Sounders comeback from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Whitecaps 3-2 in front of over 53,000+

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders just continue to find ways to win. Last night, they came back from 2-1 to defeat their Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps 3-2 in front of a crowd of 53,679 at CenturyLink Field, including Alex Morgan, but I'll get to that part later. The Sounders with the win have gone from 0-3-2 (2 points) all the way up to 6-4-3 (21 points) and have moved up to fourth place in the standings. One point ahead of the LA Galaxy and the Colorado Rapids who are in a tie for fifth place, two points behind the Portland Timbers for third, six behind RSL for second and seven behind FC Dallas for first place. Everything has started to click for the Men in Rave Green and they will look to make sure it continues through the rest of the year as they make a run for the MLS Cup.

The Sounders started the match off brightly and in the 9th minute, the home side opened the scoring. Lamar Neagle saw that Whitecaps defender Johnny Leveron overcommitted and he played a perfectly timed through ball to Andy Rose. Rose had plenty of time to settle and slide the ball past goalkeeper Brad Knighton and into the far corner to put the Sounders ahead 1-0.

The lead last for just over a minute because in the 10th minute, Vancouver pulled one back. Lee Young-Pyo played a very good ball up over the top for Russell Teibert, who got in behind Leo Gonzalez and whipped in a very good cross to the far post and getting up and directing his header in the back of the net was Camilo for his fourth of the season and his third in his career against the Sounders. That's what happens when you celebrate a goal for too long. There's nothing that ticks me off more than the Sounders scoring and then a minute later, they get pegged back. I remember the first two Sounder games I've attended, the Sounders scored early in those two games and then they gave one up a minute later. But of course the Sounders went on to win both those games. And let's not forget the first meeting between the Sounders and the Whitecaps in MLS. You guys remember that game? The Sounders we're down 1-0 until the 81st minute when Mauro Rosales equalized with his first Sounders goal. Then two minutes later, Ozzie Alonso put the Rave Green ahead with a low drive from outside the area. But then a minute later Eric Hassli, who now plays for FC Dallas, pulled the Caps back on level terms with a stunning volley.

Seattle came close to retaking the lead a minute later. Lamar Neagle was found with a good long ball from Servando Carrasco. Neagle sprinted around Y.P. Lee to the byline and tried to sneak one into the far corner, but he just missed wide and as a matter of fact it nearly found the head of Obafemi Martins whose momentum sent him crashing into the goal, which is dangerous because your hands or your feet can get caught into the net. And speaking of that, Martins' right boot got tangled with the net for a few seconds.

In the 26th minute, Teibert and Camilo linked up again. This time off a set piece after some poor communication by the Sounders defense. Russell Teibert curled the ball to the far post and the Brazilian got on the end of it with a diving header and there was no way Michael Gspurning was gonna make the save on this one. When it came off the head of Camilo, I knew from that moment that we were down. This was all on the Sounders defense. Leonardo Gonzalez urged his team to step away, but then they drop so deep, Neagle didn't challenge for the ball and Camilo made them pay with his second of the game to make it 2-1 to the Whitecaps. Awful communication on the part of the Sounders. And I think this is the first home match I've seen where the Sounders strike first and then find themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard later in the match.

Now on to the 53rd minute of the match where Vancouver more than likely should've made it 3-1. Camilo who was sitting on a hat-trick drove his free kick around the wall. Michael Gspurning got his hands to it and the ball fell nicely to Nigel Reo-Coker for him to put away the rebound but Gspurning somehow made the save with his right boot to keep the Sounders in this match. Probably one of the best saves I've ever seen from the Austrian, but at the same time, I don't know how Reo-Coker wasn't able to score.

Vancouver started to play with 9-10 players back behind the ball trying to defend their lead and they would lose it in the 70th minute after a stupid ass challenge in the box. Marc Burch, who came on in the 61st minute, curled the ball to the far post where Lamar Neagle and Whitecaps defender Greg Klazura were battling for possession. There was some pushing and shoving from both players, but Neagle brought the ball down and Klazura slid in from behind, a blatant foul in the box and referee Hilario Grajeda wasted no time blowing his whistle and pointing to the penalty spot. Just a clumsy challenge by Klazura, who was making his second MLS appearance in as many weeks (he made his pro debut last week) and so far he's been sucking. Last week, he scored in own goal against the Red Bulls and then in this match, he commits a foul in the box. Servando Carrasco stepped to take the penalty for the Sounders and powered it in the top left corner to level things up at two goals a piece. Now as I said, Alex Morgan was in attendance to see her boyfriend play. Allie Long, who is Morgan's club teammate with the Portland Thorns in the new NWSL (I don't really follow that to be honest with you people), was at the match as well and she actually video taped Morgan's reaction to her boyfriend's PK. Check it out right here. It's pretty freakin' hilarious.

Great shot of Lamar Neagle's game-winning goal

In the 81st minute, the Sounders climb back ahead. Andy Rose fed Obafemi Martins with a nice through ball. Martins let the ball roll in front of him before sliding the ball across to Lamar Neagle who taps it in for his fourth goal of the season, and that goal also turned out to be the game winner. I'm starting to love that EJ trade that they made back on February of 2012 even more. He spends the 2012 season with the Montreal Impact. He comes back in 2013, head coach Sigi Schmid starts playing him up top and all Neagle has done was show his home town crowd and all of MLS what he's really made of. He said he came back a better player and a lot smarter. He's proved that so far, four goals and three assists. It's gonna be interesting to see what Sigi will do when Johnson re-joins the club in Salt Lake, but the attack looks 10 times better than before with Eddie Johnson, Obafemi Martins and of course Lamar Neagle.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose 1 (Lamar Neagle 3) 9'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Camilo Sanvezzo 4 (Russell Teibert 2, Lee Young-Pyo 2) 10'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Camilo Sanvezzo 5 (Russell Teibert 3) 26'

Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco 1 (penalty kick) 70'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 4 (Obafemi Martins 1, Andy Rose 1) 81'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; foul) 56'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Jordan Harvey (caution; foul) 86'


Lineups:

Vancouver Whitecaps FC - Brad Knighton; Lee Young-Pyo, Andy O'Brien (Greg Klazura 62'), Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Nigel Reo-Coker, Jun Marques Davidson (Kekuta Manneh 83'), Matt Watson (Daigo Kobayashi 89'); Russell Teibert, Camilo, Kenny Miller

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales (David Estrada 89'), Andy Rose, Servando Carrasco, Alex Caskey (Marc Burch 61'); Lamar Neagle, Obafemi Martins

Montreal Impact steal one in Seattle

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders came into the season opener without a few key players. Adam Johansson, David Estrada and Patrick Ianni were out injured. Lamar Neagle was left out of the lineup. Djimi Traore was left on the bench. And Ozzie Alonso and Marc Burch were suspended. So I expected play to be a little sloppy on the part of the Sounders, but I did not expect a result like this. On Saturday, the Montreal Impact came to CenturyLink Field and stunned the crowd of 38,998 in attendance as they defeated the Seattle Sounders 1-0. The Sounders had some chances in this game, but they couldn't deliver and with the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal on the road at Tigres coming up a couple days from now, Seattle needs to correct their mistakes and correct them fast. Since both legs of the Champions League are this Wednesday and next Tuesday, the Sounders next match in league play won't be until March 16 at home and their opponent happens to be the Portland Timbers.

In the 18th minute, Montreal had a chance to go up 1-0 and probably should've gone up 1-0. Andrea Pisanu spotted the run of Marco Di Vaio and fed him with a perfectly timed through ball in the box. Di Vaio got in behind Zach Scott and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado but he put a little too much under the ball and shot it over the bar.

In the 24th minute, the Sounders had an opportunity of their own to break the deadlock. Again, the passing was sloppy on both ends of the pitch and teams struggling to clear the ball out of their own area. Felipe Martins looked to clear the ball from danger but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado stepped in to head the ball to Andy Rose whose touch was a little heavy. Felipe slid in to win the ball back, but Rose fed the ball to the near side for Mario Martinez who looked and curled the ball to the near post for Eddie Johnson who got past Matteo Ferrari, but he flicked the ball wide of Troy Perkins's right hand side.

Five minutes later, EJ had another opportunity. Justin Mapp's misplaced pass gave Mauro Rosales a chance to catch Montreal on the counter. Rosales rolled the ball to Johnson on the right side of the box. Johnson waited for support before cutting inside and trying to curl his shot into the corner, but it was too far central and easily gathered by Troy Perkins.

In the 35th minute, the Sounders get caught on the counter and the Impact take full advantage of it and open the scoring. Marco Di Vaio found Felipe who had time and space to look up and he lifted the ball up for Davy Arnaud who settled the ball in front of him and chipped it over the head of Michael Gspurning and in the back of the net to put the Impact ahead 1-0. Just poor play on that one from Andy Rose, Zach Scott and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Hurtado was late trying to get back, Scott overcommits by pushing up and closing down Felipe and nobody picks up Arnaud. Just shocking defending on that play.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Montreal had a big chance to go up by two. Patrice Bernier sent Sanna Nyassi in behind the defense with the great through ball. Just as Nyassi was getting ready to strike, he starts to lose control. However, the Sounders still couldn't get it away as Zach Scott and Michael Gspurning collide in the box. Marco Di Vaio stepped in with the net empty trying to make it 2-0, but DeAndre Yedlin got back to get in the way of that shot to keep it a one score game.

In the 64th minute, the Sounders dodged another bullet. Sanna Nyassi worked a give and go with Marco Di Vaio on the near side. Nyassi made a good run forward and whipped in a very good cross for a diving header from Davy Arnaud, but the ball bounced back into play from the crossbar and the score remained 1-0.

A minute later, Seattle were denied by the frame. Mario Martinez slid the ball to Eddie Johnson at the top of the area, who poked the ball back to Brad Evans for a first timed shot that beat Troy Perkins, but the left post comes to Montreal's rescue this time.

With just under 10 minutes to go in normal time, Seattle had a golden opportunity to level the match. Eddie Johnson fed Leo Gonzalez who made an overlapping run from his left back position. Gonzalez chipped the ball to the near post for Alex Caskey who flicked the ball for Eddie Johnson who strikes the ball off the crossbar from point blank range. I'm still having difficulty figuring out how he couldn't score from that position, but that's what the outcome of that chance was and Seattle come away empty handed in the opening match of the 2013 season.


Observations:

DeAndre Yedlin impressive in his debut with the Sounders.

I was a little surprised to see this kid in the lineup for this match, but DeAndre Yedlin got the start and I gotta say I was really impressed with his performance. Yedlin remember played a year in the Sounders FC Youth academy and was signed back in January as the first homegrown player in club history after two seasons at Akron. Normally at 19-years old when you make your debut for your hometown club, you end up feeling a lot of pressure and struggle to handle it. But he didn't feel any pressure, he took his debut like it's another game. His passing was good. One on One defending, excellent. Despite all that, I'm still not quite satisfied that he should be an everyday starter at right back because on the attacking end, his crosses weren't great and on the defensive side of the ball, there were times when Sanna Nyassi beat him especially the first couple of minutes where Nyassi got in behind him and both were pulling eachothers jerseys. If Nyassi went down under that, I think the referee would've called a foul and Yedlin probably would've been sent off. But based on what I've seen out of him, he'll only get better as he gains more minutes and he will be a future starter on this team for sure.

Asside from DeAndre's performance, the Sounders attacking game was, ya know...... not good. First of all, someone on Seattle Times called Zakuani a One Trick Pony. I don't know who said that, and I don't care, but that's got to be the most bullshit comment I've ever heard or read or whatever. The wide play however, was very poor, the crosses were weak, and the guys are just getting caught out of position. Rosales needs to move back to the right side of midfield where he's most effective and they need to push Zakuani up front with EJ and move Martinez to the left side of midfield. They need to change something attacking wise until they finally get another striker.

Ya know.... first game, they lost. Big deal. Look, I'm not happy with the defeat myself, but there's absolutely no reason to panic. These guys off and on have hit a brick wall, but they find ways to bounce back and win games. So this team will bounce back from this loss, no doubt. We've got a long long way to go this season. 34 games. This was the first game, so now we have 33 games to go.


Scoring summary:

Montreal Impact - Davy Arnaud 1 (Felipe Martins 1) 35'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (caution; foul) 17'

Montreal Impact - Andrea Pisanu (caution; foul) 64'


Lineups:

Montreal Impact - Troy Perkins; Hassoun Camara (Dennis Iapichino 84'), Matteo Ferrari, Alessandro Nesta, Jeb Brovsky; Andrea Pisanu (Calum Mallace 69'), Patrice Bernier, Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp (Sanna Nyassi 45'); Davy Arnaud, Marco Di Vaio

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez (Servando Carrasco 84'); Mario Martinez, Andy Rose (Alex Caskey 62'), Brad Evans, Steve Zakuani (Sammy Ochoa 69'); Mauro Rosales, Eddie Johnson

Sounders and Timbers each come away with a point after a 1-1 draw in Portland

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders will have to wait another week to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the fourth straight year. On Saturday, the Sounders made their second trip to Jeld-Wen Field this season and came away with a valuable point as they drew 1-1 with their arch rivals the Portland Timbers. As for the Cascadia Cup, the Sounders do retain the Cup for now. Had the Sounders lost the match, then the Timbers would've won the Cup and a couple members of the Emerald City Supporters would've had to walk across the field and hand the Cup over to the Timbers Army (I wonder how that would feel. Surrendering the Cup on their ground).

There wasn't much action early on in the match. In the 10th minute, Fredy Montero got through Rodney Wallace and Kosuke Kimura after juggling the ball a few times and chipped the ball the far post for Eddie Johnson but Hayner Mosquera got in the way. Portland struggled to clear the danger. Ozzie Alonso found Andy Rose on the far side. Rose tried to play the ball to the near post for Steve Zakuani but Mosquera got in the way again. The ball fell to Alonso for a half volley, but he didn't strike it cleanly and it went wide left.

We're gonna fast forward to the 38th minute now. Rodney Wallace fed the ball to Franck Songo'o who has been a pain in the ass for the Sounders back line all game long, here's one of the reasons why. Songo'o cut inside to his right foot and gave a rip from outside the area and it was parried away by Michael Gspurning. That was the first time that the Timbers tested the Austrian goalkeeper in this match. The Sounders can't let Franck Songo'o cut inside to his right foot because that's where he's dangerous.

In the 44th minute, Sal Zizzo had a shot blocked by Jeff Parke and cleared out of the box by Brad Evans. However, the clearance fell right to Jack Jewsbury who gave it a go but the ball bounced wide of Gspurning's right hand post.

In the 51st minute, the Timbers suffered a big blow. Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who was acquired last month by the Timbers from the Montreal Impact in exchange for Troy Perkins, collided in the box with Eddie Johnson as he was challenging for the ball. Here's what happened, Zakuani fed Andy Rose who then sent in a low cross toward the near post for Fredy Montero who just missed getting a head on it, otherwise it probably would've been a goal. Ricketts came off his line and punch the ball away and while doing so, he collides with EJ. Ricketts has been dealing with injurys since he joined MLS in 2009. Of course in the 2009 MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake here in Seattle, he was subbed out after suffering a right hand injury. He missed half of last season with a broken wrist. Now in this match, I remember in the first half intermittently he was holding on to his left arm. He did stay in the match for a few more minutes, but all signs showed that he had to come out and he was replaced by Joe Bendik in the 57th minute.

Seconds later, Bendik was tested immediately and beaten. On the restart, goalkeeper Michael Gspurning booted the ball long down field. The ball found Fredy Montero who chested the ball down, turned and struck it beautifully over the head of Joe Bendik and into the net for his 12th of the season and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead at Jeld-Wen Field.

In the 78th minute, I don't know what happened on this play but the bottomline is the Portland Timbers leveled this match at one. Jack Jewsbury curled the ball out toward the near post and found Rodney Wallace unmarked. Now again, I'm trying to figure out what the hell happened here. I've been looking at this over and over again. From what I saw, the header bounced off Leo Gonzalez who was covering the far post. Michael Gspurning was trying to pounce on it, but Gonzalez just as he was trying to clear the ball just kicked the ball into his own net. This could've been ruled an own goal on Leo and MLS can still go back and change the scoring on that. The only thing that matters though is that the goal counted and the Timbers leveled this match at one.

Now onto the second minute of stoppage time, the Timbers nearly stole one late. Jack Jewsbury took the corner again, this time an inswinger. This one was intended for David Horst, who scored against Seattle in the last meeting between these two, but the ball fell to Bright Dike and he struck the ball off the post and Adam Johansson alertly cleared the ball out of danger. Everybody thought that was in. Michael Gspurning had no chance at that one, but the post saved the Sounders on that one and the game ends in a 1-1 draw.

The Sounders head to Honduras to take on Marathon on Wednesday knowing that a win will earn them a spot in the Champions League Quarterfinal. Eddie Johnson is suspended for Saturdays home match against the San Jose Earthquakes for Yellow Card accumulations so he will make the trip to Honduras. Mauro Rosales and Christian Tiffert will not make the trip to Honduras however because they are dealing with injuries. However, there's a chance that they'll recover in time for the San Jose match. We need those guys out there, we're getting to a point where we can't afford to lose a key player to injury that could potentially rule them out for the playoffs.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 12 (Michael Gspurning 1) 57'

Portland Timbers - Rodney Wallace 1 (Jack Jewsbury 4) 78'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson (caution; foul) 26'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mario Martinez (caution; foul) 79'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans (Marc Burch 78'), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, Steve Zakuani (Mario Martinez 70'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero

Portland Timbers - Donovan Ricketts (Joe Bendik 57'); Kosuke Kimura, Hayner Mosquera, David Horst, Rodney Wallace; Darlington Nagbe, Jack Jewsbury, Diego Chara; Sal Zizzo (Kalif Alhassan 83'), Bright Dike, Franck Songo'o (Danny Mwanga 72')

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'+)

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')