Sounders crush the San Jose Earthquakes 4-0

By Money Mike


After a 2-0-1 road trip, the Seattle Sounders returned home looking to snatch a four game losing skid against the San Jose Earthquakes. And that's exactly what they did. Goals have been tough to come by for the Sounders in the early part of the season but on Saturday, the Men in Rave Green rediscovered their goalscoring touch as they put a four spot on the San Jose Earthquakes for their third win in their last four matches and also to extend their unbeaten run to five games. The Sounders remain at home next Saturday when they host the Western Conference leaders FC Dallas. Kickoff time for that match is at 7:30.

Sounders began testing the San Jose backline early on in the game. In the 9th minute, Lamar Neagle let the ball run through to Eddie Johnson who played it back to the Federal Way boy. Neagle took one touch and ripped one from a long way out, but the ball was always going wide.

Sounders should've had a goal in the 24th minute. Eddie Johnson found Brad Evans on the near side. Evans had Lamar Neagle making a run in the box as well as Mauro Rosales and whipped in a low left foot cross to the far post for Rosales who should've headed the ball in, but it looked like he timed his header a little to early and the ball came off the side of his head and didn't find the target.

In the 28th minute, the Sounders opened the scoring as they would catch the Quakes on the break. After some sloppy passing from Sam Cronin and Ramiro Corrales, Mauro Rosales poked the ball to Brad Evans who quickly played the ball out wide for Eddie Johnson. EJ slowed up for a second as he waited for support before taking on Justin Morrow. Johnson then chipped the ball into the box to Rosales who chested the ball to the top of the box for Lamar Neagle who catches it off the half volley and Jon Busch could do nothing but get a piece of the ball as it finds the back of the net for Neagle's first league goal in his third stint with the Sounders.

In the 37th minute, San Jose nearly pulled one back and probably should've pulled one back. Sam Cronin curled the ball to the far post for Ramiro Corrales who headed the ball back across to Alan Gordon for a free header and how he missed that opportunity, I don't know. Gordon was making his first start after missing the last four games. He was suspended three games for his homophobic slur which was directed at Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson during their match in Portland. He's the third player in the last two seasons to cross the line in that area. Colin Clark remember was suspended for his homophobic slur directed at one of the Sounders ball boys during the second match of the 2012 season between the Sounders and the Houston Dynamo and Marc Burch of course was also penalized for the same reason also believed to be directed at Will Johnson in the second leg of last years Western Conference semifinal between the Sounders and Real Salt Lake, and you can read more about that here. Anyway, missing games is no excuse for missing that opportunity. Gordon should've scored.

Just seconds into first half stoppage time, the Sounders doubled their lead. After a foul was conceded about 25 yards away from goal, now the question was who was going to take this one because this was Fredy Montero territory, but he's on loan in Colombia, you also have Mario Martinez who can take these, but he was on the bench to start the game. So it came down to, "is Mauro Rosales going to touch it for Ozzie Alonso?", "is he gonna look for one of the green shirts in the box?", "is he gonna go for goal himself?". Well, he went for goal himself and curled it in off the left post to put the Sounders up 2-0.

Moving on to the 54th minute, it was Lamar Neagle for the second time in this match. Servando Carrasco, who has really improved these past couple of week, fed Neagle with a high lofted ball. Neagle used his strength to bring the ball down in front of him, turn away from Justin Morrow and strike it low and hard in off the near post for his second of the game and the Sounders third.

And then in the final seconds of the game, Obafemi Martins comes on and gets in on the goal parade.....



The Sounders have quickly turned things around since their 0-3-1 start. They have won three of their last four matches, they're unbeaten in five and they're only a couple points out of playoff position with a couple games in hand. The Men in Rave Green have shown once again that they can comeback in a heartbeat.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 1 (Mauro Rosales 3, Eddie Johnson 1) 28'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 2 (Unassisted) 46'+

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 2 (Servando Carrasco 1) 54'

Seattle Sounders FC - Obafemi Martins 2 (Unassisted) 93'+


Misconduct summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Rafael Baca (caution; foul) 45'

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Wondolowski (caution; argument) 88'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson (caution; argument) 88'


Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Victor Bernardez, Justin Morrow, Dan Gargan; Rafael Baca, Sam Cronin, Ramiro Corrales (Shea Salinas 64'), Walter Martinez; Alan Gordon (Marcus Tracy 65'), Chris Wondolowski

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales (Mario Martinez 62'), Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Brad Evans (Obafemi Martins 55'); Lamar Neagle (David Estrada 86'), Eddie Johnson

Sounders FC monthly rewind: June 2012

By Money Mike


So I've been a couple days late with my work here because I just got re-settled after spending four days in California because my sisters dance team was performing at Disneyland and also I had a lot of studying to do. So for those of you waiting for my EURO 2012 recap, I'll get on it as soon as possible when I get the time. Right now, I'm gonna give you guys a rewind of Seattle's difficult month of June. Of course I'm going to give my positives (this was difficult) and negatives (Parke and Hurtado) about the month and take a look ahead to the month of July and I'm also gonna give my thoughts on the transfer period as the summer transfer window opened up last Wednesday.


Positives:

It was a little difficult finding some positives for this past month because the Sounders still have not won a league match since May 9th and now the team that started 7-1-1 is now 7-5-5. One positive that I'll throw out is that they we're able to keep their win streak in the U.S. Open Cup alive on the road against the top team in the league, the San Jose Earthquakes who have been in great form all season and the Sounders went over there and came away with a 1-0 win on a goal by Cordell Cato to advance to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal against Chivas USA on July 11th at Starfire. Also from what I've seen, I think Mauro Rosales is starting to produce as he picked up a couple of assists these last three games. One last positive is that we are getting healthy which is a good thing, especially on defense with Adam Johansson who looked pretty good last Saturday unlike his last three matches.


Negatives:

This was ridiculous. Poor marking from our center backs Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado which may have cost them a place in the starting lineup. What has happened with Hurtado? This is not the same Jhon Kennedy Hurtado we saw in 2009 up to May 2010 before he suffered a torn ACL, great defender, communicating well with his teammates but that was then. Same with Jeff Parke, what the hell happened? Ever since may, Jeff Parke has sucked and watching him against Portland made me sick to my stomach because his set piece defending was awful, leaving David Horst wide open. Parke's contract with the Sounders is up after this season. I don't know about Hurtado's, but I know Parke's in the final year of his contract and the way he's played a long side Hurtado, he doesn't deserve to stick around any longer. At 30 years of age, this guy should be in his prime or at least close to it. When it came to the negatives in June, Parke and Hurtado were obviously a top that list.


Western Conference Standings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes, 11-4-3 (36 pts), GF 36 GA 24 GD 12
2. Real Salt Lake, 10-6-2 (32 pts), GF 28 GA 21 GD 7
3. Seattle Sounders FC, 7-5-5 (26 pts), GF 21 GA 18 GD 3
4. Vancouver Whitecaps, 7-4-5 (26 pts), GF 18 GA 19 GD -1
5. Colorado Rapids, 7-8-1 (22 pts), GF 24 GA 21 GD 3
6. Los Angeles Galaxy, 6-9-2 (20 pts), GF 25 GA 27 GD -2
7. Chivas USA, 5-7-4 (19 pts), GF 11 GA 18 GD -7
8. Portland Timbers, 5-7-4 (19 pts), GF 16 GA 21 GD -5
9. FC Dallas, 3-9-5 (14 pts), GF 16 GA 26 GD -10


Looking ahead to July + A few thoughts on the Summer transfer period:

So as we know, the summer transfer window for Major League Soccer opened last Wednesday and will remain open through July 27th and there's been a lot of talk these last couple weeks about the possibility of 1. FC Kaiserslautern midfielder Christian Tiffert coming to the Emerald City following a disappointing 2011-12 season in which his club was relegated from the German Bundesliga. The last report I found regarding Tiffert was that he has agreed to personal terms with the Sounders and that the club is currently negotiating transfer fee. So it looks like Tiffert is close to joining the Rave Green.

As for the Sounders. The CONCACAF Champions League is a month away. Looking at what we have this month, we have a couple of big road matches. Tomorrow at Real Salt Lake and one on the 15th against the New York Red Bulls. We also have two games this month against the Colorado Rapids and of course the U.S. Open Cup semifinal next Wednesday against Chivas USA.

Upcoming schedule

July 4 @ Real Salt Lake, 7:00pm (KING 5)
July 7 vs Colorado Rapids, 8:00pm (NBC Sports Network)
July 11 vs Chivas USA, 7:00pm (soundersfc.com)*
July 15 @ New York Red Bulls, 1:00pm (ESPN)
July 18 vs Chelsea FC, 6:30pm (TBD)^
July 28 @ Colorado Rapids, 6:00pm (KONG TV)

Note 1: * - U.S. Open Cup match
Note 2: ^ - Friendly match

Sounders come away with nothing this time, lose 1-0 to San Jose

By Money Mike


After winning their first two matches of the season the Seattle Sounders came into this match with alot of confidence, but sometimes confidence isn't good enough. The Sounders found themselves on the losing end, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders hit the road next Saturday in the nations capital as they face D.C. United who are coming off their first win of the season, defeating FC Dallas 4-1. It was a poorly played game from both sides and the Sounders deserved no more than a point out of this, but a horrible PK decision midway through the first half made sure that didn't happen. Seattle will have to shake this one off and turn their attention to their match next Saturday at D.C.

Seattle did start of brightly in the early minutes. In the 10th minute after San Jose struggled to clear the ball out of danger, Osvaldo Alonso stepped and sent in a driven ball to the middle of the penalty area for Fredy Montero who just headed it over the top.

In the 17th minute, San Jose nearly caught the Sounders on the break. Chris Wondolowski found Steven Beitashour making a brilliant overlapping run from the back. Beitashour whipped in a short cross which bounced to the far post for Steven Lenhart who forced a save from Michael Gspurning who then pounced on the ball and held on to prevent Chris Wondolowski from putting home the rebound.

Now as I said on my preview, Alvaro Fernandez was fined for embellishment in last weeks match. The MLS Disciplinary Committee better fine Steven Lenhart as well for this crap in the 23rd minute. Marc Burch stuck his leg out and there was very little to no contact on the play. It was a clear dive by Lenhart but referee Mark Kadlecik decides to point to the penalty spot and award a PK to the Quakes. I hate making excuses here but that was a horrible call by the referee. I'm just getting sick and tired of the fact that referee's end up deciding the game.

Chris Wondolowski stepped up to take the PK for San Jose. Michael Gspurning has made some key penalty saves during his career. However, Wondo overpowered him and put it inside the right post for his fourth of the season and to give San Jose the lead in Seattle.

In the 35th minute, Zach Scott, who got the start again at right back for the injured Adam Johansson, sent in a cross into the six yard box where four Sounder players were waiting. The ball found the head of Alonso who headed it just wide of the near post.

The Sounders continued to push at the start of the second half. In the 51st minute, Osvaldo Alonso found David Estrada who turned, got away from Sam Cronin and had a go from about 25 yards away, but it didn't really test goalkeeper Jon Busch. Estrada who scored four goals in his first two matches was really quiet in the first half and trying to get it going in the second half.

Six minutes later, the Quakes nearly capitalized on a mistake. Servando Carrasco gave the ball away to Sam Cronin who stepped away from Patrick Ianni, but just missed wide as he looked to slot into the far corner.

In the 83rd minute, Fredy Montero and Sammy Ochoa liked up very well on this play and Montero looked to curl this one into the far corner but Jon Busch came up huge yet again. That was just about the last real opportunity for the Sounders as the breaks just weren't going their way like they were last match.


Scoring summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Wondolowski 4 (penalty kick) 24'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Christian Sivebaek (caution; Persisten infringement) 47'+

San Jose Earthquakes - Rafael Baca (caution; foul) 64'

San Jose Earthquakes - Steven Lenhart (caution; Time wasting) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; foul) 81'

San Jose Earthquakes - Alan Gordon (caution; foul) 83'


Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Victor Bernardez, Justin Morrow, Ramiro Corrales (Jason Hernandez 46'); Marvin Chavez (Simon Dawkins 89'), Sam Cronin, Rafael Baca, Shea Salinas; Steven Lenhart (Alan Gordon 67'), Chris Wondolowski

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Jeff Parke 46'), Marc Burch; Christian Sivebaek (Sammy Ochoa 62'), Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco (Alex Caskey 74'), Alvaro Fernandez; David Estrada, Fredy Montero

Sounders look to get off to a 3-0 start as they take on the San Jose Earthquakes

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders so far have taken maximum points in each of their first two matches this season. They will look to do the same here as they close out their three game homestand against the San Jose Earthquakes who are of course led by their go-to guy Chris Wondolowski. Last week, the Sounders defeated the Houston Dynamo by a score of 2-0, however after the match there was some Disciplinary action. Colin Clark was handed a three game suspension for verbally assulting one of the ball boys. Adam Moffat was handed a one game suspension for a dangerous tackle on Ozzie Alonso, which he gave him only a yellow card but the MLS Disciplinary committee thought it was red card offense and gave him a one match ban. Also, Alvaro Fernandez was fined an undisclosed amound of money for "embellishment of contact" in the 82nd minute of friday night's match.


Injury report:

San Jose Earthquakes - For the Quakes, Joey Gjertsen, who is a Tacoma native, is out after having sergery on his right knee. Tim Ward is suffering from a non-specific soft tissue injury and he is out. Sercan Guvenisik has a strained right hip flexor and is listed as doubtful. And finally, Marvin Chavez has a concussion and is listed as probable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For Seattle, of course we got a big list here. Of course Josh Ford, Andrew Duran and Steve Zakuani are out. Michael Tetteh is also out with a strained left hamstring. Babayele Sodade picked up a right knee injury while he was with Canada for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and he is out. Eddie Johnson, Mauro Rosales and Adam Johansson also will not play against San Jose. And finally, Brad Evans picked up an injury during training and is a game time decision for this match.


Key matchup:

Chris Wondolowski vs Jhon Kennedy Hurtado - I think this is a key matchup after what happened in the last regular season home match of 2011. You never want to leave this guy open because he'll hurt you in a split second. Hurtado needs to shut him down if the Sounders are to have any chance of going 3-0.

Sounders put on a late show in front of a record crowd. Defeat Earthquakes 2-1.

By Money Mike

Last night, a record crowd of 64,140 fans came to CenturyLink Field to pay tribute to one of the greatest goalkeepers in the game, Kasey Keller. The Sounders played their final regular season home match of the 2011 season, taking on the San Jose Earthquakes who were playing for pride after already being eliminated from the playoffs. The fans were treated with yet another come-from-behind win for the Men in Rave Green as they scored two goals in the last eight minutes of the game to defeat the Quakes by a score of 2-1. The Sounders still have another home match on Tuesday as Mexican side Monterrey in the final CONCACAF Champions League group stage match for 2011-2012. Following that match the Sounders will head to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California to close out the regular season against Chivas USA.

10 minutes into the game, the Quakes nearly caught the Sounders ball watching. Simon Dawkins took the corner kick from the far hash mark and the initial cross looked like it was for Chris Wondolowski at the near post, but he mistimed his jump. Khari Stephenson's follow up was blocked by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and the ball rolled past Ozzie Alonso who just stood there instead of trying to clear it away and Wondolowski ended up shooting it just wide.

In the 13th minute, Ozzie Alonso may have scuffed what looked like a volley towards goal. The ball fell in the box to Fredy Montero who made a nice cut inside on Jason Hernandez before being clipped near the thighs by Hernandez, but referee Michael Kennedy decided not to point to the penalty spot. I've looked at the replay a few times and seriously, this is why FOX Soccer will give up their rights to NBC following the end of the 2011 season. They said Kennedy got the decision right. Give me a break. I looked at the replay over and over again and Hernandez definitely caught Montero, so unless he got the ball first, that should've been a foul and that should've been a penalty.

In the 19th, Khari Stephenson, who scored a wonder goal against the Sounders in the first meeting back on April 2nd, decided to test Keller from about 29-yards out (Once again, it's from my point of view, in which case I may be wrong). Kasey Keller dived to his right to parry it away. Stephenson this year has put together the best season of his MLS career, making 30 appearances, scoring 5 goals and assisting in 3 other goals. The Earthquakes have been switching things around in the second half of the season because of key players being injured and making trades and stuff. They traded Brandon McDonald to D.C. United in late June. Ryan Johnson was traded to Toronto FC for Nana Attakora, Alan Gordon and Jacob Peterson. Edmundo Zura was acquired on loan from El Nacional, but his loan deal was terminated after one match because of his lack of fitness. Alan Gordon only made two appearances since his move from Toronto before undergoing season ending surgery. Scott Sealy has been missing. Steven Lenhart took a family leave of absence, which was a huge blow for their attacking game. Everything just backfired for this team. I think the San Jose Earthquakes are a better team than this and despite being a Sounders fan and all, I think it's a little disappointing to see them miss out on the playoffs because there's a lot of talent on that team.

In the 24th minute, San Jose capitalises on a costly mistake by defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Brad Ring tried to flick the ball on for Chris Wondolowski, but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado gives it right back and Rafael Baca sent Wondolowski away. Wondolowski takes two big touches, slows down a bit in the process, and calmly slides the ball into the corner past Keller for his 15th goal of the season. The Sounders, pretty much the entire first half, made a bunch of sloppy and unnecessary passes like last week in their 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union.

In the 65th minute, a horrible pass by Patrick Ianni nearly resulted in a second goal for the Earthquakes. Ianni tried to pass the ball back to Kasey Keller with Khari Stephenson in his face he completely made a mess of it. Keller came off his line to deny Stephenson. The ball then fell to Chris Wondolowski who made a move, then had a go on his left foot and Keller made another save. Simon Dawkins then had a try and was also denied before the Sounders could finally clear the ball away. Both the center backs for Seattle had a terrible game, mainly because of the crappy passing. Hurtado's giveaway leading to the opening goal by Wondolowski and a giveaway by Ianni which nearly resulted in a second goal.

The Sounders made two big substitutions in the 64th minute, bringing on Mauro Rosales, who made his return after suffering an MCL sprain a few weeks ago, and four minutes later, they brought in Sammy Ochoa and both of them nearly combined for an equalizer in the 75th minute....

With 15 minutes to go, Rosales whipped in a very good cross to the top of the area for Sammy Ochoa whose header sailed well over the bar. Three minutes later, Rosales found Fredy Montero who was able to head the ball down, but wide of Jon Busch's right hand side.

In the 82nd minute, Mauro Rosales and Sammy Ochoa hooked up again. This time, a long through ball did the trick. Rosales sent Ochoa behind the San Jose defense with a good long ball. Ochoa waited for the ball to bounce in front of him before slotting the ball past Jon Busch and in off the left post for his first Sounders goal. Remember, Ochoa spent 5 years at Esdudiantes Tecos and scored only two goals in 27 appearances for them. I think the more playing time he gets, the more goals he'll score for this club. This guy has the potential. He is still working to get to the level where he can start a game and go a full 90 minutes because of the fact he didn't get much playing time with Tecos and hopefully by the final game of the regular season, if not the playoffs, he could make his way into the starting 11, but at the same time, he may continue to come off the bench and continue to improve on his form during the offseason.

Five minutes later, in the 87th minute, the Sounders capped off another dramatic comeback. Sammy Ochoa knocked Bobby Burling off the ball before he could clear. Brad Evans found Lamar Neagle, who quickly slotted the ball in the penalty area to Fredy Montero. Montero did very well to turn and quickly fire the ball off the outside of his right foot into the far corner of the net for his 12th goal in MLS and his 17th goal in all competitions this season. That goal also turned out to be the match winner as Kasey Keller's home finale ends in another Sounders come-from-behind win.

OK, so looking at this photo, you would think I was there, just like April 9th when the Sounders got their first win of the season and October 4 when the Sounders won the U.S. Open Cup. But no, I wasn't at this game. I had no luck on the tickets so I ended up watching this game on TV. But looking at the entire stadium full of fans to watch an American soccer game is always huge, and of course I'm talking about non-soccer specific stadiums like CenturyLink Field. And by the way, not only was the stadium built for the Seattle Seahawks, it was built with a hope of bringing an MLS team to Seattle, and all the talks about that started somewhere around the year of 2006. And I remember very well, comissioner Don Garber was interviewed on ESPN when one of the midseason matches in 07', and he talked about possibly the league expanding somewhere in the Northwest. And the fact that the Sounders when they were in the USL First Division, won the Championship that year which I believe was the reason they were awarded an MLS team. We've had a crowd like this for friendly's and international matches (with the Hawks Nest opened as well), but for an MLS game, not until last night. It's something you always want to see.

Scoring summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Wondolowski 15 (Rafael Baca 3) 24'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa 1 (Mauro Rosales 13) 82'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 12 (Lamar Neagle 2, Brad Evans 4) 87'

Misconduct summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Justin Morrow (caution; Reckless tackle) 6'

San Jose Earthquakes - Brad Ring (caution; Reckless foul) 40'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni (caution; Unsporting behavior) 48'

San Jose Earthquakes - Jason Hernandez (caution; Unsporting behavior) 57'

Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Burling, Justin Morrow; Rafael Baca, Brad Ring, Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins; Chris Wondolowski, Khari Stephenson

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Alvaro Fernandez (Sammy Ochoa 68'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle (Zach Scott 90'); Mike Fucito (Mauro Rosales 64'), Fredy Montero

Seattle Sounders FC preview vs San Jose Earthquakes. Over 62,000 tickets sold as Kasey Keller prepares for his final home match.

By Money Mike



A record crowd of over 62,000 will fill CenturyLink Field tomorrow as one of the greatest Goalkeepers in the game, Kasey Keller gets set to play in his final regular season home match of his career. A lot of folks have been chanting "ONE MORE YEAR!!" hoping that he will change his mind and return for the 2012 season. For them, and it hurts me to say this, they won't get their wish. And then people have been asking if he will be in net for the playoffs, and obviously, that's a dumb question. Keller will of course be in net for the playoffs. The Sounders on the other hand have two games remaining before the playoffs. Tomorrow, they take on the San Jose Earthquakes, who are already eliminated from playoff contention. These two teams met back on April 2 down at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose. Brad Evans and O'Brian White were the goalscorers for the Sounders, but the Earthquakes got two of their own from Simon Dawkins and Khari Stephenson and the match ended all square at 2-2. Right now, San Jose's big focus would be Chris Wondolowski getting his second straight Golden Boot, he'll be their go-to guy in this one.


Injury report:

San Jose Earthquakes - For the Earthquakes, Andre Luiz, who seriously needs to retire, has a left knee injury and he is out. Ike Opara has a left foot injury and is also out, and that's a key injury because this guy is a threat on set peices. Alan Gordon had season ending surgery, I don't know where though. Bobby Convey has inflammation on his right knee. Steven Lenhart is not injured, he has taken a family leave of absense for the rest of the season. Anthony Ampaipitakwong and Ramiro Corrales are both listed as doubtful. And Nana Attakora and Scott Sealy are both listed as questionable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Sounders, of course Steve Zakuani, Mike Seamon and Terry Boss are shut down for the season. Jeff Parke suffered a concussion last week against the Philadelphia Union and he has been ruled out for the home finale. O'Brian White still has not recovered from his second blood clot surgery and he may not be back this season. And finally, Mauro Rosales has been cleared for play this weekend after sitting out for a few weeks with an MCL sprain he suffered against D.C. United.


Looking back at Kasey Keller's 20-year career:

I tell you what, thing will never be the same without Kasey Keller. He made his U.S. national team debut in 1990 when he was still playing College Soccer at the University of Portland. With the national team, Keller picked up his 100th cap in the semifinals of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup against Canada because of the fact that Tim Howard was carrying a yellow card and would've been suspended for the final if he picked up another one in the semifinal. So they benched Howard and started Keller and the U.S. eventually won the match 2-1 after a last second equalizer by Atiba Hutchinson was ruled out for offside. The U.S. would go on and win the Gold Cup in 2007 defeating Mexico 2-1 in the final. Keller made 102 appearances overall for the United States from 1990-2007, and there's no doubt, he made some big plays for the national team, including in their second match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Italy when he made a world class save to deny Alessandro Del Piero a go ahead goal. He made 176 appearances for Milwall from 1992-96, 99 appearances for Leicester City from 1996-99 and also won a League Cup for them, 51 appearances for Rayo Vallencano from 1999-2001, 85 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur from 2001-2005, 4 appearances during his short loan stint with Southampton in 2004, 78 appearances for Borussia Monchengladbach from 2005-2007, 13 appearances for Fulham during the 2007-2008 English Premier League season and so far, 91 appearances for the Seattle Sounders since 2009.


A Tribute to the Captain:

Sounders strike twice in a 2-2 draw at San Jose

The Sounders are still due for a win after finishing level at San Jose. Brad Evans and O'Brian White were the goal scorers for the Seattle Sounders in a 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes. Nothing changed in the standings with all the draws we had this week. Only the LA Galaxy and the Columbus Crew won their matches. The Sounders were without their designated player Fredy Montero, who didn't travel with the team after having a minor wrist surgery.

Seattle nearly broke through in the 3rd minute when Osvaldo Alonso found Steve Zakuani but goalkeeper Jon Busch came out to deflect his attempt wide of the goal.

The Sounders continued to dominate in the early stages and they got on the board first in the 17th minute. Mauro Rosales, who took Montero's place, shook free of Sam Cronin and delivered a good ball at the near post to Brad Evans who beat Chris Leitch to the ball and smashed it home from point-blank range and the Sounders took their first lead of the 2011 season, leading 1-0. San Jose had a great early chance to take the lead earlier in the match when Ramiro Corrales's lead pass found last seasons Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski who redirected the ball and broke free for a shot from 16-yards out, dead center, but Kasey Keller made a huge reaction stop with his left hand to deflect it wide. However, Keller had nothing to do in the 32nd minute.

Former Reading F.C. midfielder Bobby Convey threaded a great pass through three defenders and found Simon Dawkins, and the man on loan from Tottenham Hotspur won the race to the ball and placed it neatly past Kasey Keller inside the far post to tie the match up at 1. It was also San Jose's first non-Wondolowski goal in regular season play since September 5.

The Sounders came right back to re-take the lead. Steve Zakuani sent in a high lofted ball into the six-yeard box for O'Brian White, and the third year man out of the University of Connecticut fended off Jason Hernandez for a diving header that left Jon Busch helpless. It was O'Brian White's first goal with the Rave Green. He previously made 33 appearances and scored only 4 goals during his time with Toronto FC.

Keller came up huge again on the stroke of halftime when Tacoma native Joey Gjertsen who sent free from Chris Leitch and his effort was stoned by the veteran goalkeeper.

In the 52th minute, San Jose would level it up again. Khari Stephenson intercepted a pass from Alonso and ripped a shot from 35-yards out that beat Kasey Keller, into the upper 90. And that was how it ended, Sounders-2 San Jose Earthquakes-2.


Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (Mauro Rosales, Erik Friberg) 17'

San Jose Earthquakes - Simon Dawkins (Ryan Johnson, Bobby Convey) 32'

Seattle Sounders FC - O'Brian White (Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo Alonso) 42'

San Jose Earthquakes - Khari Stephenson (unassisted) 52'

Misconduct summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Leitch (caution; Reckless Takle) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Nate Jaqua (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71'

Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 80'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leonardo Gonzalez; Erik Friberg (Alvaro Fernandez 46'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mauro Rosales (David Estrada 83'), Steve Zakuani; O'Brian White (Nate Jaqua 66')

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Chris Leitch (Ike Opara 70'), Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales; Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins (Scott Sealy 85'), Joey Gjertsen (Khari Stephenson 46'), Bobby Convey; Ryan Johnson, Chris Wondolowski