Seattle Sounders  4 - 0  Montreal Impact
Memorial Stadium, Seattle

Gelvezon (S) 35
Storkson (S) 55
Beech (S) 66
Baena (S) 74

Seattle: Dusty Hudock; Brandon Prideaux, Scott Jenkins (83 George Singh), Jason Annicchero; David Hoggan, Paul Gelvezon, Stoner Tadlock, Fabian Davis; Mark Baena, Erik Storkson (81 Shannon Murray), Patrick Beech.

Montreal: Paul Shepherd; Patrick Diotte, Carl Fletcher, Rudy Doliscat (60 John Limniatis), Nevio Pizzolitto; Nick DeSantis (60 Giuliano Oliviero), Lyndon Hooper (82 Chris Stathopoulos), Bill Sedgewick, Mauro Biello; Kevin Wilson (72 Bruno Xavier), Sipho Sibiya.

Coach Neil Megson sent an offensive-minded 3-4-3 lineup against Montreal and it payed dividends. Rookie Brandon Prideaux played sweeper for the first time, as Bernie James was serving the second of his three-match suspension. Prideaux played the role to perfection -- goalkeeper Dusty Hudock had just two easy saves to make on the way to the shutout. Newly-signed Baena played as a withdrawn forward. Baena flew into Seattle the day of the match and never practiced with the team prior to the match. He looked a bit out of sync in the first half, but meshed well with the team in the second half as he notched an assist and a goal.

First Half

Baena showed Sounder fans his offensive tendencies quickly, shooting just over the bar from the right corner of the penalty area before the game was two minutes old. Montreal’s first chance came just two minutes later when they earned a corner kick after a free kick was deflected out. DeSantis’ corner kick was cleared to the far edge of the area, but Sedgewick was alone there to collect garbage. Sedgewick shot low but hit the near side netting.

A Montreal clearance went to Seattle’s Davis for a 20-yard low shot that started to bend on goal, then straightened out and missed the far post. Midway in the half Hoggan beat Impact goalkeeper Shepherd to a through ball and chipped it past Shepherd and in front of an open goal, but Diotte was able to clear the ball just before Hoggan could finish.

The first of seven yellow cards came out, first for Montreal’s Doliscat, then for Gelvezon, who tripped Hooper from just back of square. Gelvezon’s card didn’t seem warranted, and neither would some of the later cards.

At 25’ Annicchero came up for a long Seattle free kick by Tadlock, but the ball was just out of reach and Annicchero could only get his head on a small piece of it.

35’ Gelvezon (Davis). Davis sent a bending cross from 30 yards up the right touch line to the far post. Storkson attracted the defenders and the goalkeeper, but the ball went over all of them. Gelvezon was unmarked at the corner of the goal area and headed accurately past the post and into the back of the net.

Just before the half, Baena was set free on a breakaway from the halfway line and took his shot from just inside the right corner of the penalty area, but Shepherd parried the shot and recovered the ball.

Halftime:  Seattle  1 - 0  Montreal

Davis took Seattle’s first good chance in the second half when he juked his marker to earn a 25-yard shot and skinned the top of the cross bar. Montreal’s Biello tried a 30-yarder up the middle, but Hudock knocked the blast down and grabbed it for the save.

55’ Storkson (Baena). Baena took a pass on a run up the right side, stutter-stepped to get past his marker enough for a cross, and curled a perfect near-post cross for Storkson. Storkson’s run took him right where he needed to be and he headed the ball past Shepherd with authority, slotting the shot between Shepherd and the near post.

The first subs came in at 60’ as Montreal sent in Oliviero and Limniatis for SeSantis and Doliscat.

Hoggan earned the next yellow card when he shot after the play was whistled dead for an offside infraction.

66’ Beech (Storkson). Storkson got the ball on a counterattack, juked his man at the 18, and when he might have shot he instead fed a short pass to Beech. Shepherd rushed out from his goal line but Beech chipped the ball past Shepherd and into the goal.

The match was all Seattle for the last third, perhaps a side effect of Montreal playing matches on consecutive days. Tadlock created some chances when he overlapped up the right side and took a through pass. On one such attack, he held the ball with one defender to beat, then sent a short pass ahead for Beech to run onto. Beech earned a 15-yard shot from the right, but Shepherd was well-positioned for the save.

Storkson was put through and had only the goalkeeper to beat from 15 yards on the right, but Storkson missed the far post by a yard.

74’ Baena (Gelvezon). Beech took a pass at the 18 and fed a diagonal forward pass to Gelvezon, who quickly passed to the third man running, Baena, who slotted the ball between Shepherd and the near post from 12 yards.

A flurry of yellow cards came out in the final 20 minutes. Montreal’s Sedgewick earned one. Hudock got one while preparing for a Seattle goal kick -- referee Josh Padluck told him to hurry up and Hudock told Padluck to shut up. Montreal substitute Xavier got a well-deserved yellow card when he hacked the back of Davis’ legs while Davis was advancing the ball, then Monreal’s Limniatis got one for something he said before the restart.

In the final ten minutes, Seattle sent in two players for their first minutes. Midfielder Murray, signed at the beginning of the week, came on for Storkson, then defender Singh saw his first action of the regular season, replacing Jenkins.

Final:  Seattle  4 - 0  Montreal

Seattle plays again on Wednesday at 7 PM in Memorial Stadium against the San Francisco Bay Seals. Midfielder Randy Mann, the most recently signed player, is due to join the team by then.

Statistics

Shots: Sea 14, Mon 8
Saves: Hudock 2, Shepherd 3
Corners: Sea 3, Mon 5
Fouls: Sea 19, Mon 10
Offside: Sea 6, Mon 0

Misconduct:
22 Doliscat (M) cautioned
23 Gelvezon (S) cautioned
61 Hoggan (S) cautioned
73 Sedgewick (M) cautioned
77 Hudock (S) cautioned
87 Xavier (M) cautioned, Limniatis (M) cautioned

Referee: Josh Padluck
Attendance: 3,146