Vancouver Whitecaps  1 - 5  Seattle Sounders
Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC

Goals:
12' SEA - Bettinger (Jenkins)
16' SEA - Bettinger (Farrell)
33' VAN - Heald (PK)
68' SEA - Farrell (Hattrup)
74' SEA - Hattrup (O'Brien)
75' SEA - Bettinger (Hattrup)

Vancouver: Didar Sandhu; Rick Titus, Geordie Lyall, Nico Berg; Kevin Holness (John Sulentic 45'), Oliver Heald (Steve McCauley 74'), Steve Kindel, Jeff Skinner (David Morris 69'), Alfredo Valente; Jason Jordan, Chris Craveiro (Dana Garner 45').

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Ryan Edwards, Mike Casale (Peter Hattrup 57'), Scott Jenkins; Jeremy Sweet, Leighton O'Brien, Jason Farrell, Viet Nguyen; Jason Dunn (Craig Tomlinson 34', Kyle Smith 80'), Rees Bettinger (Chad Brown 78').

Usually when these two sides meet the match is decided by a goal or less, but this match was reminiscent of their final meeting last season when Vancouver hammered Seattle 5-0 at Swangard. Tonight's match was the worst ever home loss by Vancouver.

Looking for more scoring, both teams brought in returning forwards named Jason. Vancouver started Jason Jordan, who would take some nice headers in the match. Seattle started Jason Dunn, but before he could get into second gear he left the match dizzy after reportedly taking an elbow to the head during a Vancouver corner kick.

First Half
 
Seattle took the initiative early, starting with a 5th-minute cross from defender Mike Casale on a run up the left touch line, but Farrell couldn't reach all of the ball and headed wide. Leighton O'Brien won a ball with a slide tackle at the left edge of Vancouver's penalty area and tried to chip over goalkeeper Didar Sandhu but the shot cleared the bar.

12' Bettinger (Jenkins). A pass into the left side of Vancouver's penalty area was popped up by Viet Nguyen's head, then Scott Jenkins headed the 50-50 ball up and towards the far post. Jeremy Sweet and a defender leaped for the ball, but neither could reach it and it fell for Bettinger, who was running at the far post and fired the ball inside that post. 0-1 Seattle.

A minute later Heald took Vancouver's first shot, a 25-yarder sent high and wide. Just ten yards past the center circle, Rick Titus drove a long shot that cleared the bar by just half a yard.

16' Bettinger (Farrell). Farrell sent a through pass up the middle for Bettinger, who got around his marker and curled a nice shot around Sandhu and into the top left corner. 0-2 Seattle.

From a loose ball in the left side of Seattle's penalty area, Alfredo Valente shot low from 15 yards to force the match's first save, a diving one by Preston Burpo. Midway in the half Valente got around the defense on the right side for a dangerous diagonal drop into the goal area, but a defender was there to clear the ball from danger.

A long Seattle free kick was headed on goal by Farrell, but a defender near the line headed the shot clear.

After a Vancouver corner kick in the 29th, the crowd left the penalty area and Jason Dunn was left lying on the ground. Play was stopped and after being tended to Dunn was helped to his bench. Four minutes later Craig Tomlinson would come on for the injured Dunn, who reportedly was elbowed in the head and may have suffered a concussion.

33' Heald (PK). From the left, Chris Craveiro sent a square cross towards the spot. A teammate deflected the ball with his head and it hit Sweet's arm. Sweet had intended to head the original cross but the deflection near him gave him no chance to pull his arm away. Referee Martin Reid's view was perpendicular to the cross and he probably didn't see the deflection, and he whistled for a penalty kick. Heald put the PK to his right as Burpo guessed the wrong way. 1-2 Seattle.

In the final minute, Sweet took a shot from the arc that forced the first save by Vancouver. In added time, Farrell's 25-yarder deflected off Titus and looped just over the goal and the whistle immediately ended the half before Seattle could take the corner kick.

Halftime: Vancouver 1 - 2 Seattle
 
At the half, Vancouver sent in Dana Garner and John Sulentic for Craveiro and Kevin Holness, and the move seemed to ignite the Whitecaps' offense after the PK was their only good shot of the first half. Valente's cross from the left gave Jordan in the middle a 10-yard header sent just wide of the far post. Valente tried for the top far corner from 15 on the right but missed by a yard. Garner tried a quick turn and shoot from 20 but wasn't close. Sulentic aimed at the bottom far corner from 20 but Burpo had it covered. The blitz finished at 58' with a Sulentic 20-yard free kick that was a missile sent through a gap in the wall, just over a leaping Burpo's hand, and out off the top of the bar, leaving the crowd buzzing.

In the 68th, Vancouver continued to dominate the half when Jeff Skinner's cross from the left flag led to a flying header by Jordan with Burpo going after the cross, and the shot just cleared the bar and the crowd gasped.

68' Farrell (Hattrup). The tide changed in an instant when Hattrup's feint at the left edge of the penalty area froze his marker like a statue. Hattrup was free to put his outswinging cross where he wanted it, and Farrell rose 15 yards out from the far post to power a header past Sandhu and just under the bar. 1-3 Seattle.

74' Hattrup (O'Brien). A long diagonal pass from O'Brien somehow rolled untouched through the defense and Hattrup, on a run up the middle, found himself 15 yards from goal with only Sandhu to beat, and Sandhu was beaten by a low shot. 1-4 Seattle.

75' Bettinger (Hattrup). On the counterattack after Vancouver's kickoff play, Hattrup passed up the middle for Bettinger, whose nice first touch at the top of the arc put the ball to the right of the defender. Bettinger caught up with the ball and was alone, and he beat Sandhu with a low shot to complete the hat trick. 1-5 Seattle.

The 80th saw Kyle Smith come on for Tomlinson, who injured himself while fouling an opponent and limped off the pitch.

Vancouver owned the last ten minutes but couldn't finish. David Morris beat a pair of defenders on a long ball sent forward and earned a 15-yard shot from the right with only Burpo to beat, but the keeper flew to parry the shot wide for a corner. Kindel sent a 30-yarder from the left hard and low to the near side, and Burpo dove to push it wide for a corner. In the final minute Vancouver's best chance came when a service from Sulentic was headed sharply at the underside of the bar by Garner a couple of yards from the far post, and Burpo made a reaction save by pushing the ball straight up, then winning the battle for the rebound that came down near the other post.

Final: Vancouver 1 - 5 Seattle

Statistics:
        Vancouver  Seattle
Shots:      17       13
Saves:       2        5
Corners:     9        4
Fouls:       9       20
Offsides:    3        1

Misconduct:
26' VAN - Berg cautioned for sliding under Dunn from behind.
56' SEA - O'Brien cautioned, apparently for complaining about a foul called near the Seattle penalty area.

Referee: Martin Reid; Asst Refs: Simon Fearn, Tony Troughton; 4th: Kevin Duliba
Attendance: 5,796