2005 May 21

Seattle Sounders  0 - 0  Atlanta Silverbacks
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Ryan Edwards, Zach Scott, Billy Sleeth; Kevin Sakuda (Brett Wiesner 88'), CJ Klaas, Scott Jenkins (Ben Somoza 65'), Brent Whitfield (Franklin Chacon 72'); Roger Levesque, Welton. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Gabe Sturm, Jake Besagno, Josh Hansen.

Atlanta: Christian Fegler; Fred Degande, Joe Afful, Landy Mattison, David Hayes; Antonio de la Torre, Sergio Iñiguez (Greg Chevalier 77'), Andres Murraigui (Kris Stone 58', Tony McManus 84'), Alex Pineda-Chacon (Gary Brooks 71'); Fabian Dawkins, Rodrigo Rios (Adilson De Lima 84'). Substitutes not used: Joe Barton, Ron Plute.

Additional match reports: Seattle Times, Sounders.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The host Seattle Sounders played to a nil-nil draw against the Atlanta Silverbacks in another match largely devoid of offense. Preston Burpo needed only one routine save for his third shutout in three league starts, while Atlanta's Christian Fegler made 6 saves to earn his shutout.

There was a cold spring rain for most of this match.

First Half

The first chance was Seattle's in the 2nd minute when CJ Klaas' corner kick was headed a half yard over by sweeper Taylor Graham.

Fred Degande had Atlanta's first shot in the 9th, well over from 35 yards. Fabian Dawkins shots came in the 13th, a long try well wide, and the 18th, a 15-yarder from the right that was deflected wide of the far post for a corner kick.

Then it was Seattle in the 24th with Klaas on the attack, firing low from the arc and touched just wide of the far post by Fegler. The resulting Klaas corner kick was headed at the far side by Ryan Edwards, but Fegler did well to leap sideways and bat it out for another corner kick. In the 27th, Welton worked a give and go with Klaas for a shot from the arc, sent 2 yards wide. In the 36th, a 30-yard free kick by Klaas was slowed by the wall for an easy save.

For Atlanta in the 40th, Dawkins had a chance from 20 but blasted it well wide.

Halftime: Seattle 0-0 Atlanta

Atlanta were best for the third quarter, preventing any Seattle chances. In the 47th, Dawkins got open on the right but shot well wide of the near post. From a broken corner kick play, Joe Afful came closest for Atlanta when his 20-yarder hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced straight down, and jumped away from goal. In the 69th, an Antonio de la Torre free kick from left of the penalty area was headed wide of the far post.

In the 69th for Seattle, a Klaas free kick from 30 up the middle was an easy save. In the 74th, substitute Franklin Chacon got around the right corner to drop for a near-post run by Klaas, but defender Landy Mattison broke it up nicely. In the 77th, Levesque from 30 chipped it inches wide of the right post with Fegler beat.

With the final whistle drawing near, Welton worked a give and go with Chacon for a 10-yard shot from the right, but Fegler was there to block it out for a throw-in. In the 90th, Levesque's shot from the top of the arc was pushed just wide by Fegler with an artful save.

2 minutes of added time went for naught.

Final: Seattle 0-0 Atlanta

Statistics:
          Seattle  Atlanta
Shots:      13        10
Saves:       2         8
Corners:    11         6
Fouls:      12        16
Offsides:    2         5

Misconduct:
65' SEA - Scott cautioned for a foul from behind in Atlanta's half
69' ATL - Afful cautioned for a tactical foul on Welton

Referees: Colin Tait; Mark Matthews, Bryan Reich; Shahram Pourazari

Attendance: 1,381