Seattle Sounders  0 - 0  Portland Timbers
Memorial Stadium, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Ali John Utush, Mike Casale (Peter Hattrup 108'), Ryan Edwards; Jeremy Sweet (Sean Henderson 45'), Scott Jenkins, Leighton O'Brien, Viet Nguyen; Jason Farrell, Rees Bettinger (Chad Brown 67'), Jason Dunn (Craig Tomlinson 45').

Portland: Matt Napoleon; Jeff Clarke (Gavin Wilkinson 90'), Matt Chulis, Neil Ryan, Brent Sancho; Keith Costigan, Brian Winters (Jesus Ochoa 78'), Scott Benedetti, Tony McPeak; Darren Sawatzky (Kevin Legg 73'), Greg Howes (Mark Baena 79').

The match featured the return to the Sounders of defender AJ Utush, who played the full 110 minutes as sweeper. Utush had been playing for Austria's SV Reid. Kieran Barton was out on suspension.

First Half

Ex-Sounder Darren Sawatzky took the first of the evening's many unsuccessful shots in the 4th minute, firing hard from 25 yards but a yard too high.

From Jason Dunn's throw-in to the penalty area in the 14th, Seattle's Jeremy Sweet and Portland's Brent Sancho banged heads challenging for the ball, which fell for a 10-yard shot by Jason Farrell, who skied the attempt. Sweet came up bleeding with a cut on his nose and had to leave the pitch for first aid.

After Portland stole the ball in Seattle's half, Tony McPeak got a good chance from 15 yards on the left and just missed the far post.

In the 20th, Sounder Mike Casale forced the match's first save with a cross attempt from the right touch line. Farrell's try from inside the penalty area was immediately blocked, but Dunn got a 20-yard chance from the rebound and missed the top right corner by a yard. In the 37th, Viet Nguyen's forward pass was dummied by Dunn to spring Bettinger 1v1 against Napoleon, and the goalkeeper slid out for the foot-save on Bettinger's 12-yard low shot.

In the 42nd, Sawatzky raced up the right touch line to reach a through pass and crossed past the far post for Greg Howes, who hit the outside of the net.

A major collision occurred in the 43rd when Burpo came out to claim a cross, and Matt Chulis kept coming after the catch and the two collided hard. Down they went, with Chulis getting the worst of it and needing a few minutes of medical attention. Chulis may not have seen Burpo claim the cross.

Halftime: Seattle 0 - 0 Portland

Ryan Edwards had an early shot for Seattle in the second half, skying to head Leighton O'Brien's corner kick but unable to direct the shot down.

After 16 minutes with no good chances either way, a Portland throw-in from Sawatzky was head-flicked onto the roof of the net by McPeak.

A minor altercation occurred in the 65th when Chulis held Farrell to prevent him from breaking up the right side and Farrell pushed Chulis in retaliation. Both were cautioned by referee Kari Seitz.

For Seattle, O'Brien's 25-yarder was aimed at the lower left corner but deflected to the other side of the goal by a defender in the penalty area, but Napoleon wasn't fooled and made the shot. Nguyen served square for O'Brien for another 25-yard shot, but he shanked it well wide. Farrell fired a rocket from the top left corner of the penalty area but shot a yard over the top far corner.

In the 77th Brian Winters was found on the ground as play shifted to the opposite end of the pitch and he left the match with a bloody forehead, indicating that he had been elbowed. Jesus Ochoa replaced Winters.

Soon after Mark Baena entered for Portland, Ochoa fed him for a shot from the arc, and Burpo dove to the lower corner for his only save of the evening.

The last minutes of regulation saw a flurry of shots from the Sounders. In the 83rd, Seattle substitute Chad Brown sent a long cross to Farrell for a header that was well over the bar. Brown crossed again for a Farrell header which this time forced a diving save at the lower near corner. Sub Craig Tomlinson was sprung from the halfway line and dribbled in for a 10-yard shot with only Napoleon to beat, but the chip went just over the bar. From a quick throw-in, Henderson's cross/shot went across the goal mouth but nobody was there. Utush put Tomlinson around the corner on the left for a shot from a touch angle that just missed the far post. Nguyen received a ball in the penalty area and dropped for O'Brien, whose corkscrewing blast missed the top far corner by a yard.

Seattle had outshot Portland 13-2 in the half, but to no avail.

90 Minutes: Seattle 0 - 0 Portland

Portland had the first chance in extra time when Sancho ran onto a cleared ball for a 30-yard shot, but he sent it several yards high.

Seattle came close in the 98th minute when Farrell took a pass in the penalty area, carried it to his right for a 15-yard shot, and fired a rocket aimed inside the far post. Napoleon made the best save of the match, parrying the ball up as he leaped sideways. Brown was there for the rebound, but a defender was there to block the attempt and the ball was cleared from in front of goal. Seattle soon had another shot when Nguyen's diagonal ball to the spot was fired over the bar by Farrell.

Portland finally had a good effort in the last minute when McPeak dropped the ball to the arc for Ochoa, whose shot sailed just over the crossbar.

Final: Seattle 0 - 0 Portland

The two sides meet again for Seattle's next match, to be played in Portland the afternoon of July 21.

Statistics:
         Seattle  Portland
Shots:      26        9
Saves:       1        7
Corners:     6        4
Fouls:      22       18
Offsides:    3        5

Misconduct:
23' SEA - Sweet cautioned for a late hit on Sancho.
24' SEA - Edwards cautioned for tripping Costigan.
53' POR - Ryan cautioned for tripping Tomlinson.
65' POR and SEA - Chulis cautioned for holding Farrell to prevent a breakaway, and Farrell cautioned for pushing Chulis in retaliation.

Referee: Kari Seitz; Asst Refs: Bryan Elliott, Kevin Boisen; 4th: Fred Mabbott.
Attendance: 3,253