2006 Aug 19

Seattle Sounders  2 - 0  Vancouver Whitecaps
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Chris Eylander; Danny Jackson, Noah Merl, Jake Besagno, Kevin Sakuda; Leighton O'Brien, Andrew Gregor, CJ Klaas (Seyi Abolaji 86'), Roger Levesque; Maykel Galindo (Zach Scott 90'), Cam Weaver (Ben Somoza 58'). Substitutes not used: Jimmy Ward, Nate Boyden, Jake Sagare, Jamal Sutton.

Vancouver: Tony Caig; Steve Klein, John Jones (Sita-Taty Matondo 74'), Anthony Noreiga; Jeff Clarke, Dave Morris (Gary Brooks 59'), Tony Donatelli, Jay Alberts (Alfredo Valente 51'), Martin Nash (Corey Woolfolk 84'); Joey Gjertsen, Eduardo Sebrango. Substitutes not used: Josh Wicks, Adrian Cann, Geordie Lyall.

Goals:
32' SEA: Gregor (O'Brien)
55' SEA: O'Brien (PK)

Additional match reports: SounderCentral.com, Sounders, Whitecaps, Seattle Times, King County Journal.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders claimed the Cascadia Cup with a 2-0 victory over the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps. Andrew Gregor put the Sounders on the scoreboard with a nice goal in the first half, and Leighton O'Brien added a goal from a penalty kick in the second half. Chris Eylander notched a shutout with help from his right-hand post.

Each side fielded a Cuban expatriate, Eduardo Sebrango for Vancouver and Maykel Galindo for Seattle. Zach Scott came on for the last minute plus added time for Seattle, his first action in months after surgery.

First Half

Vancouver's Joey Gjertsen took the first shot of the match in the 8th minute when he got open on the left at the 18-yard line, and goalkeeper Chris Eylander notched the first of his 9 saves.

A minute later Seattle had a good chance when Maykel Galindo was sprung into the penalty area with only goalkeeper Tony Caig to beat, and Caig did well to slide out and deflect the shot over the bar for a corner. On the corner kick, the ball was headed in front of goal for Galindo, who chested the ball towards the far post, but the Jay Alberts on the post cleared it away.

In the 14th for Vancouver, Alberts had a couple of shots, the first from a corner kick, and with the ball cleared right back to him the follow-up shot went high and wide.

Vancouver fans thought they had a goal in the 18th from Steve Nash's free kick play, but Eduardo Sebrango used his arm to knock the ball in and it was pulled from the net.

Seattle had a chance in the 22nd after Galindo carried the ball up the right side, but his shot/cross settled on the roof.

Vancouver had a golden opportunity in the 31st minute after Kevin Sakuda gave the ball away near goal, but Eylander came out and got just enough of Sebrango's shot to send it looping over the bar for a corner kick.

32' Gregor (O'Brien). O'Brien sent a ball over the defense and Gregor won it. With a couple of defenders closing in, Gregor chipped the ball over one of the defenders into space and was first to it, and he sent the ball into the lower far corner with Caig leaning the other way. 1-0 Seattle.

Two minutes later Seattle had another chance when Roger Levesque fed Galindo in the arc for a hard shot, and Caig came a few yards off his line and got enough of the ball to send it spinning wide of the post.

The 37th gave Vancouver a chance when a ball over the defense was claimed by Sebrango, open in the middle and just onside. Sebrango shot at the near post from 15 yards, and Eylander went down for the save.

Halftime: Seattle 1-0 Vancouver

The first shot of the second half was Vancouver's when Alberts fired from 18 yards on the right, low to the near post, and Eylander made the save.

Seattle's first shot of the half came at 58' when a ball was dropped back to Sakuda for a 20-yarder that missed the post by a yard.

For Vancouver in the 61st, Gjertsen beat a couple of defenders for a 15-yard shot from the right that beat Eylander but hit the far post squarely. The rebound went right to a grateful Eylander.

65' O'Brien (PK). Galindo lost the ball in Vancouver's end and won it right back, carried it forward, and sent it to Cam Weaver on a slashing run into the box. Weaver touched the ball wide of Caig, then was tripped by Caig for a penalty kick. O'Brien put an unstoppable PK into the lower left corner out of reach of Caig. 2-0 Seattle.

The Sounders went into defensive mode and most of the remaining chances were Vancouver's. In the 77th, Nash crossed for a nice 12-yard header by Sebrango, and Eylander did well to get to the shot for a save. In the 87th, Anthony Noreiga headed a corner kick nicely on goal from 8 yards, and Eylander blocked it with his chest. Substitute Corey Woolfolk tried a bicycle kick on the rebound off Eylander's chest, but missed by yards. In the 90th minute, Gjertsen crossed past goal for a 6-yard header by Tony Donatelli that beat Eylander but missed the far post by a yard.

The final shot was Seattle's, when substitute Seyi Abolaji won a loose ball and fed Levesque for a shot from the 18 that went right to Caig.

Final: Seattle 2-0 Vancouver

Statistics:
           Seattle   Vancouver
Shots:       10        16
Saves:        9         4
Corners:      6         8
Fouls:       10        12
Offsides:     1         2

Misconduct:
42' VAN: Clarke cautioned for chopping Levesque's ankle at the halfway line
56' SEA: O'Brien cautioned for tripping Gjertsen at the halfway line

Referees: Kari Seitz; Jeff Hosking, Cory Dean; Mark Matthews

Attendance: 3,584