2003 Jul 13

Seattle Sounders  1 - 0  El Paso Patriots (AET)
Seahawks Stadium, Seattle, WA

Goals:
101' SEA - Sawataky (Velez)

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Danny Jackson, Ryan Edwards, Scott Jenkins; Kevin Sakuda (Marco Velez 90'), Chad Brown (Viet Nguyen 53'), Sean-Michael Callahan (Craig Tomlinson 70'), Andrew Gregor, Ben Somoza (Alex Bengard 59'); Darren Sawatzky, Kyle Smith. Substitutes not used: Rich Cullen, Jason Farrell, Zach Scott.

El Paso: Scott Alexander; Joel Rios, Hamlet Diaz, Carlos Martinez; Mario Garcia, Junro Narita, Pablo Cabrera, Freddy Juarez, Enrique Cervantes; Mauricio Rocha, Tim Pierce (Javier Carrazco 81'). Substitute not used: Omar Carrera.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

For the second match in a row, Darren Sawatzky scored a late, lone goal to lead the Sounders to a 1-0 win, this one over the visiting El Paso Patriots. Seattle had a man advantage after the 25th minute when Pablo Cabrera was sent off for his second yellow card, and three El Paso starters were serving suspensions, but the Sounders couldn't score until late. The goal was the fourth consecutive Sounders goal by Sawatzky. That ties a record that surprisingly has been reached four times before (Mark Baena in 1998, Ian Russell in 1999, Sawatzky in 2000, Greg Howes in 2000).

Preston Burpo got the shutout, but he faced just 3 El Paso shots and did not have to make a save. The Sounders outshot El Paso by a whopping margin of 26-3.

The Sounders rested half a dozen regular starters, with three of them eventually coming on as substitutes.

First Half

The Sounders outshot the Patriots 9-2 in the first half. Early good shots: at 3' Sawatzky ran onto a gently dropped ball in the penalty area and shot low, just wide of the post; at 13' a long Ben Somoza throw-in was headed on goal by Ryan Edwards and goalkeeper Scott Alexander pushed it over at the bar; and at 14' a ball sent up the middle to Sean-Michael Callahan in the penalty area was passed square for Kyle Smith, who volleyed just wide of the post.

The first two yellow cards of the match both went to El Paso's Cabrera, and he was sent off in just the 25th minute. But for the next ten minutes only El Paso would get off a shot, and it came close as Carlos Martinez barely missed an open top right corner from 30 yards.

Seattle was back on the attack in the 35th with a 23-yard free kick up the middle, taken quickly by Andrew Gregor to the lower left corner, and Alexander barely got there in time, pushing the ball into the post and out for a corner kick. Somoza's cross from the left corner flag in the 37th gave Callahan a header from 6 yards, and Alexander saved at his feet.

El Paso's second shot came in the 45th, when Freddy Juarez fed Mauricio Rocha at the arc, but Rocha shot yards wide.

Halftime: Seattle 0 - 0 El Paso

A third of the second half went by with no good chances either way, then Seattle's Callahan popped a ball up in the penalty area and won it back for a shot that hit the outside of the top near corner. Smith tried a turn and shoot from the right end of the arc and just missed the far post.

Midway in the half, there were just the two shots taken. But Seattle would take 11 more in the half. From Alex Bengard's corner kick over the crowd, Viet Nguyen shot a yard wide of the top far corner. Sawatzky fed Callahan for a header from the penalty spot, but it sailed a yard over the bar.

El Paso had a good chance in the 81st when Pierce was sprung all alone on a counter, and Burpo came 8 yards outside his penalty area to pressure the shot well high and wide.

The last 7 minutes (plus 5 minutes for El Paso's time wasting) was all Seattle. From Sawatzky's cross, someone shot into the bar and the ball bounced straight down to the line and jumped out, and Craig Tomlinson tried a bicycle kick from 8 yards that was blasted but went two yards wide. Gregor had a good effort from 25 yards when he waited for a ball popped out of the penalty area and volleyed it at the lower near corner, where Alexander made an exceptional diving save.

Regulation: Seattle 0 - 0 El Paso

Bengard opened extra time by cracking a 20-yarder that bent a yard over the bar. But no more good chances until the second 10-minute extra time period.

101' Sawatzky (Velez). The match needed a hero, and Sawatzky again was the man. Nguyen's cross from the right side was to the near post, where Velez blasted a shot from 5 yards that rebounded off Alexander's chest at the near post. Two yards away, the rebound was spinning in the air waist high and Sawatzky said he struck it as hard as he could, and it went directly into the far side netting for a golden goal. For the second match in a row, Sawatzky ran to the corner flag in front of the section 113 fans to celebrate.

Final: Seattle 1 - 0 El Paso