2001 Jul 1

Minnesota Thunder  1 - 2  Seattle Sounders
National Sports Center, Blaine, MN

Goals:
17' MIN - Woolfolk (Novak)
20' SEA - Sweet (Bower)
82' SEA - Hattrup (O'Brien)

Minnesota: John Swallen; Mark Schulte (Gerard Lagos 84'), Chris Gores, Kalin Bankov; Don Gramenz; Mike Gentile, Morgan Zeba (Matt Schmidt 80'), Steve Armas, Paul Nowak; Amos Magee, Cory Woolfolk.

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Ryan Edwards, Mike Casale; Scott Jenkins, Jeremy Sweet, Leighton O'Brien, Viet Nguyen, Scott Bower (Chad Brown 66'); Jason Dunn (Craig Tomlinson 71'), Rees Bettinger (Peter Hattrup 52').



a-league.com match report by Minnesota fan Aaron Propes

Match report from Minnesota Thunder

Match report from the Seattle Sounders:

The Seattle Sounders came from behind and defeated the Minnesota Thunder 2-1 in Blaine, MN. Second half sub Peter Hattrup scored the match-winning goal for Seattle in the 82nd minute. The victory was the first ever for the Sounders at Minnesota.

Peter Hattrup's match winner came in the late stages, assisted by midfielder Leighton O'Brien. The goal is Hattrup's third of the year. The victory helps the Sounders finish a five match A-League road trip, plus one US Open Cup Tournament road match, with a 2-4 record.

Seattle were able to battle back after Minnesota scored first. Forward Corey Woodfolk got his first goal of the season in the 17th minute on an assist from midfielder Paul Nowak.

Two newcomers to the starting lineup contributed to the Sounders first goal, which tied the score at 1-1. Midfielder Scott Bower, who joined Seattle on a one match loan from the San Jose Earthquakes, assisted on Jeremy Sweet's first goal as a Sounder in the 20th minute. Bower and Sweet got the start in the midfield positions while regular starters Sean Henderson and Jason Farrell were not able to play.

This was a physical match with Minnesota out fouling Seattle 20 to 18. The Thunder also received four yellow cards to the Sounders none. The Sounders were helped by the play of goalkeeper Preston Burpo who made seven saves (four in the second half) on 19 total shots by the Thunder.

Post Match Quotes: Sounders Interim Coach Bernie James:
"Our players could have used the excuse of playing back to back games on the road as a reason not to compete. They (Seattle) played hard and battled back after that early goal. It's always nice to have new guys (Scott Bower) step in and contribute. Jeremy's (Sweet) goal and play today got us going. It's to going to be nice to return home."

Statistics:
        Minnesota  Seattle
Shots:     19         15
Saves:      2          7
Corners:    7          2
Fouls:     20         18
Offsides:   2          4

Misconduct:
23' MIN - Nowak cautioned.
42' MIN - Gentile cautioned.
62' MIN - Armas cautioned.
86' MIN - Gores cautioned.

Referee: Elias Bazakos; Asst Refs: Tony Vasoli, Fotis Bazakos; 4th: Jeremy Schroeder
Attendance: 3,831