Vancouver Whitecaps  2 - 1  Seattle Sounders
Canterbury Classic, preseason tournament, Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC

Goals:
6' SEA - Forsberg (Sweet)
35' VAN - Mori
41' VAN - Kindel

Vancouver: Hubert Busby; Rick Titus, Steve McCauley, Matt Mori; Chris Handsor (Terry St. Louis 22'), Steve Kindel, Oliver Heald (Jeff Skinner 73'), Kevin Holness, Chris Craveiro; Dana Garner (Tiarnan King 60'), Dave Morris (Darren Tilley 57').

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Scott Jenkins (Mike Casale 69'), Charles Gbeke; Jeremy Sweet (Ryan Edwards 62'), Leighton O'Brien, Jason Farrell, Viet Nguyen; Kyle Smith, Rees Bettinger (Chris Farnsworth 69'), Christer Forsberg (Peter Hattrup 69').

After the Seattle Sounders took an early lead from Christer Forsberg's goal, the Vancouver Whitecaps came back with a pair in the first half to win 2-1. Matt Mori netted the tying goal and Steve Kindel scored the match winner. The second half was all Sounders as the Whitecaps never took a shot, but as it turned out they didn't need to.

Preston Burpo had his first start in goal this year, sufficiently recovered after appendix removal earlier in the month. A surprise was African defender Charles Gbeke starting in a Sounders kit after appearing in earlier preseason matches for Vancouver. Gbeke is apparently trying out for the Sounders after failing to win a contract with the Whitecaps. Gbeke scored for Vancouver against the Sounders in their Apr 1 preseason meeting.

First Half

A pair of 25-yard early shots by Vancouver's Steve Kindel and Seattle's Jason Farrell were off target, then Seattle hit pay dirt.

6' Forsberg (Sweet). A through pass from Jeremy Sweet seemed to catch the Whitecaps defense by surprise as target man Forsberg was way too open. Forsberg had only new Vancouver goalkeeper Hubert Busby to beat, and the low left-footer was sent past Busby and inside the far post. 0-1 Seattle.

For Vancouver, Mountlake Terrace native Dana Garner had his first chance from 23 yards up the middle, but he sent it well wide.

Seattle's long header from Kyle Smith after Farrell's cross was on goal but an easy save for Busby.

At 15', Garner put one in the net just after being flagged offside.

A through ball was converged on simultaneously by Sweet and Busby 15 yards from goal, and the ball popped harmlessly over the end line for a goal kick. Smith had another header chance from Viet Nguyen's forward pass but the shot went wide right.

Vancouver's Kevin Holness outran his defender on the right side and carried into the area near the bye line before dropping a 45 degree pass to Chris Craveiro, wide open 15 yards in front of goal, but Craveiro shot well high when he should have put it on target. In the 32nd minute Garner was bumped and went down as he carried up the middle into the penalty area, but the referee refused to use his whistle. Morris was way high from 12 yards after another Holness diagonal drop from the end line.

35' Mori. Preston Burpo tried twice to punch clear a corner kick with Morris and Steve McCauley battling for it in the air, and the ball eventually fell for Mori 10 yards from goal. Mori fired the ball through the crowd and into the net to level the match at 1-1.

41' Kindel. Garner beat Gbeke around the right corner, then Gbeke ran over Garner's legs as the striker advanced toward goal. Down went Garner, and the referee had no choice but to award a penalty kick. Kindel's PK up the middle was leg-saved by a collapsing Burpo, but the rebound went right back to Kindel's feet and with Burpo on the ground the second try was an easier shot. 2-1 Vancouver.

The final couple of minutes saw some excellent chances for Seattle. A cross went off Busby's fingertips at the near post and fell for Nguyen, but a defender deflected Nguyen's shot over the bar. A corner kick was cleared and put back in, giving Rees Bettinger a shot from 10 that was stopped by Busby's reaction save.

In the final minute, Morris saw Burpo off his line and tried from 25, just missing the top right corner.

Halftime: Vancouver 2 - 1 Seattle

The second half would see absolutely no shots by Vancouver vs. a dozen by the Sounders, but all in vain. Farrell carried into the area for a cross from the right, but Forsberg's shot was deflected just wide of the near post for a corner. Smith had another chance with a header but missed when he ought to have finished. Farrell got loose again on the right and juked a defender for a left-footed shot-cross just wide of the far post, and Forsberg slid in cleats first and got a touch on the ball but he couldn't reach enough of it.

With 15 minutes left Ryan Edwards took a 30-yarder that was easily saved. Leighton O'Brien received a dropped ball at the 18 and hit the woodwork at the top near corner, the ball coming right back onto the pitch. Nguyen took a cross from Farrell, lost his marker and tried a near poster, but Busby saved comfortably.

In the 85th, Peter Hattrup, seeing his first action in the preseason, tried to squeeze between two defenders into the penalty area and got tripped up, but the referee considered the contact too trifling for a whistle. Hattrup disagreed, and was sent off for what he said to the referee, something we don't need to repeat here. Down to ten men, the Sounders failed to generate any more chances.

Final: Vancouver 2 - 1 Seattle

Statistics:
        Vancouver  Seattle
Shots:       7       22
Saves:       6        1
Corners:     3        7
Fouls:      10       16
Offsides:    3        4

Misconduct:
45' SEA - O'Brien cautioned for a foul in the Vancouver penalty area.
67' SEA - Nguyen cautioned for sliding in late.
85' SEA - Hattrup sent off for foul language directed at the referee.

Attendance: 1,251