2005
Sep 9 2005
Sep 9
Seattle Sounders 1 - 0 Montreal Impact
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA
Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Billy Sleeth, Ryan Edwards, Scott Jenkins; Kevin Sakuda, CJ Klaas (Brett Wiesner 78'), Leighton O'Brien (Andrew Gregor 71'), Gabe Sturm (Jake Sagare 75'); Roger Levesque (Zach Scott 90'), Maikel Galindo (Ben Somoza 67'). Substitutes not used: James Ward, Welton.
Montreal: Andrew Olivieri; André Hainault (Mauro Biello 76'), Nevio Pizzolitto (Gabriel Gervais 59'), David Fronimadis (Adam Braz 75'), Lars Lyssand; Adrian Cann (Pat Leduc 64'), David DiPlacido, Masahiro Fukasawa, Mesut Mert (Mauricio Vincello 71'); Charles Gbeke, Joel Bailey. Substitutes not used: Greg Sutton, Eddie Sebrango.
Goals:
17' SEA - Jenkins (O'Brien)
Additional match reports: Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, King County Journal, Sounders, Impact.
Match report by Ron Stickney:
The Seattle Sounders beat the visiting Montreal Impact 1-0 in Seattle's final match of the regular season. The lone goal came from defender Scott Jenkins in his last regular-season match before retiring, making this a storybook ending to the regular season for Jenkins. Playing his first match for the Sounders was forward Maikel Galindo, who was cleared to play this past week after defecting when the Cuba National Team visited Seattle in July for the Gold Cup. Galindo was impressive, and his play earned the corner kick play that gave the Sounders their goal. The shutout was Preston Burpo's 12th of the season.
A halftime ceremony honored Jason Farrell, who retired at the end of last season. Jenkins and ex-Sounder Chance Fry took part in the ceremony. With these Sounders legends in the halftime ceremony and three rookies starting in the match, there really was a sense of old and new in the match.
With both sides qualified for the playoffs, they each started a few players who normally don't get starts. The match produced plenty of shots, 24-12 in favor of the Sounders, enough for two matches. But of the 36 shots only one found net. Goalkeepers Burpo of the Sounders and Andrew Olivieri of the Impact had a lot to do with that, making 8 saves apiece, many of them fine saves.
First Half
The first shot came in the 7th minute from Montreal right back David Fronimadis from 25 yards, but he sent it right to Burpo's feet.
Seattle's CJ Klaas answered a minute later when he was almost open for a 20-yarder, but he sent it a few yards wide. Jenkins had his first chance in the 14th when a ball from a corner kick was headed in front of goal to him, but his header hit the top of the crossbar and went over.
A minute later Montreal's Mesut Mert got open on the left for a 15-yard shot, but the line drive went right to Burpo's midsection. Next forward Joel Bailey won the ball 10 yards from goal for a shot, and Burpo came out to cut down the angle and managed a leg-block on the hard shot.
17' Jenkins (O'Brien). Galindo turned the left corner with the ball and earned a corner kick to set up the play. Leighton O'Brien's corner kick went low to the near side, and Jenkins sent in a low shot that deflected off a defender and squeezed between the near post and a diving Olivieri. 1-0 Seattle.
Two minutes later Seattle defender Ryan Edwards came close when he headed a long O'Brien free kick at the far post and the shot glanced off the wrong side of the post. Kevin Sakuda had a golden opportunity when he carried the ball into the penalty area, had it poked loose by a defender, and got it back wide open at the spot, but with only Olivieri to beat Sakuda blasted his shot right into the keeper. Sakuda's put-back shot off the rebound was deflected over the bar by a defender. Then Gabe Sturm sent in a long try that was deflected wide by a defender to Galindo for a good chance, but Galindo's quick shot hit the center of the crossbar squarely.
Seattle had a flurry of chances in the 34th minute as Taylor Graham's header came close and was cleared away, then Klaas' low put-back shot from 20 yards through the crowd was cleared off the goal line by Masahiro Mukasawa, and another put-back shot from the opposite side was caught by Olivieri at the bar. Seattle nearly scored again in the 39th when Galindo fed ahead for Klaas on a run up the right line to earn an open cross from close to goal to Sturm on the run, but Olivieri got down to snare Sturm's shot aimed at the far side.
The final minute plus in the half gave Seattle two more chances. First, Klaas' free kick from the right corner to the 18-yard line was fired nicely on goal by O'Brien, but Olivieri threw up his arms jumping sideways and made a nice block-save. Then an attack gave Sturm a shot with Olivieri rushing out, but the shot hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down on the goal line, and jumped out. That made a total of 4 frame hits for the Sounders in the half, and there would be more in the next half. Shots were 16-6 Seattle, but Olivieri and his friends Post and Crossbar limited the Sounders to just the one goal.
Halftime: Seattle 1-0 Montreal
Montreal had the first opportunity in the second half with a shot by Mukasawa, the shot slowed by his marker, then saved by Burpo.
The 50th minute gave Seattle a free kick from just outside the top left corner of the penalty area, and O'Brien's shot hit the crossbar squarely at the near corner, the 5th frame hit for the Sounders. In the 53rd O'Brien fed ahead to Galindo down the right line and Galindo was able to turn the corner and carry the ball to the near post, where he dropped a diagonal pass for Roger Levesque at the 6, but a defender was there to block the shot wide for a corner.
In the 55th an Edwards foul and yellow card gave Montreal a free kick that earned Charles Gbeke a shot from 10 yards on the left with Burpo charging out. Gbeke blasted it a foot over the bar and then held his head in dismay, a sign that he could have hit the target.
The 58th saw a cross to Jenkins for another shot at a marker, but he powered it a yard wide of the top far corner from 25.
The next 23 minutes saw little but a continuous stream of substitutions, but Seattle did get one good chance when Andrew Gregor got the ball open on the left, worked into the penalty area, and dropped a diagonal pass for a 20-yard shot up the middle by Klaas that might have found net had it not been deflected just wide by Klaas' teammate Levesque near goal. The 81st saw substitute Ben Somoza win a loose ball for a 23-yard blast up the middle, and Olivieri did well to get to the post and deflect the ball wide for a corner. Gregor's corner kick found Edwards at the far post and he headed it down towards goal, but Olivieri had the shot covered.
The 86th saw a good 25-yard shot by Sakuda, and Olivieri parried it over the bar nicely for a save.
The last chances were Montreal's best. In the 89th David DiPlacido fired a nice, low shot from the top of the arc and Burpo made a fine diving save to preserve the lead. Five minutes of added time produced no good shots until the very end when a last-minute attack gave Lars Lyssand a shot from just inside the top left corner of the penalty area with Burpo charging out. The shot was a powerful one and either the ball or Lyssand's knee hit Burpo in the head, but the block save was the last play of the match. The final whistle immediately sounded and Burpo was on the ground for several minutes with reportedly a mild concussion before he got up. After the match, Burpo said he remembered charging the shot but didn't how he got hit, and he said that he had a headache. He certainly took one for the team at the end.
Final: Seattle 1-0 Montreal
Statistics:
Seattle Montreal
Shots: 24 12
Saves: 8 8
Corners: 9 1
Fouls: 21 16
Offsides: 2 6
Misconduct:
11' SEA - O'Brien cautioned for a late challenge in Montreal's end
21' MON - Lyssand cautioned for flying into Levesque in the air
45' MON - Pizzolitto cautioned for a harsh foul on Levesque
51' SEA - Sturm cautioned for a foul in front of the Montreal bench
55' SEA - Edwards cautioned for chopping down DiPlacido
72' SEA - Gregor cautioned for a rough foul in his first minute after entering
Referees: Colin Arblaster; Jesse Scrimsher, Manuek Soledad; Josh Wilkins
Attendance: 5,966
