2005 May 25

Seattle Sounders  1 - 0  Virginia Beach Mariners
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Ryan Edwards, Zach Scott, Billy Sleeth; Kevin Sakuda (Gabe Sturm 80'), CJ Klaas, Scott Jenkins (Brent Whitfield 46'), Ben Somoza (Franklin Chacon 63'); Roger Levesque, Welton. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Jake Besagno, Josh Hansen, Brett Wiesner.

Virginia Beach: Matt Nelson; Steve Danbuskey, Kevin Knott, Joe Morelli, Justin Thompson (Ptah Myers 82'); Darren Caskey, Tim O'Neill, Jakob Fenger (Hamisi Amani-Dove 69'), Steve Shak; Tefore Bennett (Kevon Harris 77', John Barry Nusum 90'), Warren Ukah (David Castellanos 54'). Substitutes not used: Dan Benton, Josh Nolz.

Goals:
90' SEA - Levesque (Sturm)

Additional match reports: Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, Sounders.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

Roger Levesque snatched victory from the jaws of the dreaded nil-nil with a goal in added time, giving the Seattle Sounders the 1-0 win over the visiting Virginia Beach Mariners. The Mariners played the last 16 minutes a man short after Steve Shak was sent off for a hazardous foul from behind. Preston Burpo kept his GAA at 0.00 with his fourth league shutout of the season.

First Half

Virginia Beach had the first chance in the 8th minute when Jakob Fenger got open on the right to cross through the goal area for Tefore Bennett on a far-post run, but he shanked the shot wide.

For Seattle in the 17th, Welton's shot from a loose ball at the 18 was deflected towards the near post, forcing a diving save by Matt Nelson.

Virginia Beach's top scorer Darren Caskey got a shot from the top of the arc after Seattle turned the ball over, but he shot well high and wide.

Seattle sweeper Taylor Graham would have three nice headers from set plays this evening, and his first, from a CJ Klaas corner kick at 26', was headed at the top far corner, where Kevin Knott rose to head it away. Levesque passed square for Ben Somoza for a 20-yard shot that missed the near post by a yard.

In the 32nd for the Mariners, Fenger's shot/cross from wide right was saved at the near post by Burpo.

Seattle got a free kick from the right edge of the penalty area after Nelson slid just outside the line with the ball, but Klaas' free kick was cleared by the defense. In the 44th, Kevin Sakuda's 20-yarder was deflected wide for a corner, which led to Graham's second nice header shot, this one parried by Nelson. The rebound went to Levesque, who shot wide.

Halftime: Seattle 0-0 Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach's Fenger started the second half like he did the first with a nice cross through the goal area, giving Warren Ukah a header from a far-post run, but he couldn't reach enough of the ball to get it on goal.

For Seattle in the 55th, a short pass inside the penalty area found Welton open 12 yards from goal, and he tried to put a shot under Nelson but the 'keeper got down in time for the save. Somoza's shot/cross from the left bye line was saved by Nelson at the near post.

In the 60th VB's Caskey got open for a chance 15 yards out on the left, but he skied it.

For Seattle, Welton held the ball for seconds outside the penalty area before shooting, and Nelson saved it. In the 70th Levesque head-flicked a long free kick but the shot went well wide.

After Graham lost the ball near the circle, Virginia Beach substitute David Castellanos got a 20-yard shot up the middle, and Burpo stayed on his line to save at the lower corner.

Seattle got a break in the 74th when Virginia Beach midfielder Steve Shak was shown the red card for chopping Klaas down from behind. Shak's reputation probably preceded him to Seattle -- Shak leads the league in fouls.

Franklin Chacon came on for Seattle and sparked the offense. In the 79th he bent a nice cross to Levesque's head, but the shot went well wide. Chacon dropped an diagonal pass to the arc for Klaas, but his shot was blasted a yard over the bar. In the 83rd Graham skied for a Klaas free kick and headed a yard high from ten.

Seattle were sending nearly everyone forward at the end, often leaving just a tall one (Graham) and a fast one (Klaas) to defend.

Gabe Sturm came on for Seattle and in the 85th he served Levesque for a 20-yarder that went wide and high. In the 89th Welton's cross gave Sturm an open header from 8 yards that ought to have been on goal but just missed the far post.

The 90th minute saw the short-handed Mariners get in close for a great chance to steal the match, but Hamisi Amani-Dove blasted the ball over the bar when he ought to have done better.

90' Levesque (Sturm). Just into added time, the Sounders finally bagged a goal. Sturm served a nice forward pass in the air to the spot, and Levesque leaped ball side of his marker to head it over Nelson, who had come off his line. The shot found the far side. That would be the last good shot of the match.

Final: Seattle 1-0 Virginia Beach

Statistics:
          Seattle  Virginia Beach
Shots:      17        11
Saves:       4         5
Corners:     5         2
Fouls:      15        19
Offsides:    1         6

Misconduct:
15' VB - Ukah cautioned for kicking Burpo in the chest after Burpo caught the ball
58' SEA - Scott cautioned for persistent infringement
65' VB - Morelli cautioned for a tactical foul on Chacon 25 yards from goal
74' VB - Shak sent off for chopping Klaas down from behind in Seattle's end

Referees: Yader Reyes; Jeff Hosking, Josh Wilkins; Mark Matthews

Attendance: 1,402