2008 Aug 10

Minnesota Thunder  3 - 1  Seattle Sounders
National Sports Center, Blaine, MN

Minnesota: Nicolas Platter; Jon Greenfield, Andres Arango (Kevin Taylor 85'), Brian Kallman, Stephen deRoux; Jeremiah Bass, Tighe Dombrowski, Luis Gonzalez, Ricardo Sanchez (Kyle Altman 84'); Melvin Tarley, Alen Marcina (Nathan Knox 88'). Substitutes not used: James Vanoekel, Kevin Friedland, Andrew Barron.

Seattle: Ben Dragavon; Taylor Graham (Sébastien Le Toux 45'), Noah Merl, Adam West, John Fishbaugher; Nik Besagno (Youssouf Kante 68'), Ciaran O'Brien (Kenji Trechsuk 45'), Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (Roger Levesque 45'), Jason Cascio; Andre Schmid (Zach Scott 57'), Kevin Forrest. Substitutes not used: Chris Eylander, Michael Rodríguez.

Goals:
15' SEA: Cascio (Schmid)
26' MIN: Tarley (Dombrowski)
56' MIN: Sanchez (Kallman)
76' MIN: Sanchez

Additional match reports: Thunder, Prost Amerika, Seattle Soccer Show player ratings.

Match report from the Sounders:

The Seattle Sounders fell to the Minnesota Thunder 3-1 Sunday evening in the final match before the U.S. Open Cup semifinal against the Charleston Battery.

Jason Cascio's first career goal was offset by two Ricardo Sanchez goals and a goal from Thunder forward Melvin Tarley.

Seattle now travel to Charleston for the Tuesday night match to determine who moves on to the Open Cup final; with a win, the Sounders will host the U.S. Open Cup final at Qwest Field. Kick-off in Charleston is set for 4:30 pm; catch all the action live on USLlive.com.

The loss snapped the Sounders' three game win streak in league play but the team remain in sole possession of fourth place in the USL-1 standings as the season starts to enter its final month. The top seven teams in the league make the USL-1 playoffs.

Seattle rested many starters and brought out a lineup full of young talent on Sunday. Regular starters Sébastien Le Toux, Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Chris Eylander, Youssouf Kante, and Zach Scott all sat as Nik Besagno, Ciaran O'Brien, Kevin Forrest, Jason Cascio, Andre Schmid, and John Fishbaugher featured in their place.

An open and action packed first half saw two goals scored and three goals called back.

Seattle opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Forrest, making his first start on the season, came running down the left side and sent the ball across the field perfectly to Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, who passed in to Andre Schmid, who heeled it over to Jason Cascio, who buried the open shot. The goal was Cascio's first professional goal.

Alen Marcina answered a minute later but the goal was ruled offside.

The game was up and down for the rest of the half. Ciaran O'Brien, getting his third start after being loaned to the Sounders from the Colorado Rapids on July 28, conducted the action in midfield well and the Sounders looked certain to score again on many occasions.

In the 20th minute O'Brien did score off a set piece from Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar but the goal was called back due to a foul from O'Brien.

The Thunder didn't stay silent for long and Melvin Tarley grabbed the equalizer in the 26th minute. The goal started when Tarley got free on the right side of the 18 yard box and fired the ball in. Dragavon did well to save the effort but the ball deflected right to Tarley who steadied himself and passed the ball into the back of the net.

Marcina had his second goal called back in the 43rd minute on another offside call and the sides went into the half tied at one goal apiece.

The Sounders subbed in a few first team regulars at the restart but failed to gain any momentum and when the Thunder grabbed the lead in the 56th minute, Seattle were never able to recover.

Ricardo Sanchez put the game out of reach in the 76th minute in one of the best goals of the year. A foul by Kevin Forrest set up a free kick from 40 yards for the left footed Sanchez who stepped up to the kick and bent the effort into the top left corner.

Sunday's match was the Sounders' final regular season road match. The team finishes with seven straight matches at home, the first of which is against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday, August 15.

Statistics:
          Minnesota  Seattle
Shots:       13        12
Saves:        7         3
Corners:      4         4
Fouls:        9        13
Offsides:     4         4

Misconduct:
32' MIN: Arango cautioned
75' SEA: Forrest cautioned

Referees: Jorge Ocontrillo; Kip Jackson, Mischaun Ahmad

Attendance: 3,818