David Estrada's hat trick seals a 3-1 win in the season opener

By Money Mike


Seattle's third year pro out of UCLA celebrated his first MLS goal. As a matter of fact, he celebrated two more. With Eddie Johnson out with a hip flexor injury, David Estrada was asked to partner up again with Fredy Montero, and he delivered in a big way. Estrada became the third player to record a hat trick in Sounders FC history and even better, the Sounders got off to a three point start in their new season by defeating Toronto FC 3-1. The Sounders have put their disappointing Champions League loss behind them and in front of their home crowd have picked up where they left off last season, scoring goals.

Estrada got it rollin' in the 18th minute. After some fancy footwork from Alvaro Fernandez that led to a collision between Ty Harden and Richard Eckersley, Fernandez sent a low ball to the near post for Estrada. Now at first it looked like Terry Dunfield broke up the attack, but Estrada was able maintain possession, dribble it around Milos Kocic and slot it home. It was a scrappy goal, but who cares? It counts all the same, 18 minutes gone and the Sounders were up 1-0.

In the 25th minute, TFC suffered a big blow. David Estrada had a breakaway opportunity, but their captain Torsten Frings broke up the attack from behind and forced a corner. However, Frings ended up hurting himself in the process and he had to leave the match early.

In the 51st minute, after linking up well with Alvaro Fernandez, Marc Burch sent David Estrada behind the TFC defense and calmly placed it perfectly past Milos Kocic to make it 2-0 Sounders.

Estrada was in the best form out of all the players on this team coming out of the preseason and he has shown that in this match, scoring his 2nd of the match and third in all competitions this season. After seeing limited playing time in 2010 and 2011, will this be the start of something new for David Estrada and the Seattle Sounders?

Toronto FC got one back in the 62nd minute on a curling ball to the far corner from Ryan Johnson who rediscovered his goalscoring touch since being traded to Toronto from San Jose last season. However it was short lived and one more time, it was David Estrada. After a give and go with Alvaro Fernandez, Estrada popped into the penalty area and slammed home his third goal of the match to complete his hat trick and the Sounders 3-1 victory over Toronto in the opener.


Observations:

Once again, another sellout at CenturyLink Field just as always. The Fanbase here in Seattle continues to grow and grow every year. Tonight we had 38,709 in attendance after they opened up the Hawks Nest and for 90 minutes the crowd got behind the team in full voice and just as always, proved that Seattle is the #1 Soccer City in the U.S. and as long as this continues, that will never ever change. The fans are always out here doing their part to prove that soccer is a big deal in Seattle.

After watching David Estrada's career night, I start to wonder when Eddie Johnson recovers from his hip flexor injury what do you do? Do you keep Eddie on the bench for a while? Do you still bench David Estrada? Do you put Estrada in an attacking midfield possession? So many options for Estrada, but he is proving to be a difference maker for the Seattle Sounders.

I'm very happy about the win, it was a great performance after a rough trip to Mexico during the midweek, but Seattle came into this game like they were ready to play and they get the three points.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - David Estrada 1 (unassisted) 18'

Seattle Sounders FC - David Estrada 2 (Marc Burch 1, Alvaro Fernandez 1) 51'

Toronto FC - Ryan Johnson 1 (Miguel Aceval 1) 62'

Seattle Sounders FC - David Estrada 3 (Alvaro Fernandez 2) 63'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Persistent Infringement) 26'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni (caution; Foul) 53'

Toronto FC - Aaron Maund (caution; Foul) 93'+


Lineups:

Toronto FC - Milos Kocic; Richard Eckersley, Ty Harden (Danny Koevermans 46'), Miguel Aceval, Logan Emory; Terry Dunfield, Torsten Frings (Aaron Maund 25'), Luis Silva; Nick Soolsma, Ryan Johnson, Eric Avila (Joao Plata 57')

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales (Roger Levesque 79'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Christian Sivebaek 65'); David Estrada (Servando Carrasco 87'), Fredy Montero

Seattle Sounders open up their 2012 campaign at home against Toronto FC

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders return home after an unsuccessful trip to Torreon and kick off their fourth season in Major League Soccer this Saturday. The Sounders take on Toronto FC in their only meeting this season due to the unbalanced schedule being put into place during the offseason. Last season, the Sounders swept the season series against Toronto. In their first meeting on April 30th, the Sounders were playing their first match without their 2009 #1 overall draft pick Steve Zakuani and former TFC player O'Brian White who both underwent season ending surgeries during the week. However, the Sounders prevailed and struck three times to come away with three points in a 3-0 shutout victory. In their second meeting at BMO Field in Toronto, the Sounders were reduced to 10 men when Jhon Kennedy Hurtado picked up his second yellow of the match a minute into the second half, but Seattle still came out on top after Fredy Montero's free kick proved to be the difference in Seattle's 1-0 win. Seattle is 4-1-1 so far against TFC.

Toronto comes to Seattle with a much different look, and a much better team than what I've seen in their first five seasons in MLS. Toronto is coming off a memorable 4-3 series win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Champions League quarterfinal, making them the first Canadian team to reach the semifinal of that stage. LA's preseason struggles have carried on to the regular season, and I tell you if they don't solve their defensive problems soon, they're gonna have a rough ass time on their title defense this season. But again, TFC comes in with a different look that has led them to success in their Champions League win over LA, led by former German international Torsten Frings leading the back line, they also have Joao Plata and their top scorer form last season Danny Koevermans up front along with Ryan Johnson. One more player you can add to that list is a young rookie named Luis Silva. So Toronto looks like they have everything in place.

All odds still favor Seattle. Despite their recent form, the home field advantage looks like it's still too tough to handle for the visitors. Toronto will give Seattle all they got, but it doesn't look like it will be enough.


Injury report:

Toronto FC - Alright for Toronto, Nicolas Lindley, one of their homegrown players, is still recovering from surgery on his left knee. He missed all of last season and he will miss this match as well. Dicoy Williams is also recovering from the same surgery, but only on his right knee and he is also out. Also out is one of their newest offseason acquisitions, former Portland Timber Jeremy Hall. Right now Hall is recovering from Sports Hernia Surgery so he won't be around. And lastly, Adrian Cann is recovering from right knee surgery. However, he is listed as questionable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green, Josh Ford has been dealing with pain in his knee since the end of training camp. Rookie Andrew Duran will be out until about late April after undergoing knee surgery. Remember, he suffered a couple of major knee injuries during his college career. Michael Tetteh is out with a hamstring injury. Steve Zakuani has been making progress in his recovery, he's aiming to return around the middle of the season. Eddie Johnson suffered a hip flexor injury in the Champions League match against Santos. He is listed as doubtful, so hopefully he'll be back soon. And lastly, O'Brian White is still recovering from his second blood clot surgery in this leg. There will be a decision tomorrow on whether or not the FO will buy out his contract, as of right now, he is on the DL.


Key matchups:

Joao Plata vs Adam Johansson - If you see the smallest player on the field, then you know it's Joao Plata. He is known for his quickness and creativity on the ball. He gave James Riley a few problems in Seattle's visit last season. Johansson will have to keep an eye out for this kid at all times. This is where one on one defending becomes huge. Johansson has done very well in one on one defending during his career over in Sweden, but this is a guy that he's never seen or heard of, so I hope he's been at home doing his homework because he's got a huge task against this kid. I think this matchup looks pretty even.

Fredy Montero vs Ty Harden - First of all, you people need to lay off Fredy Montero. Sure he had a poor performance in the Champions League, but seriously he's one of the most, if not the most consistant strikers we've had so far. By the way, Ty Harden better be ready because if he's not and Montero catches him napping, watch out. Montero has had a great preseason and his form is right where it needs to be and I think the Colombian has the edge in this matchup.