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

Sounders defeat FC Dallas 4-2; Extend unbeaten streak to six

By Money Mike





The Seattle Sounders hot streak continues. On Saturday night, the Rave Green came way with their third straight win as they defeated the Western Conference leaders FC Dallas 4-2 to extend their unbeaten streak to six games. The Sounders had a 2-0 lead at halftime, but Dallas came back with two quick goals early in the second half to level the match up at two goals a piece only for the Sounders to come away with two more unanswered goals and the three points. The Sounders will have a chance at extending their unbeaten run to seven games as they travel to the Home Depot Center for a Western Conference Finals rematch against the two-time MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. LA is coming off a 1-0 road loss to the New York Red Bulls and have struggled a bit as of late, losing three out of their last four games. The game will take place this Sunday at 8pm on ESPN2.



With just over a quarter of an hour gone by in the match, the Sounders opened the scoring. After FC Dallas keeper Raul Fernandez cleared the ball to midfield, Ozzie Alonso headed it back into the Dallas area where Eddie Johnson was in a race with defender London Woodberry. The rookie makes a mistake by trying to reach out with his right foot for the ball and EJ makes him pay as he brings it down with his chest and puts it away with the outside of his right foot and the Sounders pick up where they left off against the Earthquakes. Scoring goals. It was Johnson's third MLS goal of the season (fourth in all competitions) and first against his former club. Woodberry had a torrid evening as the Sounders offense took him to school.



EJ nearly had a second five minutes later. Mario Martinez's outswinger from the far touchline found Johnson who outjumped Matt Hedges but couldn't direct his header on target.



In the 27th minute, Seattle had another big chance to double their lead. Mario Martinez found Brad Evans in behind the defense and as he approached the 6 yard area, he hesitated at the last second, deciding whether or not to slide the ball across to Lamar Neagle and that gave Raul Fernandez time to position himself and make the save. Evans appeared to have been offside on the pass from Martinez, but at the same time, Evans was in position to slot the ball inside the far corner with his left foot.



Evans was involved in another scoring chance for the Sounders in the 30th minute. This time, a through ball to Lamar Neagle did the trick. Neagle was fed with a perfectly timed through ball as he beat the offside trap, only had the keeper to beat, dribbles the ball around him and puts the ball inside the empty net before London Woodberry could have any chance of sliding in and breaking up the play. There was no doubt in this play, Neagle was definitely onside. Zach Loyd, the last defender, kept him on. But the question is, why the hell is Dallas trying to push all the way up and trying to play the offside trap? This time the Sounders made them pay. That was Neagle's third goal in two games and the Sounders doubled their lead.



Just shortly after, the Sounders suffered a big blow as Ozzie Alonso was forced to leave the game with in injury. Last I heard, it was a left adductor strain, but no further information as of right now. I just hope he'll be back soon.



Just over 10 minutes later, the Sounders came real close to making it three. Michael Gpsurning gathered the ball quickly threw the ball out to Mario Martinez to set Seattle on the counter. Martinez cut inside and slid the ball trough to Brad Evans for a first timed shot, but it hit the side of the net. Many thought it was in. As a matter of fact, I've seen those plays result in goals more times than not.



Seconds later, Dallas had a golden opportunity to cut the lead in half. Zach Loyd made an overlapping run and was found by Jackson. Loyd had plenty of time to take a touch and whip the ball to the near post for Blas Perez who looked to direct his header inside Michael Gpsurning's right hand post and ends up hitting the post, then off Gspurning's left hand and the rebound by Eric Hassli was saved off Gspurning's left thigh. Had Gpsurning not got a left hand to the ball, I think Kenny Cooper would've had an easy rebound.



In the 54th minute, Dallas this time were able to pull one back. The visitors look more dangerous on set pieces this year then they did last year. Mainly because of the quality that Brazilian midfielder Michel on his delivery and he showed that in this game as he curled the ball into the area for a free header from former Portland Timber forward Kenny Cooper who didn't even need to jump. All he needed to do was direct the ball on target and that's what he did and Dallas cut the Sounders lead to one.



Seattle continued to attack though and in the 59th minute, they were an inch away from making it 3-1. Mario Martinez played in another great through ball in the box, this time to Eddie Johnson who was denied a second goal by Raul Fernandez. Lamar Neagle came crashing in looking to head in the rebound but was denied with a heroic goaline stop by London Woodberry to keep it a 2-1 game. That was pretty much the only highlight of this match for Woodberry who as I mentioned earlier, had a rough night in the office.



Two minutes later, the Hoops level the match up on what is a rare feat in soccer. They call it an Olimpico Goal. I did mention the quality that Michel has on set pieces and his inswinger from the near hashmark goes directly into the far corner without touching anybody and the Sounders quickly see their two goal lead slip away with just under a half an hour to go in the match. This isn't the first time Michael Gspurning was on the back end of a Gol Olimpico. Marco Pappa scored one direct off a corner in Seattle's visit to Chicago last season. Again, Olimpico Goals are very rare, although we've seen quite a few in MLS these last couple of years. David Beckham did it a couple years ago when he was still playing for the LA Galaxy. Thierry Henry scored one direct off a corner kick last year. I already mentioned Marco Pappa. And now Michel against the Seattle Sounders.



Now I'm actually going to show you the goal...... mainly because a lot of you don't know what an Olimpico Goal is, so this video should give you an idea.







However, the match was level for only a minute because in the 62nd minute, the Men in Rave Green came right back and got their third. FC Dallas have been sloppy all night in their passing game, struggling to get the ball out of their area and once again they paid the price. Shalrie Joseph fed Lamar Neagle who turned and slid the ball through to Eddie Johnson and EJ made no mistake this time as he dribbled around Raul Fernandez and went Upper-V (which means he struck it inside the top corner of the net) for his second of the game and the Sounders just like that climb back ahead and take a 3-2 lead. This looked like a similar play where Brad Evans missed wide off a through ball from Martinez back in the first half and EJ getting denied in the second half. But this time EJ see that Fernandez is coming off his line to cut down the angle and he dribbles around him and puts it away.



In the 72nd minute, blood was drawn and the outcome was a controversial red card decision. Blas Perez and Leo Gonzalez were both going up for the ball and Perez ends up catching Gonzalez with an elbow, unintentionally though. When they showed the replay, it looked like a dangerous play and that MLS was going to review it during midweek and see if it worthy of a suspension, but when it got back to live action, referee Mark Geiger (who we've have problems with the last few times he officiated matches involving the Sounders) reached for his back pocket and pulled out the red card after a discussion with the fourth official. You see plays like this every time where players accidentally get elbowed while going up in the air for the ball and no red cards were handed out on those plays, so I think the only reason a red card was given is because Gonzalez's face was covered in blood.



In the 83rd the Sounders would get another goal to cap off another big victory. Lamar Neagle whipped in a brilliant left footed cross for Eddie Johnson to headed the ball straight at Raul Fernandez. The ball fell to Brad Evans who slid the ball to the middle for Obafemi Martins to slide it home for his third goal of the season and more importantly, to seal the Sounders third straight win as they defeat FC Dallas 4-2. The Sounders are unbeaten in their last six matches since starting the year 0-3-1 and most people would begin to think that they're a force to be force to be reckoned with up front with Eddie Johnson, Lamar Neagle and now Obafemi Martins.





Scoring summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 3 (Osvaldo Alonso 1) 16'



Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 3 (Brad Evans 1) 30'



FC Dallas - Kenny Cooper 3 (Michel 4) 54'



FC Dallas - Michel 1 (Unassisted) 61'



Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 4 (Lamar Neagle 1) 62'



Seattle Sounders FC - Obafemi Martins 3 (Brad Evans 2) 83'





Misconduct summary:



FC Dallas - London Woodberry (caution; foul) 43'



FC Dallas - Blas Perez (ejection; violent conduct) 73'



Seattle Sounders FC - DeAndre Yedlin (caution; time wasting) 87'





Lineups:



FC Dallas - Raul Fernandez; Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, London Woodberry (Walker Zimmerman 85'), Jair Benitez; Jackson, Michel, Je-Vaughn Watson; Eric Hassli, Blas Perez, Kenny Cooper (Fabian Castillo 64')



Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez (Zach Scott 78'); Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso (Shalrie Joseph 31'), Servando Carrasco, Mario Martinez (Obafemi Martins 63'); Eddie Johnson, Lamar Neagle

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

"NOT AGAIN": Yes again..... Sounders snatch one late against Sporting Kansas City

SKC left standing with their heads in their hands

after conceding yet another late goal to the Sounders.

By Money Mike





Coming off a 2-2 draw in Philly, the Seattle Sounders closed out their three game road trip in Kansas City. Many exports expected SKC to come away with an easy victory. The Sounders had other plans like eh, I don't know........ scoring another late goal. That's exactly what happened. It looked like the match was going to end scoreless, but deep into stoppage time, Sporting whiffed on an attempted clearance and Djimi Traore made them pay as he scored the winning goal to give the Sounders a 1-0 victory. After an 0-3-2 start, the Sounders have picked up 7 points during this road stretch and are starting to turn things around in this early part of the season. The Sounders return home for a Saturday afternoon match against the San Jose Earthquakes. The Rave Green have a major score to settle with them, having lost the last four meetings between the two.



In the opening seconds of the game, Michael Gspurning was immediately put to the test. Zach Scott failed to clear the ball out of his own half and Jacob Peterson looked to take advantage by hitting one inside the far post, but Gspurning got down, made the save and held on before C.J. Sapong had any chance at a rebound.



In the 13th minute, Sporting tried to catch the Sounders off guard. Peterson Joseph took the corner and rather than swinging the ball into the box, he elected to play it short to Josh Gardner who slid the ball through to Graham Zusi. The idea was right, but Zusi took a heavy touch which allowed Brad Evans to get a foot to it, but Peterson Joseph stepped up and tried a curling shot to the far corner, but he didn't quite get enough bend on it.



In the 22nd minute, Seattle Sounders should've had a penalty. Zach Scott took a long throw in from the near side. His throw in just missed the head of Brad Evans and bounced off the arm of Ike Opara right in front of the goal, but nothing was given. And why not? Opara raised his arm up, the ball bounced off his arm....... Can somebody explain to me how that is not a penalty? Seconds later, play was stopped after some yelling from the Sounders bench. Referee Geoff Gamble ran over to the bench and I thought he ejected one of the Sounders assistant coaches because one of them got up immediately and argued, but it just so happened that it was backup goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann who was dismissed. Now I've never seen anything like that before. Normally if a referee goes over to eject somebody, it would be one of the coaches, but a bench player? I've never seen that. Now for those of you who are confused with the rules regarding somebody getting sent off from the bench, it's just like a player getting a red card. They're ejected from the game and are suspended for the next game. The only difference here is that Seattle doesn't have to play with 10 men because the player sent off of course, was on the bench. Another thing to add to this is now Seattle doesn't have a backup goalkeeper for the match this Saturday against the Earthquakes. So it looks like they're gonna bring in Doug Herrick who's currently contracted by the MLS League-Wide Reserve Goalkeeper Pool, which means any team can bring him up for a game if needed. Some of you remember him from last season with the Sounders U23. There's also a guy by the name of Brad Stuver who is also contracted by the MLS reserve pool, but it's likely to be Doug Herrick who will be called into the squad as an emergency backup to Michael Gspurning for this Saturday. I think this is the third time that the Sounders have had to bring in a keeper from the reserve pool. First couple weeks of the 09' season, they had to bring in Ben Dragavon to the fold when Chris Eylander was banged up and he actually came on in a match against Kansas City after Kasey Keller was sent off. The other guy they brought in was Alex Horwath in 2010. That guy didn't make an appearance however.



Alright enough talk about the goalkeeper situation, let's move to the 26 minute. The Sounders hadn't created many opportunities in this game, but they had one here. Mario Martinez chipped the ball to Brad Evans from about 20 yards out. Evans chested the ball down and tried to volley it with his left foot, but it was a weak attempt and didn't look like it was gonna test Jimmy Nielsen had it been on target.



A minute later, Nielsen nearly got caught wrong footed. Mario Martinez took the free kick from outside the penalty area, well within his shooting range. He curled the ball low and around the wall and I thought it was going in but the ball wasn't hit far enough from the goalkeeper and Nielsen got down and made the save.



Now we're gonna fast forward all the way to the 80th minute. The Seattle backline has been put under a lot of pressure all game long. Graham Zusi tried to work a give and go with Claudio Bieler, but the pass was to far for him. However, the Sounders had some trouble clearing the ball away and the attack wasn't over. Chance Myers let the ball bounce to him before he can settle and whip in a long ball into the area looking for Kei Kamara (yes, he's back from his loan stint with Norwich City). Djimi Traore got a head to it, but right to Claudio Bieler who volleyed it well wide. I think that was their first shot attempt of the second half despite all the pressure they put on the Sounders back line.



A couple minutes later, Kei Kamara took on Leo Gonzalez from the near side and sent a low driven ball into the area where he had C.J. Sapong lurking, but his cross was too close to Michael Gspurning.



Now lets fast forward deep into stoppage time. Remember the stoppage time goal by Mike Fucito in 2010? Or the one by Jeff Parke in 2011? Hell, what about the two stoppage time goals by Mauro Rosales and Lamar Neagle later on in 2011 at Sporting Park? Well, in the final seconds of stoppage time (more time was added because of an injury delay), the Sounders burn them again. Zach Scott rather than throwing it long towards goal, he purposefully threw it short to Brad Evans who flicked the ball across and after Aurelien Collin whiffed on his attempted clearance which would've ended the game there, the ball bounced to Djimi Traore who turned and smashed it home and the Sounders steal one from Sporting Kansas City yet again. There were a few appeals that Traore touched it with his hand, but if the referee called handball on that play, then he should've called handball on Opara. Also, Traore didn't touch the ball with his hand, it bounced off his knee. So if any of you think that was a handball, you better go back and watch it over and over again. Nothing was called anyway, the goal stood and the Sounders win 1-0.





Scoring summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Djimi Traore 1 (Unassisted) 94'+





Misconduct summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Marcus Hahnemann (dismissed; dissent) 24'



Sporting Kansas City - Ike Opara (caution; foul) 45'



Sporting Kansas City - Aurelien Collin (caution; foul) 91'+





Lineups:



Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Mario Martinez (Alex Caskey 93'+); Eddie Johnson, David Estrada (Mauro Rosales 85')



Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen; Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Ike Opara, Josh Gardner (Seth Sinovic 75'); Benny Feilhaber (Claudio Bieler 66'), Oriol Rosell, Peterson Joseph; Graham Zusi, C.J. Sapong, Jacob Peterson (Kei Kamara 73')

Obafemi Martins' first goal gives the Sounders their first win of the season

Obafemi Martins' 27th goal, the difference as the

Sounders finally get on the win column.

By Money Mike





I wasn't planning on blogging again until May, but that's changed now because of the fact that the Seattle Sounders are finally off the mark this season (their winless run had nothing to do with my absence). Last Saturday, the Sounders traveled to Colorado looking for their first win of the year, and they got it. The Sounders defeated the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on the lone goal by Obafemi Martins who scored his first goal for the Rave Green since his move from Levante last month. The Sounders have a bye week this week and then they get ready for a pretty difficult month of May. They hit the road again to take on the Philadelphia Union on the 4th of May. Then they head travel Sporting Park for a midweek match with Sporting Kansas City. Following that, they return home for a pair of home matches against the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas before they hit the plane to LA for a Western Conference finals rematch against the Galaxy. And I believe they have a U.S. Open Cup match to close out the month. So there's not a lot of matches like last year, but again it'll be a bit of a challenge for the Rave Green.



In the Opening minutes of the match, Colorado had the first look at goal. DeAndre Yedlin's pass was given away in the Sounders half. Dillon Powers fed Hendry Thomas who decided to have a go from a long long way out, but the ball sailed high and wide. Thomas tried another long range effort from a similar position later on in the half, but couldn't find the target on that one either.



In the 27th minute, the Sounders broke the deadlock. Brad Evans found DeAndre Yedlin, who had a lot of room to run on the near side. Yedlin fed the ball to Lamar Neagle who whipped in a low cross which went behind Obafemi Martins. The ball bounced to Steve Zakuani who poked the ball back to Shalrie Joseph for a first timed shot which was saved by Clint Irwin, but right to Obafemi Martins who cut the ball to his right and calmly slid the ball past Irwin for his first Sounders goal to give the Rave Green a 1-0 lead.



A couple minutes later, the Sounders could've made it 2-0, but the crossbar came to Colorado's rescue. Colorado got caught on the counter as Obafemi Martins slid the ball to Lamar Neagle, who took one touch to get past Chris Klute and tried to go top corner upper v and instead struck the crossbar. Unlucky there, Neagle did everything right on the play. Clint Irwin was beat. Just unlucky is the only way to describe that. On the other side, Chris Klute was lucky that Neagle didn't go down because he did grab a hold of his jersey and he was the last defender, so if Neagle went down, I'm pretty sure the referee would've called a foul and Klute would've been shown a Red Card for clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity.



In the 55th minute, Colorado came and inch away from equalizing. Danny Mwanga fed Dillon Powers who turned and had a go with his left foot and just missed wide. Michael Gspurning was screened on the play and I don't think he had a chance at making the save. As for Dillon Powers, he's been impressive so far in his rookie season. A few weeks ago, he scored a beauty against the Portland Timbers and now coming close to getting his second of the year.



Five minutes later, Colorado had probably the best chance of equalizing and couldn't make it count. Hendry Thomas played a beautiful diagonal ball to the near side for Brian Mullan to curled the ball in with his left foot to the far post for Atiba Harris who flicked it off the bar and Danny Mwanga was right there and somehow he couldn't head home the rebound as Michael Gspurning got down and made the save.



In the 85th minute, the Sounders were once again saved by the goalpost. Brian Mullan whipped in another beautiful to the far post, this time for an unmarked Kamani Hill who volleys it off the post and the Sounders dodge another bullet.



Now onto the 92nd minute, the Rapids had one more last chance on a free kick. Jamie Smith chipped the ball to the far post for Drew Moor who got up well and directed his header towards got, Michael Gspurning was right there to make the save and that was the last opportunity the Rapids have had and the Sounders hold on for their first win, defeating the Rapids 1-0.





Scoring summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Obafemi Martins 1 (Unassisted) 27'





Misconduct summary:



Colorado Rapids - Dillon Powers (caution; foul) 41'



Seattle Sounders FC - Djimi Traore (caution; foul) 67'



Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; time wasting) 84'





Lineups:



Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Shalrie Joseph, Steve Zakuani (Alex Caskey 70'); Obafemi Martins (Mauro Rosales 61'), Lamar Neagle (Marc Burch 89')



Colorado Rapids - Clint Irwin; Brian Mullan, Marvell Wynne (Shane O'Neill 55'), Drew Moor, Chris Klute; Nick LaBrocca (Kamani Hill 45'), Hendry Thomas, Dillon Powers, Tony Cascio (Jamie Smith 77'); Atiba Harris, Danny Mwanga

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 get set to open up 2013 against the Montreal Impact

By Money Mike





After a month in a half of preparation, it's time to get back to business. The Seattle Sounders get set to take the pitch once again in front of their hometown crowd as they kick off the 2013 season against the Montreal Impact. Last time these two teams met was last season in Montreal on June 16th where the Impact have the Sounders a major beating as they came away 4-1. This is the first trip to Seattle for the MLS edition of Montreal. The last time we've seen a matchup between the Sounders and the Impact in Seattle was a half decade ago in the first leg of the 2008 USL Quarterfinal which Seattle won 2-1, but would eventually lose the second leg in Montreal 3-1 and losing 4-3 on aggregate thus closing the book on the Sounders USL franchise. Montreal begins their second season in Major League Soccer, while Seattle kicks off their fifth season.





Injury report:



Montreal Impact - Alright for the Montreal Imapact, three players are a no go for this game and I'm not gonna speculate how long these guys will be out for their club. Sinisa Ubiparipovic has been struggling with a calf injury. Maxim Tissot is out with a shoulder injury. And lastly, Nelson Rivas has a bad knee.



Seattle Sounders FC - For the Seattle Sounders, two are out and two are questionable. Patrick Ianni suffered a fractured right foot at the beginning of training camp so he'll be out for a while. Andrew Duran was given the all clear my the doctors after suffering a torn ACL during his loan stint with the Atlanta Silverbacks, but he's gonna need to work his way back into gametime form before he can make his debut for the Sounders. Speaking of that, Shalrie Joseph has a right calf strain and I don't think he'll make his debut tomorrow. He's listed as questionable. Last but not least, Adam Johansson is a gametime decision for tomorrow. He's been sidelined most of the preseason after suffering a right knee sprain during one of the preseason matches in Tucson.





Suspensions:



Montreal Impact - None to report



Seattle Sounders FC - Unfortunately we do have a couple to report. Marc Burch is surving the last game of his three game suspension for an inappropriate gesture directed at one of the Real Salt Lake players during the playoffs. And of course, Ozzie Alonso is suspended for the opener because of the red card he picked up at the end of the 2nd leg of the Western Conference Final against the LA Galaxy. It actually occured following the final whistle of the game.





Key matchups:



Eddie Johnson vs Alessandro Nesta - Montero may be out, but Seattle still has another goalscoring threat and his name is Eddie Johnson. Coming off a 14 goal season, EJ comes into his second season with the Sounders with high expectations. Asside from that, I expect the three-time World Cup veteran to mark him throughout the match.



Felipe Martins vs Andy Rose - With Alonso suspended, it looks like Andy Rose will fill in as a holding midfielder, just like last time when these two teams met in Montreal. Felipe is a crafty individual, coming off a fantastic year where he scored four goals and led the Impact with 10 assists in 30 appearances for the Impact. As a holding midfielder, Rose can't let him create any easy opportunties. This could be a big matchup right here.





Prediction:



It's definitely not going to end 4-1 Montreal like it did in Montreal last year. I don't think Alonso being suspended will hurt the Sounders that much. I think the Sounders are well prepared for the opener and are ready to come at them in full force. Like I said earlier, the Sounders had a month and a half to prepare and I don't see how they're not prepared and again I don't think the missing presence of Alonso will hurt the team. So now as I've said that, I think the Sounders will come out here and walk away with three points in front of their fans to kick off 2013.



Seattle Sounders FC - 2

Montreal Impact - 0

Sounders take Eriq Zavaleta and Dylan Remick in the MLS SuperDraft

By Money Mike





The 2013 MLS season is two months away and earlier today, the MLS SuperDraft took place in Indianapolis and well, it was full of surprises. There were at least two or three players that were projected to be a first round picks and weren't selected at all. We also had quite a number of trades made with teams swapping draft selections. One of those trades included Seattle Sounders FC landing the 10th overall pick from Toronto FC for their 16th overall pick. Who did they get? No mistakes here, the Sounders selected Eriq Zavaleta from NCAA National Champions Indiana with the 10th pick of this years MLS SuperDraft. Seattle also picked up Dylan Remick from Brown University in the second round of the draft (35th overall). Zavaleta is a member of Generation Adidas so he will not count against the MLS senior roster this season.

Zavaleta has spent his time in the youth ranks of Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and the Columbus Crew and was also a member of the U.S. Soccer Residency program in 08' and 09'. If you thought Zavaleta was a forward this entire career, listen to this. During his time with the U.S. U-17 national team, he was used primarily as a defender and was a starter for the under-17's at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. He appeared in all four matches for the team, leading them to the round if 16 where he was actually sent off in USA's 2-1 loss to Italy. Overall, he made 23 appearances for the under-17's. Despite the fact that he has represented the United States in the youth level, Zavaleta is eligible to represent El Salvador in the senior level due to the fact that his father is from El Salvador and has represented them in the international level. In his two years with Indiana, Zavaleta started in all 46 games and tallied 28 goals and 9 assists and of course led the Hoosiers to their eighth National title.



I did mention his father Carlos was a member of the El Salvador national team, also his uncle Greg Vanney (some of you may have heard of him) was also a professional soccer player. Both of these guys were coached by Sigi Schmid during their career. Oh you guys don't believe me? Take a look at the video, I'll prove it to you....

Remick was Seattle's second round pick from Brown University. In his freshman year, Brown made 17 appearances and finished with a pair of goals and one assist and received the team's Britton Chichester Award, which is given to the freshman who contributes most to the team. A year later, he started all 20 games and helped lead the defense to 11 shutouts. In his junior year, he started the teams first 16 games before picking up a season ending injury. He scored two goals and also recorded two assists that year. In his final season with Brown in 2012, Remick made 18 appearances and led the Bears with seven assists. Could possibly be a left back for the Sounders, but I'm not going to talk about any of that right now since he hasn't made the team yet.



The MLS Combine was pretty interesting this year. You had players that were expected to be a potential Top 5 pick that struggled to meet all expectations and then there were a lot of players who nobody knew much about who stepped on the pitch during the Combine and made a lot of noise. I thought Sigi Schmid, GM Adrian Hanauer, Chris Henderson the Technical Director, and the rest of the Sounders FC staff that traveled to the east coast did an outstanding job of scouting these players, getting to know a little bit about them and doing whatever they can to snap them up. I'm still surprised the Sounders were able to pick up Zavaleta because he was expected to be a Top 5 pick, maybe even a no. 1 overall pick, so I don't know why anybody didn't to cash in on him but more importantly, I don't care because he's here in Seattle and he's ready to kick his pro career into high gear and hopefully Remick will have the opportunity to do the same here in the Emerald City.