San Diego 2 - 0 Seattle Sounders
Devore Stadium, San Diego, CA

Farias (SD) 32
Hetherington (SD) 41

San Diego: Joe Cannon; Carlos Cruz Trejo, Jimmy Wang, Jaime Munro, Noah Gins; Antonio Robles (76' Christian Escalara), Carlos Farias, Nate Hetherington, Wes Wade, Kevin Legg; Vittitoe.

Seattle: Dusty Hudock; Brandon Prideaux, Scott Jenkins, Jason Annicchero; Randy Mann (71' Kei Kinoshita), Stoner Tadlock, Paul Gelvezon, Fabian Davis (45' Shannon Murray); Mark Baena (83' Neil Megson), Patrick Beech, Erik Storkson.

Farias scored the first goal in the 32nd minute off a 35-yard free kick that deflected into the goal off the wall. The play resulted after Sounders defender Jason Annicchero was cautioned for pulling down the Flash's Antonio Robles from behind. Midfielder Nate Hetherington added an insurance goal in the 41st minute off the rebound of a shot by Farias. Dusty Hudock made a brilliant save to keep Farias' 25-yard shot out of the upper right corner, but the ball bounced right to Hetherington who was camped out in front of the goal and buried the shot to put San Diego up 2-0.

Seattle picked up the offensive pace early in the second half and it looked as if the Sounders would score. Randy Mann beat Flash goalkeeper Joe Cannon with a header off an Annicchero cross, but the shot was cleared off the goal line by a defender in the 48th minute.

Controversy arose in the 52nd as a shot by Paul Gelvezon that apparently crossed the goal line was not ruled a goal and was cleared off the line by a Flash defender. Mark Baena had crossed the ball into the area and Gelvezon hit a left-footed shot that again beat Cannon. Gelvezon thought the shot was a goal and raised his arms, but to no avail.

Seattle continued to put the pressure on offensively in the middle of the second half, creating three corners in the 75th minute. It was not to be Seattle's night as every shot that seemed headed for a goal was met by a Flash defender. Frustration continued to mount and Patrick Beech was sent off after a hard tackle from the side on Farias in the 82nd minute.

In the final minute Erik Storkson was robbed of a goal by the referee when he headed the ball into the net off the hand of Carlos Cruz Trejo. The goal was disallowed, a penalty kick was given to Seattle, and Cruz was shown the red card. Stoner Tadlock's penalty shot was saved by Cannon to preserve his shutout. Now, any rookie referee knows the correct call when a defender intentionally handles the ball in an unsuccessful attempt to deny a goal. The goal is allowed and the defender is shown the yellow card. This is a common question on the referee exam, taken annually. The referee's incorrect application of the laws unjustly penalized both Storkson and Cruz.

Statistics

Shots: SD 15, Sea 14
Saves: Cannon 10, Hudock 7
Corners: SD 5, Sea 6
Fouls: SD 20, Sea 8
Offside: SD 2, Sea 0

Misconduct:
30' Annicchero (Sea) cautioned
37' Robles (SD) cautioned
74' Murray (Sea) cautioned
82' Beech (Sea) sent off
90' Cruz (SD) sent off

Attendance: 3,218