Sounders lose James Riley in the Expansion Draft, trades Tyson Wahl

By Money Mike


The Expansion Draft took place today with the Montreal Impact joining Major League Soccer in 2012. The Seattle Sounders yet again lose a key player. As a matter of fact, they lose two key players. The Montreal Impact selected James Riley before trading him immediately to Chivas USA in exchange for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen. The Impact also acquired left back Tyson Wahl from the Sounders for allocation money, which can be used to buy down player salaries in relation to the salary cap. Former Sounder midfielder Sanna Nyassi was also taken by Montreal in the Expansion Draft. If all the speculation is true, it looks like there is another trade involving the Sounders and the Montreal Impact with Miguel Montano heading to Montreal, but there is no information at this point.

Riley joined the Seattle Sounders in 2009 having been selected by them in the Expansion draft. In his three years here, Riley made a total of 84 league appearances and scored one goal and assisted on nine others. He was voted Defender of the Year for the club and was also voted the clubs Humanitarian of the Year the past two seasons for his contributions in the community. Riley became a fan favorite here in Seattle for all of his hard work not only on the pitch, but in the community as well. With him gone, the Sounders also lose that veteran approach that Riley brought to the team. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said that there are going to be some changes defensively, but I didn't see this being one of them nor did the rest of the Sounder nation here in Seattle.

Wahl was another Sounder selected in the Expansion draft prior to the 2009 season. He's received some critisism from fans about his work rate a few times during the 2011 season, but you can't deny the fact that he was the most improved player on this Sounders team during the 2011 season making 23 appearances, scoring one goal and two assists. He got more playing time in 2011 than he did in his first two seasons combined here in Seattle and he got more playing time here in Seattle than he did in his three seasons with the Kansas City Wizards. This guy emerged as a weapon with dangerous crosses on set pieces. Another huge loss defensively for the Sounders.


Thoughts on Riley and Wahl leaving/Who do you go after in the transfer window?

In all honesty, I'm upset about these two guys leaving the Sounders after all the hard work on the pitch. The positive sign is that these two had a combined salary of $150,000 in 2011, so the departure of these two should give the Sounders more money to spend during the offseason.

Now there have been a couple of questions regarding home-grown talent. If you want to look for a replacement at right back, draft DeAndre Yedlin who, of course, is a defender and obviously a big deal with the University of Akron. In case you guys haven't kept track of the Sounders FC Academy, Yedlin is a native of Seattle who spent a couple years in the Sounders youth system. Yes he's only a freshman at Akron, but how often do you see a freshman defender make 22 appearances with one goal and six assists? How often do you see stats like that. I think he should enter the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and I think the Sounders should draft him in the first round. If you want a find somebody at right back, get somebody who has been in you're youth system, who knows about the team, and has prooven himself that he's ready to take his game to the next level.

Now with Wahl gone as well, who do you replace at left back? There was a rumor a week ago about Joachim Thomassen signing with the club. He's listed as a midfielder, but he can also play left back. So with Tyson Wahl now with Montreal, maybe the Sounders should consider picking up Thomassen.

Mauro Rosales suffers a late injury as the Sounders win 3-0

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders are back to their winning ways as they give D.C. United an ass beating in front of 36,242 fans in attendance at CenturyLink Field. The Sounders defeated D.C. United by a score of 3-0 and remain in second place, now three points ahead of Real Salt Lake, but here's the problem, RSL have two games in hand so they're going to need lots of help to secure home field advantage in the quarterfinals. The Sounders could've clinched a playoff birth had both the Portland Timbers and the Houston Dynamo lost this week, but the Dynamo drew 2-2 at Columbus and defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 and the Timbers blinked the New England Revolution 3-0. A lot of folks are starting to get nervous in the closing stages of the season, teams fighting for the Wild Card spot, the first round bye and also for Home Field advantage in the playoffs.

The Sounders nearly broke through in the 30th minute. Tyson Wahl's inswinger from the corner found the head of Alvaro Fernandez at the near post, who flicked it back to the far post for Fredy Montero but it was just out of his reach.

The Sounders would find the breakthrough in the 35th minute. Mike Fucito took a pass from Mauro Rosales and immediately turned past Brandon McDonald to break free of rookie keeper Joe Willis. Fucito took a couple of touches and calmly found the left side of the goal with his right foot to put the Sounders up 1-0.

In the 43rd minute, D.C. United tried to answer back when Andy Najar was clean through after getting past Ozzie Alonso and Tyson Wahl, but Zach Scott was in the way of his shot that was goal bound.

In first half stoppage time, the Sounders doubled their lead to 2-0. Mauro Rosales found Alvaro Fernandez making a run behind Daniel Woolard with a sublime pass and "El Flacco" tapped it home beautifully with his right foot. Fernandez would get another in the 60th minute. Rosales was the set up man again. A majestic from the right side found Fredy Montero in stride. Joe Willis made the initial save, but Fernandez was there to pound in the Rebound for his 8th goal of the season. D.C. United were without Chris Pontius who suffered a broken leg last week at Chivas USA. In replace, head coach Ben Olsen decided to give Austin da Luz his first start in a D.C. United uniform since he was acquired in a midseason trade with the New York Red Bulls. The funny thing is, his last appearance with the Red Bulls was here in Seattle.

Well this is the last thing you want to see late in the game, just as your team is playing well. In about the 89th minute, D.C. United defender Daniel Woolard stepped on Mauro Rosales's foot and Rosales awkwardly turned something in his knee. He had to leave the game after suffering what was confirmed to be an MCL Sprain. Rosales will have an MRI on Monday to determine whether the injury is mild or moderate. And not is it referee Kevin Stott's job to ref a match, it's his job to keep the god damn players under control. If you're letting players make a bunch of dangerous challenges that could the opposing players season/career at risk, then you're doing a terrible job. Seattle keeps getting victimized by the players and the refs don't do anything but kick the Sounders players out of a game for no reason. That's pretty much the reason for the majority of their losses because Major League Soccer has so many Crappy refs and we already added last weeks referee to that list and Kevin Stott has been on that list for god only knows how long.

After the game, head coach Sigi Schmid said, "The league's got to start protecting him. The last two games teams have gone out there and kicked him, and I don't think the referees have done a good job protecting him. Today was a case in point. We're up on top of the game 3-0 and he's got the ball at his feet and it's a tackle that's just meant to get a little kick in. And who knows how long he's out now? We have a talented player in this league, a player who's a good player, who fans want to come and watch play, then we let thugs hit him and we don't protect him enough. I think that's something that's got to happen with the referees. I'm very disappointed with the last two games. The last game before this one, the first three times he touched the ball he got fouled and nothing got called. Today early on he got dumped and quite a few times he's not getting calls. I'd like to see the referee Kevin Stott stand there and let Brandon McDonald run into his back and see if he could stay on his feet. I'm very disappointed in that."

The Sounders have 5 games remaining in the regular season before the MLS Cup playoffs. They step aside MLS play on Tuesday for matchday 4 of the CONCACAF Champions League at home against C.S. Herediano. A win will surely put them through to the Champions League Quarterfinal which will take place sometime in February. After that they head North of the Border to Empire Field in Vancouver, B.C. to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, and I believe that'll be the Whitecaps last game at Empire Field before they make BC Place (which was the host of both the Opening/Closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics) their new home.

The Sounders won't be back at home until October 4th when they take on the Chicago Fire in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final at CenturyLink Field. I will be attending that match as Seattle look to become the first team since Greek American Atlas Astoria to win their third straight U.S. Open Cup title.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito 2 (Mauro Rosales 11, Brad Evans 2) 35'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 7 (Mauro Rosales 12, Fredy Montero 8) 47'+

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 8 (unassisted) 60'

Misconduct summary:

D.C. United - Joseph Ngwenya (caution; Reckless tackle) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Reckless foul) 41'

D.C. United - Austin da Luz (caution; Reckless foul) 63'

Lineups:

D.C. United - Joe Willis; Perry Kitchen, Ethan White (Marc Burch 78'), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard; Andy Najar, Clyde Simms, Dwayne De Rosario (Josh Wolff 62'), Austin da Luz; Charlie Davies (Stephen King 64'), Joseph Ngwenya

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Amadou Sanyang 82'), Alvaro Fernandez; Mike Fucito (Nate Jaqua 68'), Fredy Montero (Lamar Neagle 78')

Sounders rally to defeat the Timbers 3-2

By Money Mike

On the day the United States women's national team defeated Brazil on Penalties to move on the FIFA Women's World Cup, the Seattle Sounders come to Portland and strike 3 times against the Portland Timbers to win the match 3-2 and move into second place and are still 4 points back of the Los Angeles Galaxy who they will face in the Quarterfinal of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday at Starfire Sports Complex in Takwila. It was a great day for soccer not only for the Sounders, but for the entire nation as well with the U.S. Women moving onto the Semifinals against France on Wednesday at 8:30am.

In the 32nd minute, public enemy #1 Roger Levesque (Timber fans hate him) got open with a run of the left side but rather than using that space to try to slot one past the keeper Troy Perkins, he decides to cross it to the top of the box for Fredy Montero but the Portland backline had that covered.

Six minutes later, Alvaro Fernandez snuck behind Portland's defense to a clear look at goal but Troy Perkins came off his line to cut down the angle for the Uruguayan international.

Just seconds into the second half, the opening goal went to Rose City FC. Kalif Alhassan went wide of the Seattle's defense and slid a pass into the danger area for Jorge Perlaza who was jostling for possession with Jeff Parke and the ball deflected off Parke and in for an own goal and a 1-0 Portland lead.

In the 57th minute, Seattle answered with a free-kick goal by the Colombian, Fredy Montero. It was his 4th goal of the Season, all have come on the road in 2011.

In the 69th minute, Seattle found themselves on the bottom end again. Jorge Perlaza was freed by a brilliant entry pass from fellow countryman Diego Chara. Perlaza's shot glanced off Tyson Wahl and past the diving Kasey Keller for the goal.

Seattle responded five minutes later. Lamar Neagle put in a cross from the left hand side. Midfielder Mauro Rosales brought it down on the right side to set up an easy tap in from Fredy Montero of all people to tie the match up again at 2-2.

In the 81st minute the Timbers would end up losing a player. Midfielder Lamar Neagle was tackled from behind by Eric Brunner in the box, breaking up a breakaway chance for the Seattle Sounders and referee Jorge Gonzalez quickly reached into his back pocket and showed Brunner the red card. Ozzie Alonso stepped up to take the PK for the visiting team. Coming into this game he was 0 for 1 on PK's for the Sounders, missing one last year in a Champions League match at Saprissa, but Alonso went to the right side, just out of Perkins's reach to give the Sounders the lead for good. The Sounders unbeaten streak lives on, as well as Portland misery at home since they won their first 5 home matches.

Scoring summary:

Portland Timbers - Own goal (Jeff Parke) 46'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 4 (unassisted) 57'

Portland Timbers - Jorge Perlaza 4 (Diego Chara 1) 69'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 5 (Mauro Rosales 5, Lamar Neagle 1) 74'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso 3 (Penalty kick) 83'

Misconduct summary:

Portland Timbers - James Marcelin (caution; Reckless foul) 56'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Shirt Removal) 58'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless foul) 63'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales (caution; Unsporting behavior) 78'

Portland Timbers - Eric Brunner (ejection; Denied Scoring chance (foul)) 81'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Patrick Ianni 56'), Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 66'); Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero

Portland Timbers - Troy Perkins; Steve Purdy, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace; James Marcelin, Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagbe (Sal Zizzo 64'), Kalif Alhassan; Jorge Perlaza (Kenny Cooper 75')

Previewing Round 2 of the Sounders-Timbers MLS Rivalry

By Money Mike:


The Seattle Sounders are preparing for their 2nd Rivalry match against the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland. On May 14, these two sides finished with a point each after a 1-1 draw at Qwest Field (now named CenturyLink Field). Alvaro Fernandez broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with a low left foot drive to put the Sounders up 1-0. But then in the 65th minute Jack Jewsbury hooked up with Futty Danso off a free-kick once again to salvage a point for the Timbers. The Sounders need to avoid mental mistakes if they want to get this win, which would put them in 2nd place all by themselves after FC Dallas lost 2-0 to Real Salt Lake.


Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - Some changes here for the Seattle Sounders. O'Brian White started practicing with the team following the LA match. He won't be on the squad today against Portland, but Sigi Schmid says he might at least be available off the bench next Saturday at home against the Colorado Rapids...... you know, the team with that dumb fuck named Brian Mullan. As for Brad Evans, what the hell is going on with this dude? I don't see him playing against Portland.

Portland Timbers - Alright for Rose City FC. Big blow defensively, Rodney Wallace has a left knee injury and he is out. Bright Dike has been out with a ruptured achillies tendon on his right ankle, he's now listed as questionable along with David Horst. Defenders Jeremy Hall and Futty Danso, Midfielders Adam Moffit and Peter Lowry and Goalkeeper Troy Perkins are listed as probable.


Key matchup:

Darlington Nagbe vs Tyson Wahl - Well you're looking at a young playmaker going up against Tyson Wahl in this one. I mean really, have you guys seen his goal last week against Sporting Kansas City, I mean it was everywhere on the news including on Sports Center. Tyson Wahl better keep him from pulling off another goal like that. lol. Seriously though, this is a matchup to look at.

And with all the injury concerns, this is the only matchup to keep an eye on for this one.

Sounders defeat New England 2-1. That's now 9 points in the last 8 days.

By Money Mike



The New England Revolution got on the score sheet early, but they failed to hold on as the Seattle Sounders(8-4-7) came back with two first half goals and held on in the second half to defeat New England(3-8-6) 2-1. After two disappointing draws against the Chicago Fire and the Vancouver Whitecaps to start the month of June, the Sounders have won 3 in a row in a string of 8 days against Toronto FC, Red Bull New York and now the New England Revolution and are inching closer to the top spot in the Western Conference, only four points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Revolution are halfway through their 2011 season and have only picked up 15 points which puts them in a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC. With the month of July approaching means that we'll be seeing more signings, trades and more players sold through the summer. The Sounders have 5 guys on trial including Sammy Ochoa and Myron Samuel. We've had rumors and speculation about Cillian Sheridan signing with the Sounders. He was on trial for a week and did very well, but now it looks like he's actually going to sign with the Portland Timbers which was absolutely uncalled for. The Sounders didn't want him at the price he was asking for. And that's just disappointing because I was excited to see him play for this team and help with our attack and ditching him just for the price tell's me that the staff are being a bunch of pussies. I mean, what? You think you'll go bankrupt for signing him at a huge price? Stupid. Just stupid. Anyway, let's talk about the match....

In the 3rd minute, it was the visitors who struck first. Benny Feilhaber, who missed the last four games do to injury which also knocked him off USA's Gold Cup squad, took the corner from the far hash mark and played a short ball to the top of the penalty area to Sainey Nyassi ripped a hard shot on frame. Kasey Keller got a hand to it but was unable to keep it out. It was the first set piece goal Seattle has conceded in 2011.

In the 23rd minute, the Sounders started to push after Pat Phelan nailed Servando Carrasco at midfield and only picked up a yellow card, but that could easily have been and should've been a straight Red Card. Three minutes later, Carrasco picked up a yellow for his tackle from behind on Benny Feilbaber.



In the 34th minute, the Sounders would pull level off another set play. Mauro Rosales collided with Ryan Cochrane just outside the New England penalty area. The referee gave the free kick to Seattle. Erik Friberg and Tyson Wahl we're behind the ball in an area where you would think Tyson Wahl's left foot would favor it. And I was Tyson Wahl who weaved his magic and curled the ball around the wall and into the far upper 90 as Matt Reis had no clue which direction he was going. It was the first Major League Soccer goal for Tyson Wahl who became the 13th different player to score for the Sounders this season. It was also the 8th set piece goal in the last 8 matches for the Sounders.

Six minutes later, the Sounders would pull ahead. New England defender Kevin Alston broke his shoe and rather than going to the bench to get a new shoe, he stayed on the ground and played everybody onside and the Sounders took advantage of it. Mauro Rosales fed a good ball into the penalty area for Roger Levesque who tapped it to Alvaro Fernandez who finished with the inside of his right foot to put the Sounders up 2-1. Fernandez is now tied for the team lead in Goals with Brad Evans with four goals.

Lamar Neagle had a good chance in the second half to make it 3-1. Drifting out to the right, Neagle took on left back Darrius Barnes. Took a couple of touches before having a go and he wasn't far away. Neagle has one of the greatest strikes on this team, and he managed to show that on the road at Real Salt Lake.

New England had some chances as well including Shalrie Joseph who forced a save by Kasey Keller from point blank range off the corner, while forward Rajko Lukic just missed the far post with a searing volley. In the 85th minute, A. J. Soares fed Zach Schilawski at midfield. Schilawski turned and ripped one from distance but the crossbar saved the Sounders the 3 points. In the end the match ended 2-1 Sounders.


Scoring summary:

New England Revolution - Sainey Nyassi 1 (Benny Feilhaber 2) 3'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl 1 (unassisted) 34'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 4 (Roger Levesque 2, Mauro Rosales 4) 40'


Misconduct summary:

New England Revolution - Pat Phelan (caution; Reckless tackle) 23'

Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (caution; Tactical foul) 26'

New England Revolution - Ryan Cochrane (caution; Reckless tackle) 72'

New England Revolution - Rajko Lekic (caution; Dissent) 78'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Delaying a Restart) 87'

New England Revolution - A. J. Soares (caution; Dissent) 90'


Lineup:

New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Zach Schilawski 81'), A. J. Soares, Darrius Barnes; Sainey Nyassi (Zak Boggs 62'), Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Ryan Guy (Kenny Mansally 62'); Rajko Lekic

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Jeff Parke (Patrick Ianni 17'), Tyson Wahl; Lamar Neagle, Servando Carrasco, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan 69'); Mauro Rosales (Nate Jaqua 89'), Roger Levesque

Ozzie Alonso's go ahead goal short lived as Eric Hassli's volley salvages a 2-2 draw for Vancouver

By Money Mike

In a wild last 10 minutes of the game, the Sounders, down 1-0, get an equalizer from Mauro Rosales to tie the match at 1. Then four minutes later, Ozzie Alonso takes advantage of a turnover and lashes a low left foot drive to put the Sounders up 2-1. But then a minute later, a turnover in the Sounders area by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado gave the Frenchman Eric Hassli a chance to make one touch and volley it over Kasey Keller off the far post and in the back of the net to salvage a 2-2 draw for the Whitecaps. No real changes in the standings except for one with Colorado pulling into a tie for 3rd place in the Western Conference after a late winner in stoppage time on the road against the Portland Timbers.

The Sounders started off bright in the early stages as they've obviously done almost every match this season.

In the 12th minute, Camilo tested Keller from a long way out. The Brazilian intercepted a sloppy pass from Ozzie Alonso and fired away from about 23-yards out (I can't measure it), but it was straight at Keller who punched it away.

Two minutes later, a beautiful ball through by Gershon Koffie found Shea Salinas breaking behind Tyson Wahl, but Salinas just missed wide. Salinas has been a pain all match long for Tyson Wahl. Camilo also played well this match. Another guy that I think caused the Seattle back line problems is Davide Chiumiento. And I think Koffie had a good game.

In the 20th minute, Joe Cannon came out to punch away a corner kick which was taken by Mauro Rosales. Alonso stepped up and volleyed with his left foot, but Joe Cannon was equal to it and he punched the ball over the crossbar.

In the 28th minute, the Whitecaps were awarded a PK. A pass from Jeb Brovsky set up Camilo down the left hand side and his clever cutback led to a foul in the box by Alonso and a penalty kick for Vancouver. Eric Hassli stepped up a calmly chipped the ball right down the middle with Keller diving to his left.

In the second half, the Sounders brought on Nate Jaqua and Miguel Montano to spark the Sounders attack and they nearly came through in the 67th minute but Jeb Brovsky snuffed out the danger with a good challenge.

It didn't take until minute 81' for Seattle to get their goal. Tyson Wahl's left footed cross was aimed towards Nate Jaqua. The ball came off a Whitecaps head and it redirected to Mauro Rosales and with Joe Cannon caught out of position, Rosales took it first time and put it away to tie the match at one. But the Sounders weren't done there.....

In the 84th minute, Brad Evans was tripped up, but the referee didn't call a foul. The Whitecaps however, failed to clear the ball away and Osvaldo Alonso made them pay with a low left foot drive from just outside the penalty area to put the Sounders on the high end of the game.

However, the lead only lasted a minute. The Whitecaps came right back to level the match at 2-2 when Eric Hassli took advantage of a poor pass from Jhon Hurtado and volleyed a dipping shot into the far corner for his second of the game and to erase a victory for the Men in Rave Green.

The Sounders next Saturday hit the road to face Toronto FC at BMO Field, Toronto are coming off a 2-2 draw to the LA Galaxy. The Whitecaps return home to face the Philadelphia Union the same day.

Scoring summary:

Vancouver Whitecaps - Eric Hassli 5 (penalty kick) 29'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 1 (unassisted) 81'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso 1 (unassisted) 84'

Vancouver Whitecaps - Eric Hassli 6 (unassisted) 85'

Misconduct summary:

Vancouver Whitecaps - Alain Rochat (caution; Reckless tackle) 46'+

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; descent) 47'+

Vancouver Whitecaps - Camilo (caution; Reckless tackle) 55'

Vancouver Whitecaps - Jonathan Leathers (caution; Delaying a restart) 71'

Lineups:

Vancouver Whitecaps - Joe Cannon; Jonathan Leathers, Jay DeMerit, Mouloud Akloul, Alain Rochat; Shea Salinas (Bilal Duckett 90'), Gershon Koffie, Jeb Brovsky (Michael Nanchoff 85'), Camilo; Davide Chiumiento (Peter Vagenas 73'), Eric Hassli

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales (Erik Friberg 83), Lamar Neagle (Nate Jaqua 59'); Fredy Montero, Mike Fucito (Miguel Montano 65')

Sounders end Real Salt Lake's 29-game unbeaten streak at Rio Tinto. Win 2-1.

By Money Mike

After picking up only 4 points in their last three matches at Qwest Field, the Seattle Sounders headed to Rio Tinto Stadium and put their disappointing home swing behind and ended another teams long unbeaten run on their home ground. Last night, the Seattle Sounders handed Real Salt Lake their first home loss since May 16, 2009 when the Kansas City Wizards last won at Salt Lake. The Sounders with the win are now 5-4-5 on the year and are sitting at 20 points going into the month of June which is a lot better then last year when they only had 12 points going into June, and yet a lot of you fans are just not getting it because you just continue to make ridiculous statements about Sigi Schmid and Fredy Montero.

The Sounders had a few chances in the first half, with the rain in their face, to take the lead. In the 10th minute, off a corner, the cross from Tyson Wahl found Jeff Parke who got up and flicked it toward the far post but Kyle Beckerman got his own head on it to keep it from going into the net.

In the 18th minute, the Sounders had to make an early change when Alvaro Fernandez went down with a hamstring injury. Fernandez actually suffered it during warm-ups but told Sigi Schmid and the training staff that he was fine and ready to go, but his decision aggravated his injury while he was going after a loose ball with Robbie Russell. So Fernandez was subbed out and replaced by Lamar Neagle.

In the 20th minute, RSL tested Kasey Keller with a couple of long distance efforts from Will Johnson and Jean Alexandre. The most difficult one came from Alexandre when Kasey Keller got a pretty bad jump and had trouble getting to the ball, but he did pounce on it without any issues.

The substitute, Lamar Neagle nearly made an impact at the half-hour mark. Neagle got into space behind the defense and cracked one on frame from just outside the Box, but right into the chest of Nick Rimando. Nate Jaqua also had some good opportunities in the first half but came up short.

In the 48th minute, Salt Lake nearly put themselves in front, Erik Friberg's header landed in the direction of Fabian Espindola who took a couple of touches before cracking a left footed effort from point blank range which took a deflection and Keller parried it wide. Espindola, the majority of the time, has been on the wing taking on James Riley and I tell you what, Riley has had a lot of problems with Espindola in this match.

Keller would come up big again in the 51st minute. Seattle still couldn't get the ball out of danger and they nearly payed for it. After a shot deflected off Patrick Ianni, Jamison Olave pounced on the rebound and got a head on the ball, but Keller came out and got a hand to it to redirect it off the crossbar.

Seven minutes later, Olave turned from a near hero to a goat. Mike Fucito got behind Olave. who was the last defender on that play. Olave reached back through Fucito to get the ball and brought him down and if that wasn't a red card, then I don't know what is. Since he was the last man back there for RSL, the referee had to give a straight red card, which he did and RSL had to play the last half hour with 10 men.

In the 71st minute, the Sounders took advantage of the straight red and opened the scoring. Off a corner from Tyson Wahl, Nate Jaqua headed the ball down to Fredy Montero who managed to push it to Patrick Ianni at the doorstep for the tap in to put the Men in Rave Green up 1-0.

Real Salt Lake continued to pour pressure on the Sounders for an equalizer, but in the 84th minute, they end up conceding a 2nd goal. Lamar Neagle received a pass from Tyson Wahl and curled a right footed shot over Nick Rimando and into the far upper 90 for his first goal for the Seattle Sounders. Remember, the Sounders signed Neagle in 2009, but he never played for them that year. He signs with the Charleston Battery in 2010 and scores 12 goals in 19 matches for them. Then he moves to IFK Mariehamn and scores 2 goals in 5 matches. He returned to Seattle for a preseason trial and he just continued to score goals during the preseason so the Sounders had to sign him and now in his 6th appearance for the Sounders, he scores his first MLS goal and even better, he puts the Sounders up 2-0.

With two minutes to go, Salt Lake pulled one back. A throw in from 17-year old Luis Gil found Nelson Gonzalez in the box and the Argentine spun away from Patrick Ianni and slotted the ball past Kasey Keller into the far post. Keller was unhappy with Patrick Ianni after that one and why wouldn't he be unhappy? Looking at the replay, what the fuck was Ianni doing? Trying to trip Gonzalez and draw a penalty? Just being lazy? Either way, there is no excuse for letting him get by you for an easy goal. This is why you have defenders and luckily for Patrick Ianni, that was the only goal Real Salt Lake would get because they came close to coming away with an equalizer in stoppage time just like last year. If that were to happen, they would've been talking about that one play and Ianni would've been a goat for that one mistake. The Sounders now head to Chicago to take on the Fire. In the first meeting between the Sounders and the Fire, and of course I was at that one, the Sounders took all three points with a 2-1 win. The Fire are still looking for their first win since their 3-2 win at home against Sporting Kansas City on March 26th, and I'll talk more about the matchup when I preview the matchup next weekend.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni 1 (Fredy Montero 4, Nate Jaqua 1) 71'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 1 (Tyson Wahl 2) 84'

Real Salt Lake - Nelson Gonzalez 1 (Luis Gil 1) 88'

Misconduct summary:

Real Salt Lake - Will Johnson (caution; Reckless foul) 27'

Real Salt Lake - Jamison Olave (ejection; Denied Goal Scoring opportunity (foul)) 58'

Real Salt Lake - Chris Wingert (caution; Reckless foul) 65'

Seattle Sounders FC - James Riley (caution; Dissent) 81'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Reckless foul) 90'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl; Erik Friberg (Roger Levesque 80'), Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 18'); Mike Fucito (Fredy Montero 69'), Nate Jaqua

Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Robbie Russell (Nelson Gonzalez 76'), Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran; Andy Williams (Luis Gil 86'), Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson, Ned Grabavoy; Jean Alexandre (Chris Wingert 62'), Fabian Espindola

Jeff Parke comes through with a late winner against Sporting KC.

By Money Mike


Coming off a disappointing result last week, a draw against a last placed team would've been disastrous for the Seattle Sounders, but in stoppage time, Jeff Parke came up with a clutch goal in the 92nd minute when the Sounders needed it most and for the 2nd straight year, Sporting Kansas City come to Qwest Field and give up a game-winning goal in stoppage time as the Sounders defeated KC 1-0. With the win, Seattle moves into a three-way tie for second place with Portland and FC Dallas with 17 points.

Sporting looked dangerous in the first couple minutes of the match, in the 5th minute had a go with his weak right foot. A low drive that was knocked down by Kasey Keller who then held on to the rebound that Omar Bravo miss-hit.

In the 20th minute, Mauro Rosales earned a free header off the Alvaro Fernandez cross, but his effort went over the crossbar. That was one of two good chances in the first half for the Sounders, the other chance was Rosales setting up Osvaldo Alonso who struck the ball first time with his left foot, but he just put a bit too much air under it.

The Seattle backline did very well shutting down Omar Bravo. And Teal Bunbury, who played college soccer with Steve Zakuani at the University of Akron, didn't do much either. Speaking of Zakuani, he was in attendance for the match along with O'Brian White.

Michael Fucito, a second-half sub, nearly burned Kansas City with another late goal again after receiving a pass from Nate Jaqua but his shot was well blocked by Matt Besler. And a lot of fans were heading to the exits thinking that the Sounders weren't going to putt it off, but in the 92nd minute, they were wrong.....

A corner kick from the left of Jimmy Nielsen, was sent into the middle of the penalty area and Jeff Parke who outjumped the Kansas City defenders and directed a header inside the far post for a late goal and the Sounders first ever home win in the month of May.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Jeff Parke 1 (Tyson Wahl 1) 92+'

Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (caution; Delaying a restart) 44'

Sporting Kansas City - Ryan Smith (caution; Dissent) 49'

Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (caution; Tactical foul) 51'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales (caution; Reckless tackle) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Tactical foul) 84'

Lineups:

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Neilsen; Michael Harrington, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza; Davy Arnaud, Craig Rocastle, Ryan Smith (Chance Myers 86'); Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury (C. J. Sapong 73'), Omar Bravo (Graham Zusi 76')

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Servando Carrasco (Nate Jaqua 55'), Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez, Mauro Rosales (Michael Fucito 69'); Fredy Montero (Patrick Ianni 93+'), Roger Levesque

Sounders pound Toronto FC 3-0. Extend unbeaten streak to 6 matches.

By Money Mike


With Steve Zakuani out, it was Brad Evans who stepped in with two goals and an assist as the Seattle Sounders shutout Toronto FC 3-0. The Sounders fans paid tribute to Zakuani by raising their #11 signs in the 11th minute and also chanting his name. The Sounders were also without O'Brian White who had blood clot surgery on his leg and Mauro Rosales was also left out of the 18-man squad. Toronto FC, coming off a win in the Canadian Championship, are now winless in 6 straight matches as they had a couple holes to fill with injuries and also with Tony Tchani suspended.

Seattle struck early in the 9th minute when Alvaro Fernandez, who replaced Zakuani at left midfield got on the end of a Brad Evans cross, unmarked, to head the ball home for his 2nd goal of the season to give the Sounders an early 1-0 lead and they never looked back.

Toronto had a chance to equalize before the break when Alan Stevanovic's ball nearly resulted in a breakaway goal for Javier Martina, but his effort was blocked at the last minute by Tyson Wahl.

In the first minute of the second half, Fernandez's cross in the box fell to Fredy Montero, and with Adrian Cann backing away, Montero tried a curler with the outside of his right boot toward the far post but Stefan Frei made a terrific diving stop to deny him. A couple minutes later, a driven ball by Nate Jaqua found the foot of Brad Evans from point blank range but Frei came up huge again as Evans went for power with his left foot. TFC still had work to do though. Alvaro Fernandez's cross was headed out of the penalty area by Dicoy Williams but the ball fell to James Riley for a thumper that just grazed the top of the crossbar.

In the 52 minute, the Sounders would find the back of the net again. Fredy Montero found Brad Evans streaking behind the defense and Evans made no mistake, he hit it first time, into the far post for his 2nd of the season and he wasn't done yet. In the 75th minute, the Sounders were awarded a penalty. Erik Friberg's corner came off the hand of Mikael Yourrasowsky and referee Ricardo Salazar pointed to the penalty spot. Brad Evans then stepped up and slotted the PK into the right corner of the net to cap off a well deserved 3-0 win for the men in Rave Green as they are now unbeaten in their last six matches since starting the year 0-2 and have also won 3 of their last 4 matches.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Brad Evans, James Riley) 9'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (Fredy Montero, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado) 52'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (penalty kick) 75'

Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Persistant infringement) 45'

Toronto FC - Julian de Guzman (caution; Reckless tackle) 54'

Lineups:

Toronto FC - Stefan Frei; Dan Gargan, Dicoy Williams, Adrian Cann, Danleigh Borman; Julian de Guzman (Nathan Sturgis 57'), Maicon Santos (Mikael Yourrasowsky 46'), Jacob Peterson; Javier Martina, Alan Gordon, Alen Stevanovic (Matt Gold 62')

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Servando Carrasco 80'), Alvaro Fernandez; Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque 72'), Fredy Montero (Michael Fucito 66')

2011 Seattle Sounders FC season preview + Sounders vs LA Galaxy Prediction

By Money Mike

Well, this is it, we've been sitting around during the winter, waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for a new season. Now, the wait is over, it's now time to gear up, raise your scarves and give your full 90 because Seattle Sounders FC are back and ready for a new season of Major League soccer. This team has had by far their busiest off season in their history, with Sanna Nyassi, Tyrone Marshall, Nathan Sturgis gone, who was gonna step up and replace them? Only Sigi Schmid has the answer to that question. Here's our Sounders FC roster for the year 2011.

Seattle Sounders FC 2011 roster:

2 - Michael Fucito: 3rd year out of Harvard. He'll start the season on the injured list. There have been some critisisms about him being protected for the expansion draft but there isn't a reason why they shouldn't protect him. All I'm gonna say is, he'll be useful for this team during the season.

3 - Brad Evans: To me this guy, since joining the club, has sometimes impressed me and other times, he's been inconsistant. I see him coming off the bench.

4 - Patrick Ianni: Did very well in the late stages of last season with our back line all banged up and everything, but I don't see him as a starting defender at this part of the season.

5 - Tyson Wahl: Again, nothing special, only 4 appearances last season. He's been lacking it since mid 2009.

6 - Osvaldo Alonso: This guy has been fantastic his first two years here in Seattle, and will stick around for another four years. He has one of the best strikes and if he can start attacking more and wearing down the opposing defense, I think he'll come away with a couple of goals this season. He's also great defensively, we need him out there pretty much every game.

7 - James Riley: I think he needs to join the attack a lot more. He hasn't done much of that, so that needs to change.

8 - Erik Friberg: A key acquisition to this team. Friberg has the ability to create goalscoring opportunities, has a good share of goals in his career in Sweden. Believe me when I say, this guys is a lot better than Freddie Ljungberg.

9 - Blaise Nkufo: A designated player, calling it quits is the toughest thing to do in your life, but this is his last year of professional soccer. The greatest goalscorer in FC Twente history with 114 goals. He started off a little slow his first few games, but really picked it up these last couple months of last season and finished with 5 goals in 11 matches.

11 - Steve Zakuani: He has really picked his game up last year, coming away with 10 goals last season and we'll see more in 2011.

12 - Leo Gonzalez: Really impressed me since he joined. It would've been a mistake not to keep him for 2011.

13 - O'Brian White: I think he's gonna have a breakout year for the Sounders. He really struggled in Toronto, and I know there were some questions about trading for him, but I think he'll fit in very well with the Sounders.

14 - Michael Tetteh: Generation Adidas player. This rookie is an exciting young player I think will be here for a long time.

15 - Alvaro Fernandez: A threat from the wing. With Nyassi gone, he's gonna have to take the load.

16 - David Estrada: First round pick last season. If he hadn't been out injured in the first place, I think we would've seen a lot more of them. Only three matches last season. I'm not saying he's useless. But unless Sigi puts him our there more often, I'd consider loaning him out for a while just to gain some work experience.

17 - Fredy Montero: Nothing to say about him. A fan favorite since day one.

18 - Kasey Keller: Final season. I know he hasn't been with Seattle for so long, but I think he will go down as one of the greatest goalkeepers in Sounders history.

20 - Zach Scott: To be honest, he's useless. I think they're gonna cut him soon.

21 - Nate Jaqua: I'm really surprised that they protected him. He has disappointed me a lot, missing a lot of scoring chances. And the majority of them were easy ones. He need to proove that he belongs here.

22 - Mike Seamon: Still a working progress, but he's getting there. 8 appearances his rookie season.

23 - Servando Carrasco: Rookie 2nd round pick out of the University of California. Had an outstanding preseason and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in the regular season.

24 - Roger Levesque: He tried out for Defender during the preseason, I don't know where he'll end up in the regular season.

25 - Pat Noonan: Ya know, I don't think he belongs in Seattle.

26 - Taylor Graham: I don't think he belongs here either.

27 - Lamar Neagle: Federal Way Native. Great to have him back. Hopefully we'll see him out there in an MLS match.

28 - Terry Boss: He's a pretty good goalkeeper, but he makes so many costly mistakes and I don't think he's a starting goalkeeper.

29 - Josh Ford: I think Ford should be the starter next season. He has set school records at UCONN. 85 consecitive starts, 54 wins, 50 shutouts in his four years. He's got a great future.

31 - Jeff Parke: Did very well last season filling in for the injured Jhon Kennedy Hurtado who suffered a season ending injury back in may.

32 - Miguel Montano: Saw action in 6 matches last season. Had a good preseason. We should also keep an eye on how he does.

34 - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado: It's great to have him back. That ACL injury was a big blow to our back line, but Jeff Parke and Patrick Ianni both stepped up and did very well.

Prediction - Sounders vs Galaxy

Sounders come away with a 3-1 win.