VAN: Didar Sandhu; Jeff Skinner, Rob Hall, Steve MacDonald, Richard Bodnark; Nico Berg, Martin Nash, Alfredo Valente (Spencer Coppin 72); Niall Thompson, Eduardo Sebrango (Geordie Lyall 81), Jason Jordan.
 

First Half

9' Thompson (Sebrango). Sounder sweeper Bernie James lost the ball near the arc. Eduardo Sebrango took the gift and passed it to Thompson in the right side of the penalty area, and Thompson beat goalkeeper Preston Burpo with a low shot inside the far post.

Randy Mann, moved up to midfielder for Seattle again, took the next shot of the match, a 25-yarder up the middle and a bit wide left.

17' Valente (Jordan). Jason Jordan beat his marker near the right corner and carried the ball along the goal line to near the goal area, then rolled a cross to Valente, who was wide open at the center of the 6-yard line. Valente tapped the ball into the open net, as Burpo was covering the near post, and Vancouver were up 2-0 after just two shots.

Seattle had the best chances the rest of the half. Neil Megson headed back Kieran Barton's long cross from the left for Erik Storkson, whose volley was just wide right. Ian Russell was just wide right from the top of the arc. From Mann's left-side throw-in, Storkson's low shot was kicked off the line by Vancouver goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. A Seattle free kick was rejected by the wall, but Craig Waibel's put back was headed by Storkson and hit the woodwork at the top right corner and bounced over.

Halftime: Seattle 0 - 2 Vancouver
 
Peter Hattrup came on at the half for Megson, and Seattle continued to earn the better shots, while Vancouver were perhaps content to put the priority on defending their two-goal lead. Jason Annicchero headed a long free kick on goal, but Sandhu easily saved. Hattrup's shot from Mark Baena's drop was deflected wide by a defender. Baena was put through past the defense, but Sandhu advanced to block the shot away for a save.

At 62' Seattle brought on midfielder Troya Cowell to replace sweeper James and add another offensive threat. Soon Cowell got involved when he headed Mann's long diagonal cross to the spot for a shot by Baena, sent wide left. From Russell's cross from the end line, Baena headed on goal but weakly and Sandhu saved. Another cross from Russell went to Baena at the spot, but the shot attempt was mishit.

Vancouver's first good chance in 50 minutes came when Sebrango's header from a long Steve MacDonald pass had to be pushed wide by Burpo for a corner kick. Thompson had a chance when he shot after a quick turn near the arc, but he was wide left.

A bit of wierdness from the officiating crew happened at 78'. Young Vancouver defender Rob Hall tripped Baena from behind as Baena was in on goal. The referee ran in and showed the red card to Hall while the assistant referee was holding his flag straight up. The referee then saw the flag and went over to discuss the play with his assistant (which he should have done before pulling the card). In the end, Baena was called offside (after the match he said he was pretty sure he wasn't off), and the red card for Hall was left in effect. The red card didn't make much sense, since the foul didn't look very nasty and with the offside call there was no goal scoring opportunity to deny. A yellow card for a modestly dangerous trip from behind might have sufficed. If we were Vancouver, we would appeal this card.

Anyway, Seattle now had the man advantage and tried to strengthen it, replacing another defender (Annicchero) with another midfielder (rookie Shan Gaw in his home debut). Vancouver countered by replacing forward Sebrango with defender Geordie Lyall.

Storkson got the last two good shots of the match, heading way over the bar from a free kick, then heading on goal from a throw-in, giving Sandhu his final save.

Final: Seattle 0 - 2 Vancouver

Statistics:
Shots: SEA 20, VAN 9
Saves: Burpo 3,  Sandhu 6
Corners: SEA 5, VAN 7
Fouls: SEA 10, VAN 13
Offside: SEA 3, VAN 1
 
Misconduct:
51 Storkson (SEA) cautioned for unsporting conduct
69 Berg (VAN) cautioned for a rough foul
71 Barton (SEA) cautioned
78 Hall (VAN) sent off for a trip from behind
84 Hattrup (SEA) cautioned for blocking a Sandhu punt

Referee: Emiliano Monje
Attendance: 1,576