2005 Aug 7

Portland Timbers  1 - 0  Seattle Sounders
PGE Park, Portland, OR

Portland: Josh Saunders; Scot Thompson, Lee Morrison, Kevin Goldthwaite, Garrett Marcum; Brian Winters (Shaun Higgins 63'), Tom Poltl, Edwin Miranda, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar; Byron Alvarez (Paul Conway 66'), Dan Antoniuk. Substitutes not used: Sam Reynolds, Gavin Wilkinson, Fadi Afash.

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Billy Sleeth, Ryan Edwards, Gabe Sturm (Welton 81'); Kevin Sakuda, Leighton O'Brien, CJ Klaas (Brent Whitfield 64'), Jake Sagare (Ben Somoza 57'); Roger Levesque, Andrew Gregor. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Brett Wiesner, Chad Brown, Zach Scott.

Goals:
77' POR - Conway (Alcaraz-Cuellar)

Additional match reports: Portland Oregonian, Timbers.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders were shut out for the third straight match, falling 1-0 to the host Portland Timbers. Paul Conway scored the lone goal for Portland and Josh Saunders notched the shutout.

First Half

The first half hour saw plenty of chances both ways, but nobody could finish. Portland's Byron Alvarez had the first shot at 3' after winning a battle with Ryan Edwards for a through ball, and goalkeeper Preston Burpo had the shot covered.

Edwards took Seattle's first shot in the 6th minute when he got close to the left post for a shot from a free-kick play, and his point-blank blast rebounded off goalkeeper Josh Saunders for a save, and Edwards on the ground couldn't control the rebound.

For Portland at 8', Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar just missed the far post with a shot-cross over Burpo. Then Alvarez appeared to be wide open 12 yards from goal but Taylor Graham recovered just in time to deflect the shot wide for a corner kick.

Seattle controlled the next 10 minutes, first with Jake Sagare getting to the end line on the left for a shot-cross that was caught by Saunders. CJ Klaas' shot up the middle was deflected a bit by his marker and the ball almost found the lower near corner as Saunders was leaning the other way. Seattle's closest shot came in the 18th after an initial shot was block-saved by Saunders, but Roger Levesque's follow-up shot was cleared from the goal plane with a spectacular bicycle kick by Lee Morrison. At 21' Andrew Gregor tried a 25-yard shot curled nicely at the top far corner, but Saunders was easily there for the save.

Portland came back in the 23rd when Dan Antoniuk's blast from 25 yards was blocked by Burpo, the rebound going out to Alcaraz-Cuellar for another 25-yarder that was held by Burpo.

Seattle defender Billy Sleeth and Portland defender Scot Thompson banged heads in the 36th going for an air ball, and both left the pitch temporarily. Sleeth returned in the 41st wearing a different jersey after a cut over his eye bled on his starting jersey.

Halftime: Portland 0-0 Seattle

Seattle let an early second-half chance go by when Sagare flashed a cross right by Gregor 12 yards from goal, but Gregor couldn't react in time to play it.

First shot of the half was Portland's when Alcaraz-Cuellar's cross gave Antoniuk an excellent chance from 8 yards, but he cleared the bar with the shot.

A Seattle free kick in the 61st gave Edwards a header, but it went well over the bar. Levesque put Klaas nicely free up the middle at 62', but Saunders slid out and and Thompson recovered to get just enough of the ball to deflect it wide for a corner.

Conway came on for Portland in the 67th and a minute later got in close for a shot after a scramble in the penalty area with Burpo out of position, but Sleeth was manning the near post to block it onto the post and away. Conway's next chance came at 74' when he headed a corner kick well over.

77' Conway (Alcaraz-Cuellar). Edwin Miranda's throw-in was to Alcaraz-Cuellar in the penalty area, and he headed a drop-pass for Conway to run onto. Conway was given too much room by the defense and he put a low shot past the outstretched Burpo to the far side. 1-0 Portland.

Portland's defense prevented any chances from the Sounders in the last 13+ minutes. Portland managed just one more shot in the 90th when Kevin Goldthwaite sent a 20-yard rocket up the middle and Burpo made an acrobatic leap to touch it onto the bar and over.

Final: Portland 1-0 Seattle

Statistics:
          Portland  Seattle
Shots:      17        14
Saves:       6         4
Corners:     5         1
Fouls:      15        18
Offsides:    1         1

Misconduct:
43' SEA - Graham cautioned for tripping Alvarez in the circle
88' SEA - Edwards cautioned for a late challenge into Antoniuk in the circle
90' SEA - Gregor cautioned for a late challenge

Referees: Richard Herron; Padman Senthirajah, Eric Dottarar; Patrick Duffy

Attendance: 4,227