2002 Jun 22

Seattle Sounders  5 - 1  Hampton Roads Mariners
Memorial Stadium, Seattle, WA

Goals:
21' SEA - O'Brien
41' SEA - O'Brien (Sawatzky)
53' SEA - Ching (Sawatzky)
56' SEA - Nguyen (O'Brien)
87' SEA - Smith (Jenkins)
89' HR - Villar

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Kieran Barton, Scott Jenkins, Ryan Edwards; Nate Daligcon (Chad Brown 64'), Jason Farrell (Craig Tomlinson 63'), Andrew Gregor, Leighton O'Brien, Viet Nguyen (Greg Foisie 77'); Darren Sawatzky (David Hernandez 77'), Brian Ching (Kyle Smith 58').

Hampton Roads: Tim Figureido; Rich Hansen, Ian Checcio, Darren Warham, Russell Hutchinson (Danny Jackson 58'); Jeff Dominguez (Gary Brooks 58'), Guillermo Henriques, Kevin Knott (Brian Fredrick 75'), Dwayne Bergeron (Ricardo Villar 46'); David King, Gary Glasgow (Cecil Lewis 63').

Match report by Ron Stickney:

After the last place Hampton Roads Mariners surprised the Portland Timbers 3-2 the previous night, the Seattle Sounders came out with a good work ethic to assure they wouldn't be caught on their heels. The Sounders went up 5-0 from a pair of goals by Leighton O'Brien in the first half and second half goals by Brian Ching, Viet Nguyen and Kyle Smith. The Mariners' Ricardo Villar killed the skunk with a free kick goal two minutes from time.

First Half

Darren Sawatzky set the pace for Seattle early, beating the offside line in the second minute to earn a shot from 12 yards on the right, deflected just wide of the far post for a corner kick.

Gary Glasgow took Hampton Roads' first shot, up the middle from 30, forcing a save by Preston Burpo.

21' O'Brien. O'Brien's corner kick from the left side curled towards the top near corner, where goalkeeper Tim Figureido tried to catch it, but the ball slipped through Figureido's hands and into the goal. 1-0 Seattle.

The next few minutes saw the Sounders earn more chances. After the Mariners' defense turned the ball over to Sawatzky, his cross from the right was dummied near the spot by Ching to give Andrew Gregor a try from the left, and Figureido used one hand to parry it wide of the near post. A Gregor corner kick went past the far post to Jason Farrell, whose header bounced to Figureido. Another Gregor corner kick gave Nguyen a shot from the arc that went just wide of the far post.

In the 30th Jeff Dominguez attacked up the middle for Hampton Roads and sent a diagonal pass to the right for an open Glasgow, but he shot just wide of the near post.

For Seattle, O'Brien's free kick from just outside the penalty area on the left rebounded hard off Figureido's shins, and Gregor's 20-yard try from the rebound was well off target.

The 36th saw Hampton Roads' Guillermo Henriques fire back a cleared corner kick but he missed the target.

41' O'Brien (Sawatzky). After Sawatzky and O'Brien exchanged a few short passes, O'Brien was put free of the offside line and he carried the ball 30 yards to the right side of the area and beat Figureido with a shot to the lower far corner. 2-0 Seattle.

Halftime: Seattle 2 - 0 Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads had the first chance of the second half when Glasgow's quick turn and shot from the arc forced a low save by Burpo.

53' Ching (Sawatzky). Sawatzky fed Ching on the front line just past the halfway line, and Ching muscled his way by Rich Hansen to earn a shot from just inside the 18-yard line that beat Figureido. 3-0 Seattle.

56' Nguyen (O'Brien). A long air ball went to Sawatzky deep on the right. Sawatzky dropped for O'Brien, who might have shot but instead found Nguyen running in from the left unmarked. Nguyen's first-touch shot curled nicely past Figureido into the net. 4-0 Seattle.

The next minute Sawatzky fed Ching on a run up the middle, but 10 yards out Ching miskicked the ball and it bounced harmlessly wide of the goal. Sawatzky soon found himself with the ball near the bye line left of goal and he waited for a runner, and Nguyen showed up to take the pass but skied the shot. The next 20 minutes saw no good chances but plenty of substitutes.

In the 85th, Hampton Roads substitute Villar took a free kick from outside the penalty area on the right, and Hansen headed it a yard wide of the near post.

87' Smith (Jenkins). O'Brien fed Scott Jenkins on a run up the middle, unmarked. Jenkins touched the ball by Figureido but the ball ended up just out of his reach. Just before a defender got to the loose ball, Smith followed up to tap the sitter into the open goal. 5-0 Seattle.

89' Villar. The Sounders conceded a free kick at the left end of the arc, and Villar sent it low past the wall and inside the far post. Burpo didn't see the shot until it was past the wall, and it was too late for him to do anything about it. 5-1 Seattle.

The 90th minute saw Mariner Cecil Lewis take a nice shot from the left end of the arc to the lower near corner, and Burpo dove fully extended to push it wide for his best save of the night. On the ensuing corner kick play, Gary Brooks was cautioned for playing the high ball with his hand.

Final: Seattle 5 - 1 Hampton Roads

Statistics:
        Seattle  Hampton Roads
Shots:     15       10
Saves:      4        4
Corners:    7        5
Fouls:     13        8
Offsides:   9        1

Misconduct:
34' SEA - Edwards cautioned for taking down an opponent.
37' HR - King cautioned for pulling down Edwards.
90' HR - Brooks cautioned for playing a high corner kick with his hand.

Referee: Dean Ajir; Kirk Kamrath, Steve Brannon; Ken Shade.
Attendance: 2,481