2003 Apr 25

Preseason:
Seattle Sounders  2 - 1  Oregon State University Beavers
Memorial Stadium, Bremerton, WA

Goals:
18' OSU - Gordon (R Johnson)
23' SEA - Smith (Nguyen)
48' SEA - Smith (O'Brien)

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Danny Jackson, Scott Jenkins (Zach Scott 59'), Kevin Sakuda (Marco Velez 59'); Alex Bengard, Leighton O'Brien, Andrew Gregor (Shawn Purcell 79'), Viet Nguyen (Matt Hulen 70'), Sean Michael Callahan (Craig Tomlinson 79'); Jason Farrell, Kyle Smith (Darren Sawatzky 70').

OSU Starters: Peter Billmeyer; Kurt Ness, Christian vanBlommestein, Ross Duncan, Brian Johnson; Evan McNeley, Nick Donaldson, Brian Farber; Chad Bartlome, Matt Johnson, Alan Gordon. Substitutes who played: Ryan Johnson, Ryan Samuelson, Greg Jarmer, Alex Asai.


Match report by Ron Stickney:

Oregon State University traveled up from Corvallis to play the Sounders in a preseason match. OSU starters included three Washington natives who have played for the Sounders Select: defenders Kurt Ness and Christian vanBlommestein, and midfielder Evan McNeley. All three played well in the match.

Seattle's starting lineup was a 3-5-2:

       Smith           Farrell

 Callahan  Gregor  O'Brien  Nguyen
              Bengard

      Jenkins          Sakuda
              Jackson

               Burpo

The pitch had nice grass but was quite narrow, only 60 yards wide.

18' Gordon (R Johnson). Oregon State took the early lead. Just after entering the match as the first substitute, Ryan Johnson sent a through ball up the middle. Alan Gordon beat goalkeeper Burpo to the ball, touched it past Burpo at the 18-yard line, and rolled it into the empty net. Gordon, who reportedly led the PAC-10 in goals last season, was impressive all night long.

A scary moment in the 21st minute, when Seattle's Sean Michael Callahan was tripped as he carried the ball into the penalty area at speed, and Callahan did a forwards flip in the full layout position. He popped up looking more angry than hurt.

23' Smith (Nguyen). It didn't take long for the Sounders to level the score. Viet Nguyen (or perhaps it was Andrew Gregor) sent in a cross from the right touch line. 12 yards out and marked tightly, Kyle Smith struck the cross hard and true inside the lower far corner, beating a diving Peter Billmeyer.

48' Smith (O'Brien). Seattle took the lead on a corner kick play from the left. Leighton O'Brien's low, bending corner kick was allowed to bounce through the goal area, and Smith at the far post had only to redirect it in.

Brian Johnson nearly brought OSU level in the 61st. An OSU cross was headed by a Seattle defender, but right to Johnson inside the area, and the headed shot was rejected by the crossbar.

Jason Farrell took a creative shot in the 66th when from the penalty spot he dribbled away from goal a few steps, turned, and quickly chipped one at the top far corner. Billmeyer used everything to backpedal and push the shot softly over the bar for a corner.

The Sounders have one more preseason match on Sunday, April 27, in Kent vs. the Liga Hispana All-Stars.

Statistics:
        Seattle    OSU
Shots:     13       8
Saves:      2       6
Corners:    7       0
Fouls:     10      13
Offsides:   1       5

Misconduct:
9' OSU - McNeley cautioned for tripping Smith during an attack.
32' SEA - Nguyen cautioned for something off the ball.
67' SEA - Velez cautioned for fouling goalkeeper Billmeyer on a corner kick.
88' OSU - Duncan cautioned for a reckless challenge against Hulen.

Referees: Jeff Hosking; David Simon, Brian Armes.
Attendance: about 1,000