Team Sacramento 1 - 3 Seattle Sounders
Natomas Stadium, Sacramento, CA
 
11' SEA: Storkson (Henderson)
62' SAC: Favian
67' SEA: Baena (Robertson)
76' SEA: Baena (Gaw)
 
Seattle: Bill May; Kieran Barton, Jason Annicchero, Craig Waibel, Scott Jenkins; Shan Gaw, Sean Henderson (Ralph Robertson 64), Oliver Heald (Randy Mann 70); Ian Russell, Erik Storkson (Viet Nguyen 68), Mark Baena.
 
Sacramento: Eric Landon; Art Temblador (or was it Justin Rothling), Mark Rohrer, Adam Bruckner, Tim Maestretti; Mike Galvin (Darren Edge 55), Dario Favian, Jeff Cannerelli (or was it Brian Willey), Robbie Cohmanschi; Alejandro Cano (Kevin Mercado 85), Eric Farfan.
 

It took a match-leveling goal by winless Team Sacramento's Dario Favian in the 62nd minute to spur on the Sounders, but Seattle went on to win away by a score of 3-1, picking up maximum points. Seattle's Erik Storkson used his chrome dome to open the scoring at 11', and the first half ended with no more goals. After Favian's goal stunned the Sounders for a few minutes, Mark Baena soon broke free and clinically finished a pair of goals for the final 3-1 margin. Baena's 17th goal of the season may have put him back into the A-League scoring lead, depending on what other contenders for the Golden Boot award did on the same evening.

Bill May played his first full match in goal, as Preston Burpo will be out an estimated 2-4 weeks with a moderately separated shoulder, which he suffered in the opening half of the previous match when he was fouled hard. The greater Seattle area is famous for depth at the goalkeeping position (i.e., Kasey Keller, Marcus Hahnemann, Dusty Hudock). May was a top NCAA Division I 'keeper when he played for the University of Washington a couple of years ago. May, who never played a minute in a 1999 league match until Burpo was injured last match, deserves praise for staying sharp until ultimately becoming essential.

First Half

11' Storkson (Henderson). Sean Henderson, unmarked in the penalty area, flicked the ball to Storkson at the edge of the goal area. Storkson headed the ball into the net for the early goal.

Baena had a chance at a second goal two minutes later from Oliver Heald's pass, but headed just over the crossbar.

At 31' Art Temblador saw yellow for a foul on Ian Russell just outside the penalty area. Shan Gaw put the free kick on goal, but Eric Landon made a diving save.

Halftime:  Sacramento 0 - 1 Seattle

A 57th minute chance by Seattle rookie Gaw is put over the bar.

62' Favian. Scott Jenkins gets beat and Dario Favian ends up 1 v 1 with May from the penalty spot. May comes out to cut down the angle, but Favian beats May to level the score at 1-1. The Sounders appear stunned for a few minutes, then ...

67' Baena (Robertson). Just two minutes after coming on as a substitute, Ralph Robertson served a nice through ball to Baena that put Baena 1 v 1 against Landon. Baena touched once, touched twice to draw out Landon, then beat the keeper with a low shot and Seattle were back on top 2-1.

At 72' Sacramento's defender Tim Maestretti penetrated Seattle's defense to put a shot on goal, pushed over the bar by a leaping May for a corner kick.

76' Baena (Gaw). Gaw put Baena free with a long ball. Baena carried to the 18, drawing Landon out, and put away the insurance goal for the final score of 3-1.

Seattle had a few chances to add to the lead. With 7 minutes left, four consecutive Seattle corner kicks failed to produce a shot. With 3 minutes left, a Jenkins cross produced an Ian Russell flying header that was just wide. At the final whistle, Seattle were satisfied with the 3-1 win.

Final:  Sacramento 1 - 3 Seattle

Statistics:
Shots:  SAC 8, SEA 20
Saves:  Landon 5; May 2
Corners:  SAC 5, SEA 6
Fouls:  SAC 10, SEA 8
Offsides:  SAC 0, SEA 6
 
Misconduct:
31' Temblador (SAC) cautioned
 
Referee:
Attendance: 231