2002 Jul 17

US Open Cup, 3rd Round:
Seattle Sounders  3 - 4  San Jose Earthquakes (AET)
Interbay Stadium, Seattle, WA

Goals:
11' SEA - Gregor
30' SJ - Ekelund (Corrales)
39' SJ - De Rosario (Ekelund)
58' SEA - Jenkins (Gregor)
60' SEA - Ching (Daligcon)
78' SJ - Ekelund (PK)
109' SJ - Graziani (De Rosario)

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Scott Jenkins, Ryan Edwards, Zach Scott (Nate Daligcon 45'); Andrew Gregor, Jason Farrell (Chad Brown 104'), Viet Nguyen (Greg Foisie 105'), Jason Boyce; Darren Sawatzky, Brian Ching.

San Jose: Jon Conway; Zak Ibsen (Manny Lagos 27'), Eddie Robinson, Jimmy Conrad, Wade Barrett; Ramiro Corrales (Ariel Graziani 72'), Chris Roner, Richard Mulrooney (Ronnie Ekelund 20'), Devin Barclay; Luchi Gonzalez (Landon Donovan 65'), Dwayne De Rosario.

Match reports from the local papers: South County Journal, Seattle Times (includes a great shot of Jenkins and Nguyen celebrating a goal), Seattle P-I, Tacoma News Tribune

Match report by Ron Stickney:

In a US Open Cup match, the San Jose Earthquakes came from behind to tie the host Seattle Sounders at 90 minutes, then won it with a golden goal by Ariel Graziani 19 minutes into extra time. Seattle scored first with a free kick goal by Andrew Gregor, but San Jose claimed the halftime lead with goals by Ronnie Ekelund and Dwayne De Rosario. The Sounders reclaimed the lead with goals by Scott Jenkins and Brian Ching, but a questionable penalty kick call let Ekelund tie it up and set the stage for the golden goal. San Jose advance to the Cup quarterfinals.

Ex-Sounder and Seattle native Ian Russell made the trip with the Quakes, but didn't play because he is recovering from an injury.

MLS San Jose and A-League Seattle have met three times before in friendlies, and all three matches were scoreless draws. For this match, both sides were at the top of their game, each leading their respective leagues in points. A great match was expected, and the players delivered on the promise, with the lead swinging from side to side like a pendulum.

First Half

San Jose had a couple of early chances from Sounders defensive mistakes. Goalkeeper Preston Burpo distributed right to Chris Roner, who passed square to De Rosario for a shot that was curled back to Burpo for a save. Then Jason Farrell's bad back pass put De Rosario in on the right a step ahead of a defender, but the defense recovered to apply pressure and Burpo pounced on the ball when De Rosario tried to get by him.

Seattle's first shot came at 9' when Gregor's corner kick from the right side cleared the crowd and gave the last man, Viet Nguyen, a good chance, but he shanked it well wide of the near post.

11' Gregor. After Ching was fouled 5 yards from the top right corner of the penalty area, Gregor bent a marvelous free kick between goalkeeper Jon Conway and the near post. Conway appeared to be fooled by the bender and wasn't able to dive for it. 1-0 Seattle.

A minute later San Jose's Richard Mulrooney fired a long, powerful free kick low up the middle. Burpo dove forward for the save but couldn't hang on. De Rosario followed up with a shot, but Burpo got close to block it, then dove towards the post to collect the rebound before it turned into a corner kick.

Two from San Jose left early due to injuries, with Ekelund replacing Mulrooney in the 20th and Manny Lagos replacing Zak Ibsen in the 27th.

Seattle had a good chance midway in the half when Zach Scott received a throw-in from Farrell and curled a beautiful cross over the crowd for Jason Boyce beyond the far post, but the header shot went a half yard over the bar. That was Seattle's last good chance of the half.

30' Ekelund (Corrales). Ramiro Corrales sent a San Jose free kick square for a 35-yard blast low up the middle by Ekelund, and Burpo saw it too late to get there for the save. 1-1.

39' De Rosario (Ekelund). Ekelund sent a pass over the defense for De Rosario, who beat his marker to the ball and chipped it over Burpo, who was charging the ball and couldn't get there in time. The ball bounced in front of the goal and into the roof. 1-2 San Jose.

Halftime: Seattle 1 - 2 San Jose

Nate Daligcon came on for Scott at the half as Seattle shifted from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2. The momentum swung heavily in Seattle's favor for the next 22 minutes. Nguyen carried to the 18-yard line and beat his marker for a shot, but it lacked velocity and was easily saved. Gregor took another free kick similar to the one he scored on and this one just missed the lower far corner.

58' Jenkins (Gregor). Gregor sent a long free kick to the far post, where Jenkins powered a 5-yard header off Conway's hands, and the deflected ball put a bulge in the top of the net. 2-2.

60' Ching (Daligcon). Farrell's corner kick from the left went to Nguyen past the crowd. Nguyen trapped it and dropped the ball to Daligcon, who fired it towards the far post, where Ching's diving header inside the goal area finished a beautiful goal. 3-2 Seattle.

Seattle continued to attack. Darren Sawatzky was open near the spot for a cross, but a defender recovered to win the ball before Sawatzky could shoot. Nguyen's long try from the left touch line was a yard over the top far corner.

San Jose needed goals and brought World Cup star Landon Donovan in for Luchi Gonzalez at 65'. San Jose's first shot of the half came at 67' when Lagos carried into the left side of the area for a low shot, but it was sent right at Burpo's feet. Graziani replaced Corrales in the 72nd, giving the Quakes a 3-4-3 look. The 73rd minute saw San Jose get their first corner kick of the match, and Kieran Barton cleared it. From a quick free kick play, Lagos crossed sharply in the air for Robinson, whose 12-yard header was sent a yard high and wide of the far post.

78' Ekelund (PK). The Sounders were unlucky when Graziani first held Ryan Edwards firmly in the penalty area, then was awarded a penalty kick by referee Cory Dean when Edwards pulled Graziani down to get free as the ball came in. Ekelund converted into the top left corner above the diving Burpo. 3-3.

The remainder of regulation time saw a flurry of chances, mostly for the Sounders. Ching got the ball close to the near post, but Conway was there in time for a block save. Gregor was open for a 20-yard shot from the left side, but he shanked it well wide. Farrell spun and cracked a 25 yarder, but fired too high.

For the Quakes in the 83rd, De Rosario was way high from 20 yards.

Ching was sprung from the center circle and after getting close to the area he put his cross too far in front of Farrell on a post route, and the defense recovered. Ching crossed from the left to Daligcon, open 12 yards from the far post; Daligcon headed hard at the bottom corner and Conway did well to dive for the save.

The Sounders lost a man in the 89th when Edwards received his second yellow card for pulling De Rosario down by the shirt after De Rosario won a ball near the touch line and sent it by Edwards. On the resulting free kick, Lagos headed a shot a yard high.

Three minutes of added time saw three more good chances. For Seattle, Nguyen carried to the 18-yard line, juked his marker, and fired a left footer just over the bar.

For San Jose, Lagos sent a 25-yard shot up the middle and Burpo watched it wide of goal.

For Seattle, Ching fought through a shirt grab just over the halfway line and carried into the penalty area alone. He crossed a fast roller to Sawatzky, wide open 15 yards from the far post, but the ball hit a bare patch and jumped when it reached grass again, spoiling Sawatzky's plan for a first-touch shot, and by the time he trapped the ball a defender was there to block the shot wide.

Regulation: Seattle 3 - 3 San Jose

It looked like Seattle would win by a PK in the 94th minute when Ching was knocked over from behind by Robinson as the ball was arriving. Ching had his back to goal inside the area and was knocked onto his chest, his shoulders landing on the 18-yard line and his chest down to his toes inside the penalty area. The fans who saw it all knew that the foul occurred inside the penalty area, the players in the vicinity knew it, assistant referee Jeff Hosking knew it but wasn't consulted by referee Dean, and Dean knew it but didn't have the guts to call the penalty kick that should have been called. So he called a free kick on the 18-yard line, which was blocked by the wall.

Down a man and running low on gas, the Sounders would not get any more chances.

The 97th saw Graziani open for a pass inside the area, and he passed it on to De Rosario open at the right end of the arc, but the low shot was an easy save for Burpo. Lagos won a high ball in the area but headed it well wide. A San Jose cross flashed past Burpo and across the goal mouth, but nobody could reach it for a finish and Sawatzky cleared it out for a corner kick. A free kick play gave De Rosario a 20-yarder, and Burpo dove forward to save the bending shot.

San Jose lost a man in the 104th minute when Dean saw Robinson elbow Gregor in the jaw. Out came the red card and the sides were even again.

109' Graziani (De Rosario). The second overtime period saw just the one shot. De Rosario got by his man in the left side of the area to cross from the end line. Burpo knocked the ball down inside the goal area and ended up on the ground. Graziani was first to the loose ball and poked it easily past the fallen Burpo and into the center of the net for the golden goal.

Final: Seattle 3 - 4 San Jose

Statistics:
        Seattle  San Jose
Shots:     14       14
Saves:      7        3
Corners:    6        4
Fouls:     22       19
Offsides:   0        3

Misconduct:
29' SEA - Scott cautioned for holding.
48' SEA - Gregor cautioned for a foul near the touch line.
57' SJ - Corrales cautioned for tripping Ching.
73' SEA - Edwards cautioned for a foul against Donovan.
77' SEA - Barton cautioned.
89' SEA - Edwards cautioned for pulling De Rosario down by the jersey and sent off for his second caution.
104' SJ - Robinson sent off for throwing an elbow into Gregor's jaw.

Referees: Cory Dean; Jeff Hosking, Calin Znamirovschi; Mohammed Zarrabi-Kashani. (Odd that Dean would get the assignment after working the center in Seattle's previous Open Cup match in Utah.)

Attendance: 1,500 (sellout plus standing room tickets plus spectators outside the fence; the stands hold only 999)