minute and a half into the game, Rapids fans were still filing in, still looking for their seats and already they saw their team give up a goal off a set piece. It was a corner kick from the near side taken by Mauro Rosales who swings it toward the far post and finds Eddie Johnson who gets away from Marvell Wynne, out jumps Omar Cummings and heads the ball into the far corner for his team leading ninth goal of the season and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead on, if I can remember correctly, is the quickest goal in franchise history.

Unfortunately, the lead only lasted a minute because Colorado came right back and equalised. Martin Rivero slid the ball through on the far side to Brian Mullan who sent in a low ball across the face of goal and right there was Drew Moor to slam it home for his third goal of the year and just like that the game was tied at one.

In the 15th minute, Colorado had a good chance to go in front. Drew Moor took a few seconds to look around for support before chipping the ball to Conor Casey who was just outside the penalty area. Casey made a good turn and tested Michael Gspurning with a low left foot drive. Gspurning made the save and then was able to cover the ball before Omar Cummings could even get a chance of putting away the rebound. Gspurning of course was making his return in goal after missing the last 13 games with a right hip injury that he suffered during the clubs home match on May 2nd against the Galaxy. So having him back is huge.

A couple minutes later, Martin Rivero was found on the near side with room to run. Rivero cut inside of Adam Johansson and tried to curl his shot into the far corner but it was beaten away by Gspurning.

In the 24th minute, the Sounders would've gone 2-1 up if it hadn't been for the post. Luis Zapata gave the ball straight away to Mauro Rosales. Rosales made a run to the center of the field which forced Zapata out of his left back position to cover. That gave Eddie Johnson room to create. Rosales played Johnson with a back heel, and EJ took one touch to get around Tyrone Marshall before hitting one low and hard, but the post saved the Rapids.

In the 48th minute, Luis Zapata's cross was intended for Omar Cummings and Patrick Ianni attempted clearance was instead given straight to Conor Casey who tried to bend one from 20 yards away and he came close to doing so, but sometimes close is not good enough.

In the 65th minute, the Rapids once again give the ball away and this time the Sounders make them pay. Conor Casey was looking to play the ball back to Jeff Larentowicz, but he wasn't paying attention and the ball rolled straight to Fredy Montero. Montero slid the ball through to Johnson who wanted to strike it with his left foot, but he was well defended and instead fed the ball back to Alex Caskey. Caskey looked like he was going to strike the ball from distance, but he played the ball back to Johnson who's cross to the far post found a wide open Ozzie Alonso for a left footed volley and the Sounders climbed back ahead 2-1. That was a brilliant goal by Alonso who was making his 100th league appearance for the Rave Green.

With 15 minutes remaining in the match, Conor Casey had yet another opportunity to get a goal. Martin Rivero found Casey in the box and Casey looked to slot it home, but he hit it right at goalkeeper Michael Gspurning. Had he not made the save, Patrick Ianni probably would've been there to clear the ball off the line. Casey looked like he was going to hit it with his left foot, but Ozzie Alonso tracked back and cut down the angle which forced Casey to go to his right foot. Colorado continued to push, but they could not come up with the knockout blow and the Sounders were able to hold on to get all three points.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 9 (Mauro Rosales 7) 2'

Colorado Rapids - Drew Moor 3 (Brian Mullan 6) 3'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso 1 (Eddie Johnson 2, Alex Caskey 4) 65'


Misconduct summary:

NONE


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Brad Evans (Marc Burch 83'), Osvaldo Alonso, Alex Caskey (Andy Rose 80'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero (Zach Scott 88')

Colorado Rapids - Matt Pickens; Drew Moor, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Luis Zapata; Brian Mullan (Andre Akpan 80'), Joseph Nane (Wells Thompson 62'), Jeff Larentowicz, Martin Rivero; Conor Casey, Omar Cummings (Kamani Hill 62')

Sounders and Sporting KC finish all square in an evenly played match

By Money Mike


The Sounders winless streak now sits at six matches and they are still due to get their first win since May 9th. Last night the Sounders came away with only a point after a 1-1 draw at home against Sporting Kansas City. It was a physical game from start to finish with a few controversial moments in this match. If the Sounders want to end their six match winless run, they'll have to get past their arch rival the Portland Timbers on their home ground this Sunday which will be the first of three straight on the road before they return home for a match on July 7th against the Colorado Rapids.

In the 8th minute, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Jacob Peterson's long throw in found Aurelien Collin who barely got a piece of the ball with his head. Jeff Parke tried to head the ball clear, but Collin outjumped Zach Scott and flicked the ball back for Peterson for a right footed volley which I think deflected off Ozzie Alonso's foot and inside the far post. Unlucky for the Sounders. Had the shot not been deflected, it might have sailed over the bar or wide of the far post. I don't know, but the deflection went Sporting KC's way and there was nothing goalkeeper Andrew Weber could've done.

That lead didn't last long as the Sounders got one back in the 15th minute with a potential goal of the year candidate. Mauro Rosales curled his free kick to the far post, now Patrick Ianni had to come back for it because the cross was drifting behind him. He comes back for it and what does he do? He jumps up and side volleys it into the net to level this match at one. There was absolutely nothing Jimmy Neilsen could do but bitch at his defenders because they did a crappy job defending this set play. Michael Harrington was supposed to be marking Ianni and he got caught at the last second. Set pieces are one of the biggest keys to victory for every team. What a way for Ianni to cap off a return from injury by scoring one of the goals of the year. This was also his 100th MLS appearance of his career.

A minute later, this one should've been a red card. Aurelien Collin took down Mauro Rosales, who looked to have had a breakaway opportunity had he avoided the sliding challenge, and referee Jair Marrufo decided that it was only a yellow card. I don't know if it was because he thought there was another Sporting KC defender in the area and there could've been but that's ridiculous, Rosales would've been clear so that should've been a Red Card. Another thing is Marrufo later on in the match did a horrible job keeping both teams under control. Since that yellow card, Collin has been acting like a damn jackass all game and the referee doesn't do anything about it.

In the 19th minute, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet. Roger Espinoza found Soony Saad making a run in behind Zach Scott and played a good ball in for him. Saad struck it first time from almost a tight angle, but the crossbar saves Seattle from falling behind for the second time in the match.

In the 29th minute, the Sounders nearly made Sporting pay for some crappy defending of their own. Ozzie Alonso found Eddie Johnson who had loads of space. Aurelien Collin was the only player back for KC. Johnson did have Fredy Montero in support, but he went for it himself and just missed wide by inches. Johnson probably should've played the ball to Montero who was onside and perhaps had a better chance at putting the Sounders ahead. On the other side, where were the KC defenders? Why was Johnson given all the time and space on that play? Had the Sounders scored, I think Lawrence Olum would've taken the blame because he overcommited and Alonso read it perfectly and found Eddie Johnson. One thing I might want to ask myself is, why was Lawrence Olum given the start at center half? As far as I know by watching him during his time in the USL, he's been used as a holding midfielder. That's from what I've seen though.

In the 61st minute, the Sounders come close again. Mauro Rosales played an excellent ball to Alex Caskey who was onside and was clear of goal. Caskey was looking to put it inside the left post, but again it just rolls wide.

In the 88th minute, I don't even know what happened or how Jimmy Nielsen spilled this one but a crowd of over 46,000 and most of the viewers in Seattle, KC and other viewers around the nation watching on Direct Kick or MLS Live thought the Sounders snatched another victory against Sporting. Andy Rose's cross found Fredy Montero at the far post. Montero cut to his left foot and I don't know if this was a low cross or if Montero was trying to score, but the ball deflected off Chance Myers and it looked to be an easy gather for Nielsen but he let the ball go through him and it bounced off the far post and cleared by Lawrence Olum before Ozzie Alonso could put home the rebound. A couple seconds later, Zach Scott was booked for shoving C.J. Sapong into the boards and tempers began to flare on both sides.

In the second minute of stoppage time, the Sounders were reduced to 10 men for the second straight match. Alvaro Fernandez looked like he was fouled by Roger Espinoza, but the referee didn't call that and Fernandez retaliates and comes in with a dangerous challenge and Jair Marrufo wasted no time going to his back pocket and giving Flaco a Red Card and that summed up how the Sounders felt about the officiating in this game.


Observations:

I was looking forward to seeing Steve Zakuani make his return for over a year since he suffered a broken leg in the early stages of last season, but Sigi Schmid decided to bring on Alvaro Fernandez instead and a few minutes later he gets sent off. The fact that everybody was excited that Zak was in the 18 man squad, looking forward to his return and then being left on the bench was a little disappointing. At the same time, I think it was the right decision to keep him on the bench because of the way things have gone late in the match.

Here's what Sigi said regarding why he didn't bring in Zakuani....

"It had less to do with Zakuani's length of injury or coming back. I just thought the game last night, the referee really didn't have control of the game; there was a lot of extracurricular activities going on off the ball that weren't called. To put Steve into that sort of game I didn't think was going to be a good situation because there was a lot of reckless abandon, let me put it that way, when people went into tackles. It wasn't so much a reflection of where Steve was at. It was more a reflection of the game. It's not a case of the game being aggressive or physical and that part; he's not going to shy away from that. I'm not worried about it in that sort of game, but I thought it was a game that to be quite honest had gotten out of control."

To be honest here, I think Sigi had a point. The game was completely out of control, especially late in the match with all the pushing and shoving and the fact that the referee didn't do his job and made some poor decisions. As for Aurelien Collin, I've already said enough. That guy's a prick.

I think moving Mauro Rosales to an attacking midfield position was the right move by Sigi. I thought Rosales had his best performance in quite a while. He's been able to make more plays on the ball, put more pressure on the central defenders and he also picked up an assist. Sure it was on a free kick, but still this was his best performance since the Philadelphia game on May 5th in which he scored the only goal of the match. I thought Brad Evans looked good on the right side of midfield, getting a few early touches at the start of the match. I'm still not overly impressed with Evans, but I think he's looked better playing on the right side than in the center. That goes for Mauro Rosales being in the center of midfield than on the right. I think they should stick with this lineup against the Timbers on Sunday because now they were able to find some openings and really put some pressure on the opposition.

I wasn't surprised to see Andrew Weber in goal for the Sounders after Bryan Meredith's struggles in these last couple games and Michael Gspurning not fully recovered yet. There were some nervous moments though, not because this was his first game for the Sounders and his third overall in MLS, but because Sporting Kansas City is a great attacking team with guys like Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, C.J. Sapong and Graham Zusi. Of course Kamara, Sapong and Zusi didn't start but they still looked dangerous offensively. Anyway, I thought Weber did a great job making some good saves and communicating with his defense. I'm expecting him to get the nod again this Sunday when the Sounders travel to take on the Timbers.

I wasn't overly happy with just a draw, especially with all the crap going on at the end of the game. At the same time, I think it's a step forward for this team because they looked a lot better offensively and defensively than they did in their last five games. If you're some stupid idiot like some user on SeattleTimes named "Cougforlife2011" who know's absolutely nothing about this team and just says the same ridiculous thing over and over again, "Softest team in MLS", "The front office is worse than the Mariners" (Give me a damn break), than I wouldn't be surprised if you don't agree with me on this. If you don't agree on this, that's fine but at least have a better explanation that what we keep getting with this user on SeattleTimes who can't get his facts straight. This guy is like Joe Queenan from the Wall Street Journal except Queenan trashed American soccer with false information. Anyway, if the Sounders stick with this formation in their next with Rosales in the center of midfield and Evans on the right, I think they'll come away with a better result and put an end to their six game winless streak. One win will surely change things for the Sounders as they look to get back in title contention.


Scoring summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Jacob Peterson 1 (Aurelien Collin 1) 8'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni 1 (Mauro Rosales 3) 15'


Misconduct summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Aurelien Collin (caution; foul) 16'

Sporting Kansas City - Lawrence Olum (caution; foul) 48'

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen (caution; time wasting) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; foul) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (ejection; foul) 92'+


Lineups:

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen; Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Lawrence Olum, Michael Harrington; Michael Thomas, Peterson Joseph (Graham Zusi 50'), Roger Espinoza; Jacob Peterson (Kei Kamara 65'), Teal Bunbury, Soony Saad (C.J. Sapong 86')

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Andy Rose 72'), Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales (Alvaro Fernandez 80'), Alex Caskey; Eddie Johnson (Sammy Ochoa 80'), Fredy Montero

Sounders explode with five second half goals to defeat Cal FC 5-0

By Money Mike


Unlike the Portland Timbers last week, the Seattle Sounders had no problem at all with Cal FC. The Sounders put up a five spot on the amateur side and advanced to the Quarterfinal of the U.S. Open Cup with a 5-0 win. The Sounders will face the San Jose Earthquakes in the Quarterfinal on June 26th (although it could be moved to June 27th) at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. I doubt San Jose will agree to move the match to Starfire like Atlanta did back in the third round. The Sounders won't be back in action until June 16th when they travel to the Stade Saputo in Montreal and face the Montreal Impact who currently have four former Sounder players on the team. Those four are Miguel Montano, Lamar Neagle, Sanna Nyassi and Tyson Wahl. They also had Mike Fucito at one point before they traded him to the Portland Timbers.

The Sounders were knocking on the door early in the match. In the 6th minute, Alex Caskey made a cut and had support from the trailing Andy Rose. Caskey fed Rose who settled and cracked one from distance and a slight deflection just forced his shot wide. Rose who scored his first Sounders goal last week against the Atlanta Silverbacks was looking to make it two goals in two games, but he just missed wide.

In the 17th minute, Cal FC had an opportunity off a corner kick. Diego Barrera rolled the ball to the top of the penalty area for Danny Barrera who took a crack at it, but it was easily saved by Bryan Meredith. Danny Barrera is one of four Cal FC players who have had tryouts with the Seattle Sounders these last couple of years. The other three were goalkeeper Derby Carillo, who a couple years ago during his stint with Seattle got pranked on April Fools Day along with a couple other rookies. Mike Randolph and Jesus Gonzalez also tried out for the Rave Green.

In the 31st minute, the Sounders came close again. Zach Scott's long throw in was headed back to the top of the area by Fredy Montero. Waiting in that area was Alex Caskey who cracked on first time and again it was deflected wide. I don't know if Derby Carillo got a touch to that one, but my guess was he may have been beat on that play had the ball not taken a deflection. Off the corner kick the ball bounced to Sammy Ochoa at the six yard area, but Ochoa couldn't tap it in.

In the 42nd minute, Sammy Ochoa got on the end of a cross from Marc Burch. However, Derby Carillo comes up with a big save to deny a breakthrough for the Sounders.

Five minutes into the second half, the Seattle Sounders would finally break the deadlock. Fredy Montero had a go from 19 yards out which was blocked by Albero Navarro in the box. But there's a little problem here because it hit Navarro's arm and he's not a goalkeeper so therefore, the referee calls a handball and points to the penalty spot. Ozzie Alonso stepped up to take the PK with an opportunity to give the Sounders the lead. He went to the goalkeepers right hand side and Derby Carillo read it perfectly and got a touch on it, but he didn't get enough of the touch to keep the ball out of the net and the Sounders drew first blood in the 50th minute.

In the 57th minute, the Sounders looked to double their advantage on Cal FC. Off a quick free kick Marc Burch sent the ball long into the penalty area for Andy Rose. The rookie from UCLA then headed the ball back across for Sammy Ochoa who went for the Bicycle Kick, but the ball went beyond everything. Ochoa looked to pick up where he left off last Tuesday against Atlanta where he had two goals. He had a chance on picking up his third of the tournament but it didn't work with that effort, even though it was a good one.

A minute later Seattle would double their advantage. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado booted the ball to midfield. Sammy Ochoa got up and won the ball as he flicked it for Cordell Cato who made a brilliant move to get away from two Cal FC defenders as sprinted towards the penalty area. Cato then looked and slid the ball across beautifully for Fredy Montero to put it away and extend the Sounders lead to 2-0.

The Sounders weren't done there. In the 63rd minute, they would add a third goal. Fredy Montero's corner kick found Sammy Ochoa again from point blank range and his header was punched off the line by Derby Carillo. Cal FC failed to help their goalkeeper by clearing the ball out of danger and Alex Caskey took advantage of it and headed the ball in. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get credit with the goal because his header hit Andy Rose's face before it went in so he got credited with an assist and Andy Rose got credited with his second goal in as many matches.

Seattle still wasn't done. In the 68th minute, Fredy Montero took the free kick from the far side. It looked at first it was going to be a cross for Sammy Ochoa, and it may have actually been an attempted cross. The ball was curled in toward the near post for Ochoa who was in an offside position and at first I thought he got a touch to it, but apparently he didn't. Both the referee and the linesman discussed the situation and in the end, it was ruled a goal for Montero which made it 4-0.

Two minutes later, the Sounders would bag one more. This one made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays yesterday. Alex Caskey rolled the ball to Ozzie Alonso and from 30 yards out, Alonso hits a half-volley over the head of Derby Carillo and into the net to make it 5-0 Sounders and that's how it ended.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (PK) 50'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (Cordell Cato) 58'

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (Alex Caskey) 63'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (unassisted) 68'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (Andy Rose) 70'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless tackle) 19'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa (caution; Unsporting behavior) 45'

Cal FC - Richard Menjivar (caution; Reckless tackle) 74'


Lineups:

Cal FC - Derby Carillo; Alberto Navarro, Hector Espinosa (Paulo Ferreira-Mendez 76'), Mike Randolph, Richard Menjivar; Jesus Gonzalez, Eder Arreola (Pedro Ferreira-Mendez 60'), Pablo Cruz (Alex Caceres 65'), Artur Aghasyan; Danny Barrera, Diego Barrera

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Cordell Cato, Osvaldo Alonso (Servando Carrasco 75'), Andy Rose, Alex Caskey; Sammy Ochoa (Roger Levesque 73'), Fredy Montero (David Estrada 81')

Sounders look to end Cal FC's dramatic Open Cup run

By Money Mike


It has been a hell of a run in the U.S. Open Cup for Cal FC, but now they need to find a way to get past the Seattle Sounders tonight at Starfire. This match will be televised nationally on FOX Soccer and will also be streamed live on soundersfc.com. Some fans have felt a little nervous about this match. In the first round, Cal FC got past the Kitsap Pumas 3-1. In the second round, they pounded the Wilmington Hammerheads 4-0. And of course in the third round, they pulled off a huge upset by defeating the Portland Timbers 1-0 in extra time at Jeld-Wen Field. The Sounders of course are coming off a 5-1 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks. Andy Rose and Alex Caskey each cashed in with their first Sounders goal, Ozzie Alonso picked up his first goal of the season and Sammy Ochoa scored two.


What to watch out for in this match:

I won't have much to say on this article. What I would look for is the Sounders to continue to attack for 90 minutes and really wear down the Cal FC backline. This has been my key to victory 24/7, and it's once again my key to victory. I'd much rather lose to the Earthquakes or the Minnesota Stars rather than Cal FC. Well actually, I'd rather not lose at all but hopefully you guys understand my point that a win by Cal FC over the Sounders would be a major upset. Time for the Sounders to make sure that doesn't happen.

Sounders advance with a 5-1 rout over the Atlanta Silverbacks

By Money Mike


16 MLS teams kicked off their U.S. Open Cup campaign in the third round this week. However, half of the pack got knocked out. The other half, including the Seattle Sounders, advanced to the fourth round. The Seattle Sounders advanced after a 5-1 beatdown over the Atlanta Silverbacks last night in front 3,703 fans at Starfire. The Sounders will face Cal FC next Tuesday at Starfire after they upset the Portland Timbers at their home ground with a 1-0 win in extra time. Had the Timbers won that match as everyone would've expected, Seattle would've traveled down to Portland and faced the Timbers in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup. That also would've been the third time in the last four years that Portland hosted an Open Cup match against Seattle.

The Sounders tested the Atlanta Silverbacks backline straight from the opening kickoff. Cordell Cato won that battle for the ball with Jose Burciaga, Jr. and poked the ball for Sammy Ochoa. Ochoa turned and had a go from about 25 yards out, but no problem for goalkeeper Joe Nasco to make the save.

In the 19th minute, the Sounders had a great opportunity to go ahead. Cordell Cato took on former UW Husky Raphael Cox who had a torrid time in this match. Cato squared the ball across low for Eddie Johnson from about 12 yards away, but Johnson skied it over top of the bar. I'm not sure how much of a chance Johnson had in putting that one away because he had to reach out for that ball with his left foot. It almost looked like he stumbled a little bit while trying to put that away, but a big chance there for Eddie Johnson who has struggled these last couple of weeks.

In the 21st minute, Danilo Turcois backheeled the ball to Raphael Cox for a first timed shot that sailed over the bar. Turcois, who represented Honduras at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, looked like he was used as a playmaker in this match for the Atlanta Silverbacks.

In the 36th minute, this could easily have been a straight red card had the referee or the linesman spotted this one. Joe Nasco collided with teammate Jose Burciaga, Jr. which gave Ozzie Alonso a try from the half way line. Nasco did get back and punch it wide, but it looked like he was outside the penalty area. If a goalkeeper handles the ball outside the box, that's an automatic red card. I think he was lucky that the referee didn't call anything.

In the 43rd minute, Alex Caskey tried his luck from 19 yards out and forced another save from Joe Nasco. The Sounders have tested Nasco from all cylindars the entire match and made things tough for him.

Shortly after, the Sounders struck first. Eddie Johnson headed the ball across to Jeff Parke who then chested the ball down at the top of the area and the man standing there was Andy Rose and the rookie from UCLA hits it first time into the left corner to give the Seattle Sounders a well deserved 1-0 lead over the NASL side. Joe Nasco didn't have a chance at this one. We've seen Osvaldo Alonso strike those from outside the area as well as Alex Caskey but I wouldn't forget about Andy Rose. It's great to see that we're getting a lot of production from the midfield.

In the 47th minute, the Sounders doubled their advantage. Cordell Cato, who had an excellent performance, sent Ozzie Alonso in behind with only the keeper to beat and Alonso slotted it inside the far corner for his first of the season.

Six minutes later, Atlanta pulled one back. Shane Moroney came forward from his right back spot and fed Reinaldo Navia at the top of the area. Navia struck the ball first time low into the right corner to cut the Sounders lead to one. That was until Alex Caskey came right back and scored his first Sounders goal and more importantly, to restore Seattle's two goal lead.

In the 63rd minute, the Sounders started running away with this match. After a turnover in the midfield by the Silverbacks, the Sounders stormed back the other way and Ozzie Alonso fed Sammy Ochoa who was able to keep him self onside and smash the ball inside the left post to make it 4-1 Sounders. Ochoa was not done there. In the 66th minute, David Estrada looked to get in on the act as his shot from the top of the penalty area was blocked by Martyn Lancaster, but Sammy Ochoa was right there to follow up and curl his shot into the far corner to put the icing on the cake in this third round U.S. Open Cup match.


Observations:

It was good to see Ozzie Alonso get some minutes in this one since he was banned for two matches in MLS play. I'm expecting him to get the start again next Tuesday in Seattle's fourth round matchup against Cal FC, who of course stunned the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field. Alonso is considered to be one of the best if not the best holding midfielder in Major League Soccer and he did very well holding the fort last night and also picking up a goal. He's a great all around athlete and rarely have I seen him have a bad game.

Sammy Ochoa had a two goal night which was the first of his career. Despite his performance, the MLS and U.S. Open Cup are two different levels and I'm not sure Ochoa at the level to start MLS matches just yet. Ochoa does have the potential to score a lot of goals and he did show that against the Atlanta Silverbacks, but remember he spent about 5-6 years with Estudiantes Tecos in Mexico where he got almost little to no playing time so his form still needs a little work. Eddie Johnson has been dealing with the same situation during his time in Europe, but Johnson has more experience than Ochoa has and his work rate is much higher than Ochoa's. I do think Ochoa will be around for a while and I do think he's going to be a starter in the future. Again, he has the potential to score a lot of goals.

Another good turnout at the Starfire Sports Complex by the Sounders FC Supporters despite the debate this past week about this match being moved from Atlanta to Seattle. Here's the point though, sure Atlanta would've sold this match out had they not agreed to move the match to Seattle but the fact is Atlanta is a crappy Sports City and they would not even come close to helping out in terms of increasing the growth of American Soccer. Which is why they won't be getting an MLS team. It won't happen anytime soon at least.

It was good to see the Sounders bounce back from their 4 match winless draught in MLS and get a win here to close out this long month. It's also nice to see that they're going to be at home for the fourth round against Cal FC. An amateur side who beat the Portland Timbers on their home ground. Now that's just sad. I mean really, when was the last time an amateur club beat a Major League Soccer team? I mean really the Sounders got themselves an easy opponent for the fourth round. Trust me, Seattle will be too tough to handle for Cal FC.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (Jeff Parke) 44'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (Cordell Cato) 47'

Atlanta Silverbacks - Reinaldo Navia (Shane Moroney) 53'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alex Caskey (unassisted) 54'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa (Osvaldo Alonso) 63'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa (unassisted) 66'


Misconduct summary:

Atlanta Silverbacks - Reinaldo Navia (caution; late foul) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Marc Burch (caution; retaliatory foul) 59'

Atlanta Silverbacks - Jordan Davis (caution; tactical foul) 88'


Lineups:

Atlanta Silverbacks - Joe Nasco; Shane Moroney, Martyn Lancaster, Jose Burciaga, Jr., Raphael Cox; Tony McManus (Jordan Davis 83'), Ciaran O'Brien, Danilo Turcois, Borfor Carr (David Santamaria 70'); Matt Horth (Nico Colaluca 64'), Reinaldo Navia

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Cordell Cato, Osvaldo Alonso (Servando Carrasco 70'), Andy Rose, Alex Caskey; Eddie Johnson (David Estrada 46'), Sammy Ochoa (Roger Levesque 69')

Sounders and Chivas USA finish all square 1-1

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders were coming off a very disappointing 2-0 loss at home Wednesday night to the Columbus Crew and really needed to find a way to keep that from happening again. The way they played on Saturday, Seattle possibly could've came away with all three points but instead they settled for a 1-1 draw at the Home Depot Center against a new look Chivas USA side. The Sounders will now have a two week break from MLS play. They still have a U.S. Open Cup match this Wednesday down at Starfire against the Atlanta Silverbacks and another one on June 5th should they advance with a win over Atlanta. The Sounders currently sit in third place in the Western Conference with a record of 7-3-3 (24 points).

In the 31st minute, former Sounder James Riley played a long crossfield ball to the near side for Ryan Smith. Now here's the problem, Mauro Rosales was all the way back defending because Zach Scott who was supposed to be defending Smith on these plays was in a central defensive position. Smith took advantage of that and maneuvered around Rosales and sent in a low ball to the near post for Alejandro Moreno, but Jeff Parke was there as well to knock it out of play for a corner kick. Parke has been criticised lately about his defending, but he answered all critics in this match and made some great defensive plays.

In the 39th minute, Fredy Montero sent David Estrada in behind the Chivas USA defense and it looked he had all the time and space to either get a cross in or go for goal himself, but James Riley got back and broke of the attack. That was five yards that Riley made up. Estrada is another guy that has been criticised lately. I understand Eric Wynalda was discussing this on FSN West and I have to agree with him on this part. The reason Estrada has stuggled is because of his lack of pace. So far, he's lacking still and he doesn't have the closing speed and hopefully he'll continue to work on that as the season goes on.

Two minutes later, Alvaro Fernandez headed the ball on for Marc Burch to made an excellent run from the back. However he didn't have much of an angle for a shot or a cross and the ball was easily gathered by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

At the end of the first half, the Sounders had the best opportunity to take the lead going into the locker room. Fredy Montero got away from John Valencia and tried to find David Estrada, but the ball was deflected by Danny Califf right to Mauro Rosales who misses a golden opportunity. I don't know how much Rosales knew about it, but that was the best chance of the half for either side.

In the 57th minute, first blood went to the Goats. Peter Vagenas, another former Sounder, found James Riley on the near side with loads of space. Riley curled the ball toward the near post. Now it looked like Bryan Meredith was going to punch this one clear, but Juan Agudelo snuck right in front of him to head that one into the far corner to give Chivas USA a 1-0 lead. Agudelo's first professional goal came against the Sounders while he was playing for the New York Red Bulls and now in his second game for his new club, he repeats the trick and scores his first goal for Chivas USA against the Seattle Sounders.

In the 61st minute, the Sounders would come right back and tie it up. Shortly after coming on, Alex Caskey makes an immediate impact as he curled in a low ball right into the mixer and all David Estrada had to do was get a toe to the ball and that's exactly what he did as he made a run around John Valencia and poked the ball home for his fifth goal of the season. As for Caskey, that was his third assist of the season and I got to tell you he's outperforming Alvaro Fernandez so far this season. If Fernandez doesn't pull his head out soon, he could lose his starting job.

In the 90th minute, Eddie Johnson made a run all the way to the end line before trying to square the ball for Cordell Cato, but Cato couldn't get a foot on it. The ball bounced to Andy Rose for a first timed shot, but it was cleared away by Danny Califf. Had he not cleared the ball, it probably could've been a goal at the same time Kennedy may have had that covered, but the bottomline is Seattle couldn't find the breakthrough and come away with only a point.


Scoring summary:

Chivas USA - Juan Agudelo 1 (James Riley 2, Peter Vagenas 1) 57'

Seattle Sounders FC - David Estrada 5 (Fredy Montero 3, Alex Caskey 3) 61'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; foul) 20'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales, Andy Rose, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Alex Caskey 61'); David Estrada (Cordell Cato 78'), Fredy Montero (Eddie Johnson 73')

Chivas USA - Dan Kennedy; James Riley, Danny Califf, John Valencia (Rauwshan McKenzie 66'), Ante Jazic; Laurent Courtois, Peter Vagenas, Ryan Smith (Cesar Romero 88'); Juan Agudelo, Jose Erick Correa (Blair Gavin 76'), Alejandro Moreno

Fredy Montero leads the Sounders to a fifth straight win

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders came out on top yet again and are now just one point back of Real Salt Lake first place in the Western Conference. Led by two second half goals from Fredy Montero, the Sounders came away with their fifth straight win as they defeated FC Dallas 2-0 to extend their record to 7-1-1 (22 points). Speaking of Real Salt Lake, the Sounders return home this Saturday to face RSL in a huge Western Conference matchup. Remember last year, these two teams met in the MLS Cup quarterfinal and just like the first two seasons, the Sounders couldn't get past the quarterfinal round. They lost the first leg 3-0 and in the second leg, they did very well to rally back but not good enough as they lost 3-2 on aggregate. The Sounders have a shot at payback as they battle RSL this Saturday in a battle for first place in the Western Conference.

In the first half, FC Dallas looked like the better side and they nearly broke loose after a few big chances. In the seventh minute, Fabian Castillo used his speed to get past Zach Scott to the endline and he decided to go for goal from an impossible angle and he hit side netting. That was a little selfish from Castillo because he had Jackson and Scott Sealy in support and also had Jair Benitez trailing on the play. Castillo is an exciting young player but as exciting as he is, he tends to hog the ball rather than pass to his teammates like in this match where he did that quite a few times. I think this is where he'll get better in years to come.

In the 17th minute, the Sounders should've had a goal. After Dallas got caught on the counter attack, Eddie Johnson played the ball out wide to Andy Rose who squared it across for Mauro Rosales who's shot was right at Kevin Hartman. Rosales then followed up and hit the post before FC Dallas could clear the ball out of danger. I really do not understand how Dallas survived that. In reality, those chances go in almost 99.99% of the time. FC Dallas got lucky there.

In the 39th minute, the Sounders were lucky not to find themselves a goal down. Fabian Castillo, who has given Zach Scott all kinds of problems in this game, sent in a cross towards Andrew Jacobson who headed the ball back across for an unmarked Scott Sealy who directed his header towards goal and Bryan Meredith got up well and deflected the shot off the crossbar. Sealy had a chance at a rebound, but he spilled it and Meredith pounced on the ball. Not only was Zach Scott tested in this match, left back Marc Burch had a tough go against Jackson. There was one play where Burch dragged Jackson to the ground because if he hadn't, Jackson would've been clear of the defense and more than likely would've given Dallas the lead but Burch dragged him down and picked up a yellow card.

With just over 20 minutes to go, the Sounders broke the deadlock. Cordell Cato brushed Hernan Pertuz aside and sent in a low cross for Fredy Montero. Montero then beat two defenders and ripped his shot past Kevin Hartman and in at the near post. Three minutes later, Montero wasn't done. Alex Caskey sent in a low cross and the ball deflected to Montero for a diving header to double Seattle's advantage and cap off their fifth straight win.


Observations:

Bryan Meredith picked up his second consecutive clean sheet since taking over for the injured Michael Gspurning who could make his return next Saturday for Seattle's Cascadia Derby match against the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. He was kept busy all match as the defense looked like they were not on the same page a few times in this game but Bryan Meredith has done a terrific job between the pipes and that should really boost his confidence for Saturdays match against Real Salt Lake. So far, Meredith has gone 225 minutes without conciding a goal and will have to continue doing that for at least 90 more minutes.

Cordell Cato came on with 25 minutes to go in the game and I thought he did very well on his debut. Hopefully we see out there quite a bit this season. He has a ton of potential and he did show a bit of that last night. During the offseason when he was interviewed on soundersfc.com, he said this is his only year with the Sounders, but I think he's going to stay here in Seattle for a while. With what he's shown, I don't see why Cato doesn't deserve a spot on this team in the future.

Another great performance by the Sounders and with a big match coming up against a team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season, they got to feel hungry for revenge. Hopefully the Sounders can pull it off against Real Salt Lake and not only picked up their sixth straight win, but take over first place in the Western Conference.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 2 (Cordell Cato 1) 68'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 3 (Alex Caskey 2) 71'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Marc Burch (caution; foul) 30'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jeff Parke (caution; foul) 42'

FC Dallas - George John (caution; foul) 57'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; foul) 75'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; foul) 81'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales (Fredy Montero 46'), Andy Rose, Brad Evans (Servando Carrasco 77'), Alex Caskey; David Estrada (Cordell Cato 66'), Eddie Johnson

FC Dallas - Kevin Hartman; Zach Loyd, George John, Matt Hedges, Hernan Pertuz (Ruben Luna 84'); Jackson, Andrew Jacobson, James Marcelin, Jair Benitez; Fabian Castillo, Scott Sealy (Brek Shea 70')