2004 Aug 15

Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - 1 Seattle Sounders
Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC

Goals:
57' SEA - Welton (Callahan)

Vancouver: Alex Marques; Jeremie Piette, Nick Dasovic, Fuseini Dauda (Dave Xausa 67'); Jeff Clarke (Dave Morris 46'), Chris Franks (Geordie Lyall 81'), Steve Kindel, Martin Nash (Johnny Sulentic 82'), Winston Griffiths; Carlo Corrazin, Jason Jordan. Substitutes not used: Mike Franks, Oliver Heald, Alfredo Valente.

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Danny Jackson, Marco Velez, Ryan Edwards, Zach Scott; Kevin Sakuda, Jason Farrell (Chad Brown 46'), Sean-Michael Callahan (Scott Jenkins 73'), Ben Somoza (Kei Kinoshita 87'); Roger Levesque, Welton (Darren Sawatzky 79'). Substitutes not used: Danny Waltman, Craig Tomlinson, Kyle Smith.

Additional match reports: Whitecaps, Sounders.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders picked up 3 points in their final away match of the regular season, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0. An accurate strike by Welton was the difference. The match was light on scoring chances. Preston Burpo got the shutout in goal.

First Half

Other than a yellow card each way, there was nothing to note in the first half. Welton actually took a shot for Seattle from wide right, but it was negated by a foul in front of goal. The closest Vancouver came to a shot was an inswinging corner kick taken by Martin Nash, caught by Burpo.

Halftime: Vancouver 0 - 0 Seattle

Vancouver's first shot of the match came in the 53rd minute when Chris Franks fired a 30-yard shot up the middle and was a yard above the corner of the goal. Seattle's first shot was a blast taken by substitute Chad Brown, not close.

57' Welton (Callahan). The lone goal came when Zach Scott fed Sean-Michael Callahan on a run up the left side. Callahan crossed past the goal for Welton, who had been hanging out on the offside line. A few yards inside the right edge of the penalty area, Welton used the inside of his right foot to first-time a low shot, accurately aimed just inside the far post. 1-0 Seattle, and they didn't take another shot.

The rest of the chances were for Vancouver, with the Sounders seemingly content to defend their lead. In the 66th, Jason Jordan from 18 forced the first save of the match with a low shot right to Burpo. Steve Kindel fired a low 30-yarder up the middle and Burpo dove nicely for the save. In the 83rd, Dave Xausa bent a nice shot onto the roof from 25 yards. Geordie Lyall's long shot missed the top far corner by a yard. Vancouver's best chance came in the 90th minute when the ball was centered for Dave Morris, open for a quick turn-and-shoot that was blasted right into Burpo's midsection. A generous dose of added time failed to result in another shot.

Final: Vancouver 0 - 1 Seattle

Statistics:
        Vancouver  Seattle
Shots:       9        2
Saves:       0        3
Corners:     5        2
Fouls:      13       14
Offsides:    7        4

Misconduct:
8' SEA - Callahan cautioned for a late charge into Clarke.
23' VAN - C Franks cautioned for sliding into Sakuda.

Referees: Rob Antle; Martin Reid, Jose Branco; Kevin Duliba.
Attendance: 5,722 (announced as a sellout)