2002 Aug 24

Seattle Sounders  4 - 0  Calgary Storm
Memorial Stadium, Seattle, WA

Goals:
13' SEA - Jenkins (Gregor)
25' SEA - O'Brien
75' SEA - O'Brien (Ching)
78' SEA - Gregor (Sawatzky)

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Craig Waibel, Scott Jenkins, Ryan Edwards (Kieran Barton 79'); Nate Daligcon (Chad Brown 73'), Viet Nguyen (Kyle Smith 83'), Leighton O'Brien, Andrew Gregor, Jason Farrell; Brian Ching, Darren Sawatzky (Craig Tomlinson 79').

Calgary: Jamie Glasnovic; Nic Ledgerwood, Thomas Wheeldon Jr, Angelo Sestito, Liam DeSilva; Jordan Gillespie, Jamie Auvigne, Kurt Bosch, Shaun Wimble; Brett Bachelu (Conrad Chala 66'), Chris Lemire (Damir Jesic 17', Waldo Dutra 33').

Match reports from the press: SCJ, Times.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders were the better team from opening whistle to the final whistle, winning their final home match of the regular season 4-0 over the Calgary Storm. Defender Scott Jenkins was first to net on a corner kick play. Leighton O'Brien found net once in each half, and Andrew Gregor made it 4-0. Goalkeeper Preston Burpo notched his 7th shutout of the season.

This one got quite chippy, which we didn't expect given that the match had no impact on the standings. Perhaps it was partly because the Sounders front office billed this as "guaranteed win night," promising that players, coaches and staff would wash fans' cars for free the next day if the Sounders didn't win. Tension escalated until Calgary striker Brett Bachelu had his leg broken on a hard foul that might have been meant as a payback for Bachelu's behavior during the previous ten minutes. Craig Waibel certainly didn't mean to break Bachelu's leg.

Waibel, an ex-Sounder from Spokane, was back with the Sounders on loan, filling in for Dick McCormick, who suffered a broken leg in the recent El Paso match. Kieran Barton played only a few minutes at the end, as he is recovering from recent dental surgery.

First Half

It was all Seattle at the start. The first foul of the match in the 3rd minute gave Gregor a 37-yard free kick, forcing Jamie Glasnovic to dive forward to make the save. The next minute saw the second foul of the match, giving O'Brien a 30-yard free kick that was aimed perfectly at the top far corner, but an acrobatic leap by Glasnovic let him push it over for a corner. In the 10th Viet Nguyen beat his man and ran up the right side to cross the ball into the goal area, and Jason Farrell slid in to get a foot on it, but a defender was there to immediately block the attempt.

13' Jenkins (Gregor). Gregor's corner kick from the right was sent to Jenkins' head 6 yards out from the near post, and the sharp header hit the crossbar, deflected almost straight down, and bounced back up into the ceiling just behind the bar. 1-0 Seattle.

Seattle then had a few chances where the final man couldn't quite reach enough of the ball to put it on goal. Nguyen's cross from the right gave Gregor a chance to slide in for a 6-yard shot, but his stretched attempt went harmlessly wide. A Gregor corner kick gave Jenkins another chance from the top near corner of the goal area, but this shot went a yard over the top far corner. Darren Sawatzky carried the ball into the left side of the penalty area and pushed a diagonal ball ahead for Brian Ching, but again the ball was a bit too far away and the shot went wide.

25' O'Brien. O'Brien had another free kick from the same spot as in the 4th minute, 30 yards away and a bit on the left side. With Glasnovic thinking about the save at the top far corner the previous time, O'Brien put this shot to the near side, just inside the post, and Glasnovic was beaten cleanly. 2-0 Seattle.

Seattle netted again in the 34th when Gregor's 15-yard chip shot went off Glasnovic's hands towards the far post and Ching tapped it in, but rookie assistant referee Josh Wilkins raised the flag, signaling that Ching was offside.

Calgary's first shot came in the 36th minute, an easy roller to Burpo. A better chance came two minutes later when Nic Ledgerwood beat Farrell to a long ball over the defense and it looked like he would have a good chance, but Burpo and Waibel closed in and Ledgerwood's shot was deflected wide for a corner. Another chance in the 42nd when Jamie Auvigne made space to rip a hard shot from the top of the arc, but it went a half yard over the bar.

The final minute of the half gave Seattle another 30-yard free kick, this one in the middle, taken by Gregor and sent a foot over the top right corner.

Halftime: Seattle 2 - 0 Calgary

Calgary had the first chance of the second half, a 30-yard free kick taken by Shaun Wimble and sent a yard or two high and wide of the far corner.

Seattle's turn, as Sawatzky layed off a short square pass for an O'Brien shot from 20, but Glasnovic anticipated well to make the save on the far side. Another 30-yard free kick was taken this time by Farrell, who put it in the middle for a comfortable save by Glasnovic. A short corner kick from Gregor to Nguyen was shot high at the near side, just over a flashing Sawatzky's head, and Glasnovic saved overhead.

Trouble built up when first Calgary's Bachelu was cautioned for chopping Ryan Edwards down at the circle, then Bachelu got into an altercation with another Sounder. Shortly after that, in the 60th minute, Bachelu led a counterattack with a full-speed run up the middle, and just after dishing the ball off he was met shin to shin by Waibel. Down went Bachelu, out came the yellow card for Waibel, and eventually in came the stretcher from the ambulance, for Bachelu had reportedly suffered a broken leg. The hard challenge might have been meant as a payback for Bachelu -- if so the payback was harsher than intended. Conrad Chala replaced Bachelu.

Seattle had the next chance from a throw-in play in the 69th as Nguyen sent the ball from the right side to the arc for a shot by O'Brien, forcing a diving save at the lower far corner by Glasnovic, but the rebound rolled out for a 10-yard shot by Farrell speeding in on the left, but that shot was wasted high.

For Calgary, Wimble tried a prayer shot from the Sounders bench , but it wasn't close.

75' O'Brien (Ching). Pressure at the 18-yard line by Sawatzky on the left, then O'Brien in the middle, then Ching on the right led to this goal, as Ching knocked the ball into a defender and the rebound went to an open O'Brien at the center of the 18. Glasnovic had come out for the ball and couldn't retreat in time, and he could only get a slight touch on O'Brien's blast sent inside the left post. 3-0 Seattle.

Two minutes later Farrell ran down a ball and crossed nicely from the end line for Sawatzky, who got a shot 8 yards out from the near post, but the hard shot hit the face of the crossbar near the far post.

78' Gregor (Sawatzky). Sawatzky was open on the right for a pass from O'Brien and carried into the area. Sawatzky could have shot, but he drew the goalkeeper and the last defender, then passed diagonally for Gregor on a far post run, and Gregor had an easy tap-in for the finish. 4-0 Seattle.

A minute later substitute Chad Brown carried to the end line close to goal on the right and laid back a short pass for O-Brien's 6-yard shot, blocked by Glasnovic. Ching kept the ball alive in front of goal and gave it to Gregor for another close shot, and this one Glasnovic saved with no rebound.

In the 85th a Calgary blast from 30 yards made it past Burpo to the top far corner, but the crossbar rejected it and the rebound landed outside the penalty area. In added time Calgary had two more chances. Burpo came 12 yards out to punch away a ball sent into the area, but the ball only went to the 18, where Kurt Bosch shot it on goal, but Burpo intercepted for the chest block. Wimble took a 30-yard free kick, but sent it right at Burpo for a save.

The final chance was Seattle's, as Ching took a 15-yard shot that went a yard over the top far corner.

Final: Seattle 4 - 0 Calgary

Statistics:
        Seattle  Calgary
Shots:     21       10
Saves:      4        8
Corners:    6        2
Fouls:     19       23
Offsides:   3        0

Misconduct:
40' SEA and CAL - Nguyen and Bosch cautioned for an altercation when quite a few players were involved in a pushing match.
45' CAL - Gillespie cautioned for knocking Burpo down after he caught a corner kick.
54' CAL - Bachelu cautioned for chopping Edwards down at the center circle.
60' SEA - Waibel cautioned for late and hard shin to shin contact with Bachelu, who was running at full speed, resulting in a broken leg for Bachelu.
80' SEA - Jenkins cautioned for a shirt grab.
82' SEA - Brown cautioned for a slide tackle that took out an attacker's legs.
90' CAL - Dutra cautioned for retaliating after Smith fouled him.

Referees: Mohammed Zarrabi-Kashani; Fred Mabbott, Josh Wilkins; Calin Znamirovschi.
Attendance: 3,494