Seattle Sounders  1 - 0  Milwaukee Rampage
Memorial Stadium, Seattle, WA

Goals:
88' SEA - O'Brien

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Scott Jenkins, Mike Casale, Ryan Edwards; Kei Kinoshita (Craig Tomlinson 65'), Sean Henderson, Leighton O'Brien (Jeremy Sweet 89'); Jason Farrell, Rees Bettinger, Christer Forsberg (Kyle Smith 32').

Milwaukee: Dan Popik; Chad Prince (Ramon Alvarado 90'), Alen Soso, Josh Provan; Jason Russell (Dennis Fadeski 66'), Philippe Godoy, Steve Bernal (Kharry Stockton 45'), Yuri Lavrinenko, Igor Soso; Digital Takawira, David Hayes.

An 88th-minute free kick by Leighton O'Brien gave the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 win over the visiting Milwaukee Rampage. Seattle's defense played well all evening, with Preston Burpo earning the shutout in goal.

Viet Nguyen sat out this match as the last of a two-match suspension for a red card in the Portland match the previous weekend.

First Half

Seattle had nearly all of the good shots in the first half. Jason Farrell was first, with a 15-yarder from the right, sent a yard over the top far corner.

Igor Soso had Milwaukee's first good chance, a low shot from the right end of the arc after a poorly cleared corner kick, but he was a yard wide of the near post.

Seattle's Christer Forsberg had a half-chance from 15 when a cleared throw-in play was sent back in, but Dan Popik saved comfortably. O'Brien was five yards from the far post to volley Rees Bettinger's cross into the side netting.

Farrell came a yard from an own goal in the 18th when he got a head on a Milwaukee free kick and deflected it over the top near corner. On the resulting corner kick from Yuri Lavrinenko, Chad Prince headed a yard too high. Steve Bernal's cross from the left corner was too far out for Burpo and David Hayes fired from 8 yards, over Burpo and a half yard over the bar. That would be Milwaukee's best opportunity.

A nice cross from Kei Kinoshita in the 36th went past goal for a Farrell header that hit the cross bar and went over. No Sounders match this season has been complete without hitting the frame at least once.

Halftime: Seattle 0 - 0 Milwaukee

Farrell opened up the second half with a blast from the right that was tipped over the bar by Popik. From the corner kick play, Kyle Smith got a chance from 18 but Popik easily saved. Bettinger was served in the left side of the area for a 15-yard shot, saved overhead by Popik. On the run, Farrell shot a yard over the top near corner from the left corner of the penalty area.

For Milwaukee, Prince shot from 15 yards out on the left on a corner kick play, but O'Brien at the near post cleared the ball with his foot.

A Bettinger cross from the left gave Ryan Edwards a chance from 12 on a near-post run, shot a yard wide of the near post.

The 70th minute saw an altercation when Hayes prevented Scott Jenkins from taking a throw-in, so Jenkins threw the ball into Hayes' head and it bounced back out. A couple of other players from each side got involved as referee Sandy Hunt and assistant Mohammed Zarrabi-Kashani worked to restore order. After the fracas died out, Hunt made a good decision, showing the yellow card to Jenkins, then Hayes. That was adequate punishment and the match resumed.

Seattle turned up the pressure beginning with the restart. From the throw-in play, Sean Henderson fired from 20, missing the lower right corner by a yard. Farrell took his best shot from the right corner of the area, but Popik flew to parry the ball wide of the near post. From the ensuing corner kick play, Edwards shot from the spot but bounced it right to Popik.

In the 78th, Tomlinson was tripped at the left edge of the area for a close free kick, and O'Brien's right-footed shot bent right to Popik.

Igor Soso tried a long shot from the left touch line, but Burpo was there for the catch at the bar.

88' O'Brien. Lavrinenko tripped Smith 28 yards from goal in the middle. Standing 5 yards from the ball to delay the restart, Lavrinenko was cautioned for failing to respect the 10-yard rule. The delay only postponed the goal. Farrell ran over the ball and O'Brien took the kick, bending a shot over the wall and into the top left corner past a leaping Popik. O'Brien got down low and pumped his fist, savoring his first goal of the season.

Final: Seattle 1 - 0 Milwaukee

Statistics:
         Seattle  Milwaukee
Shots:      22       10
Saves:       4       10
Corners:     6        7
Fouls:      14       11
Offsides:    1        2

Misconduct:
23' SEA - O'Brien cautioned for tripping Godoy.
69' MIL - Provon cautioned for pulling Tomlinson down from behind in front of the Milwaukee bench.
70' SEA and MIL - Jenkins and Hayes cautioned for an altercation before a Seattle throw-in.
75' SEA - Tomlinson cautioned for a foul as the ball was being shepherded over the bye line by a defender.
88' MIL - Lavrinenko cautioned for failing to respect the 10 yards on a free kick.

Referee: Sandy Hunt; Asst Refs: Mohammed Zarrabi-Kashani, Jeff Hosking; 4th: David Simon.
Attendance: 994 (ouch!)