2005 Aug 20

Portland Timbers  1 - 1  Seattle Sounders
PGE Park, Portland, OR

Portland: Josh Saunders; Gavin Wilkinson (Shaun Higgins 21'), Lee Morrison, Kevin Goldthwaite, Garrett Marcum; Brian Winters, Tom Poltl, Aaran Lines, Edwin Miranda; Paul Conway, Dan Antoniuk. Substitutes not used: Sam Reynolds, Scott Benedetti, Fadi Afash.

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Scott Jenkins, Zach Scott, CJ Klaas; Kevin Sakuda, Leighton O'Brien (Ben Somoza 46'), Jake Sagare (Gabe Sturm 71'), Brent Whitfield; Roger Levesque, Andrew Gregor. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Brett Wiesner, Chad Brown, Welton, Jake Besagno.

Goals:
22' SEA - Jenkins (O'Brien)
86' POR - Higgins (Poltl)

Additional match reports: Portland Oregonian, Timbers, Sounders. Photo gallery and video of last goal from Portland fan Allison Andrews.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

For the second consecutive match, the Seattle Sounders scored early and gave up a late goal to settle for a 1-1 draw, this time at the home of the Portland Timbers. Seattle's goal was the first of the season for Scott Jenkins. Portland's goal was the first home goal for rookie Shaun Higgins. The draw is Seattle's 10th in 23 matches.

Due to yellow-card suspensions, Seattle played without defenders Ryan Edwards and Billy Sleeth and Portland played without forward Byron Alvarez. Portland were also missing defender Scot Thompson (trying out at Sunderland) and midfielder Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (family medical emergency).

First Half

There were early chances both ways. For Seattle in the 3rd minute Leighton O'Brien's long pass to Brent Whitfield on the right led to a cross for Roger Levesque, whose try at a flying header was on target but lacking velocity. For Portland, Kevin Goldthwaite's throw-in to the near post was flicked on nicely by Dan Antoniuk's head towards the far post, and Preston Burpo had to be sharp to dive out and snare it.

Ex-Timbers midfielder Jake Sagare fired a couple of rockets just over the bar. In the 9th, it was launched from 20 yards after O'Brien's corner kick was punched out of the area by goalkeeper Josh Saunders. In the 15th, a ball tackled away from Whitfield rolled into Sagare's path for a blast from 12 with plenty of open target, and Sagre was left holding his head in dismay.

Portland defender Gavin Wilkinson left after just 20 minutes with an injury, and on came Higgins.

22' Jenkins (O'Brien). A free kick was set up after Lee Morrison was shown the yellow card for tripping Andrew Gregor at the left touch line. O'Brien's free kick curled over the defense and Jenkins was first to it, heading it in and ending up over the bye line on the follow-through. 1-0 Seattle.

Seattle continued to control most of the next 10 minutes. After Aaran Lines was whistled for handling just outside the top right corner of the penalty area, Gregor's free kick curled in for Zach Scott's header, which was deflected wide by the defense. Gregor put a free kick from the right corner on goal, but Saunders easily saved.

At 31', Portland chipped a ball through the Seattle defense to give Paul Conway a pressured shot from 15, and he was just wide of the far post.

The next minute CJ Klaas sent a long diagonal ball over the defense for Levesque to head at the far post, and he just missed the target.

The 34th saw the save of the match as Taylor Graham headed clear a Portland cross and Edwin Miranda powered a 25-yard shot up the middle. Burpo flew sideways for a spectacular one-handed save, palming the ball over the crossbar.

Higgins had his first good chance in the 36th from a perfect Miranda cross to the far post, and as Burpo slid over to cover what he could reach of the goal Higgins' powerful header hit the outside of the net.

In the dying minutes of the half Gregor tried to sneak a Seattle free kick in from the touch line but Saunders was there for the save. For Portland, Higgins worked a nice wall pass with Antoniuk inside the penalty area for a 15-yard shot up the middle, and Burpo collapsed on it and held.

Halftime: Portland 0-1 Seattle

Seattle started the second half quickest. Substitute Ben Somoza's throw-in was cleared from the area, and Gregor's put-back chip shot landed on the roof. Gregor put a nice pass in front of Whitfield who made a diagonal run into the middle, but from 10 yards Whitfield blasted the shot a foot over the bar when it ought to have been on target.

The controversial call of the match came in the 52nd minute when an apparent Seattle goal was called back after referee Ramon Hernandez conferred with assistant Eduardo Irigoyen. On the play, Kevin Sakuda's hard shot up the middle from 15 yards forced a rebound off Saunders, and after the loose ball was poked free Whitfield finished into the empty net. With the players all lined up for a kickoff, Hernandez made a late decision to call a foul, which must have occurred when the loose ball was poked to Whitfield. It was not an offside call, as Hernandez' arm did not indicate an indirect free kick. The call was a mystery to nearly all of the players and fans.

After the ball was pulled out of Portland's net, the momentum switched to the Timbers. Tom Poltl went in alone against Burpo, who came out to successfully cut off the angle as Poltl's shot was chested wide for a corner. Lines at the far post headed a shot down and towards goal, but on the bounce Graham headed it over the bar for a corner. After a Seattle attack was broken up, Poltl's long shot from the center circle was caught by Burpo at the upper corner.

For Seattle in the 60th, a Gregor free kick went to Levesque at the far post, and his header went off the fingertips of Saunders and looped just out of reach of the leaping Scott. Levesque seemed to spring Whitfield free from the circle, but inside the penalty area Brian Winters recovered to poke the ball out for a corner before Whitfield could shoot. On the resulting corner kick, Graham flicked it on for Jenkins at the far post, but the soft header cleared the bar. Seattle's last good chance came at 68' as Graham shot from a cleared ball but was a mile high.

With Seattle seeming to be content with holding on, Portland had a couple of chances near 70'. Conway earned an open opportunity to cross, but curled a cross/shot right to Burpo. A 20-yard blast by Higgins was deflected high and wide by his marker.

86' Higgins (Poltl). The last 20 minutes saw just one chance, and Portland made the best of it. After Levesque gave the ball away on a promising Seattle attack by sending it into touch, the throw-in play gave Poltl the ball running up the right touch line from the halfway line. Near the corner, he cut back, and Jenkins fell down to allow Poltl's open cross from the end line. The Seattle defenders were caught standing as Higgins ran up the middle to blast a shot past Burpo into the ceiling of the net.

Final: Portland 1-1 Seattle

Statistics:
          Portland  Seattle
Shots:      14        15
Saves:       4         7
Corners:     8         6
Fouls:      15        11
Offsides:    4         2

Misconduct:
22' POR - Morrison cautioned for tripping Gregor at the touch line
24' SEA - Gregor cautioned for something after a Seattle foul
67' POR - Higgins cautioned for a foul in the Seattle penalty area
82' SEA - Levesque cautioned for fouling Morrison in Portland's end

Referees: Ramon Hernandez; Eduardo Irigoyen, Rich Wallace; Desi Miller

Attendance: 8,292