2006 Jun 28

Seattle Sounders  2 - 1  Puerto Rico Islanders
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Chris Eylander; Danny Jackson, Noah Merl, Stephen Keel, Jason Harvey; Kevin Sakuda, CJ Klaas (Andrew Gregor 72'), Leighton O'Brien, Roger Levesque; Jamal Sutton (Craig Tomlinson 72'), Cam Weaver. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Seyi Abolaji, Jake Besagno, Santa Maria Rivera, Nate Boyden.

Puerto Rico: Dan Kennedy (Terence Boss 82'); John Queely, Luis Zuleta, Mauricio Segovia, Alexis Rivera; Jonathan Lopuski (Mark Oehlman 80'), Edwin Miranda, Kormac Valdebenito, Gustavo Barros Schelloto; Alen Marcina, Arturo Norambuena. Substitutes not used: Raphel Ortiz, Isaac Nieves, Petter Villegas, Joshua Caleb Norkus.

Goals:
23' SEA: Sutton (Sakuda)
46' PR: Marcina (?)
73' SEA: Weaver (Gregor)

Additional match reports: SounderCentral.com, Sounders, Seattle Times.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders scored first, gave up a goal, and came back to beat the visiting Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1. Jamal Sutton had the first goal for the Sounders, Alen Marcina leveled the score, and rookie Cam Weaver netted the match winner, pulling into the lead in goals scored in the USL 1st Division with ten.

Ex-Sounder Marco Velez was unable to play for Puerto Rico due to a yellow-yellow-red in his previous match.

First Half

Jordan Harvey took the first shot for the Sounders in the 2nd minute and it was deflected wide for a corner kick.

Arturo Norambuena took Puerto Rico's first shot at 11' and it wasn't close. The Islanders would manage only one more shot late in the half, and Kormac Veldebenito would send that one a couple of yards over the bar.

For the Sounders, Roger Levesque earned a good chance at 22' when he was sprung from the 18-yard line with a diagonal pass, and with only goalkeeper Dan Kennedy to beat Levesque rolled his shot a yard wide of the far post.

23' Sutton (Sakuda). Levesque fed Kevin Sakuda for a shot up the middle from the 18 and he blasted it squarely off the crossbar. The rebound went left to an open Sutton, and he volleyed his shot neatly into the back far corner of the net. 1-0 Seattle.

Weaver had a couple of tries for Seattle, a shot in the 34th from a CJ Klaas cross that came close to the top near corner, then 4 minutes later a header 2 yards over the bar from a Levesque cross. In added time at the end of the half Leighton O'Brien almost sneaked a long free kick over Kennedy, but the keeper backpedaled just in time to push it wide, and Sakuda's try from the cleared ball went wide of the far post.

The Sounders dominated the first half, outshooting the Islanders 11-2, but at halftime they had the slimmest of leads.

Halftime: Seattle 1-0 Puerto Rico

46' Marcina (?). The Islanders surprised the Sounders at the start of the second half. A long free kick sent the ball into the corner of the penalty area, where an attempted clearance sent the ball to an open Puerto Rico attacker inside the penalty area on the right. A cross to the far post went by the napping Sounders defense and was tapped in by Marcina from close. 1-1.

For Seattle, Sutton had a golden chance to put the home side in the lead 5 minutes later when Weaver was sprung up the left side and centered a perfect ball, but with only Kennedy to beat Sutton hit it wide when he ought to have done better.

Puerto Rico nearly took the lead two minutes later when a centered ball was shot hard on goal, but Chris Eylander made a great save by parrying the shot up and over. Marcina had chances for his second goal in the 62nd with an 18-yard shot that bounced to Eylander and in the 68th when he was open 10 yards from goal for a cross and shot just wide of the near post. The latter chance left Marcina holding his head.

In the 72nd minute Seattle sent in Andrew Gregor for Klaas and Craig Tomlinson for Sutton, and the move soon paid off. Gregor's first touch was a shot from 35 yards that went two yards over. A minute later he had an assist.

73' Weaver (Gregor). Gregor chipped a ball over the defense to Weaver on the front line, and Weaver broke free. Kennedy came out to the 18-yard line to meet Weaver, and as they collided Weaver touched the ball past Kennedy. With the ball slowly bouncing towards goal Weaver recovered from the collision first and tapped the ball into the empty net just before a defender got there. 2-1 Seattle.

Seattle had the next chance when Weaver dropped the ball to Gregor for a chip shot from 18 that was a worthy effort, just missing the top far corner.

Puerto Rico nearly had an equalizer in the 80th minute. The first shot was cleared off the line by a defender, and a put-back shot hit the underside of the crossbar, rebounding down just in front of goal. A minute later a ball past goal was headed on goal by the Islanders, but Stephen Keel was at the near post to head it wide for a corner.

Seattle's Levesque netted one in the 85th, but he was offside by half a yard. Seattle had two chances in the final minute, a Gregor chip shot from 20 that was a yard too high and a Weaver shot from 15 that was deflected a yard wide.

Final: Seattle 2-1 Puerto Rico

Statistics:
          Seattle   Puerto Rico
Shots:       18        11
Saves:        3         4
Corners:      4         6
Fouls:       14        22
Offsides:     8         1

Misconduct:
32' PR: Zuleta cautioned for a tactical foul on Weaver
45' PR: Rivera cautioned for a tactical foul on Sutton
58' SEA: Keel cautioned for a tactical foul
72' PR: Segovia cautioned
87' PR: Schelloto cautioned

Referees: Edvin Jurisevic; Scott Lawrence, Mark Matthews; Manuel Soledad

Attendance: 2,611