2000 April 1

Seattle Sounders 3 - 1 Vancouver 86ers
Preseason match, Marysville-Pilchuk HS Stadium, Marysville, WA
 
6' SEA: Storkson (Jenkins)
29' SEA: Henderson (Storkson)
41' VAN: Chala (Blakeway)
47' SEA: Baarts (Nguyen)

Seattle: Preston Burpo (Bill May 46); Bernie James (Kei Kinoshita 34), Kieran Barton, Scott Jenkins; Dick McCormick, Sean Henderson (Andrew Gregor 46), Chris Scotti (Manuel Ruiz 70), Brian Wood (Andrei Alexandrescu 78); Robbie Baarts (George Souza 78), Viet Nguyen (Stan Thesenvitz 60), Erik Storkson (Greg Howes 46, Granthic Chattergee 76).

Vancouver: Ian Ritchie; Geordie Lyall, Rob Hall, Steve MacDonald, Jason Thompson; Tony Fonseca, Richard Bodnark (Jamie Auvigne 46), Conrad Chala (Kevin Gilbert 46), Dion Earl; Shawn Blakeway (Andrew Corazza 60), Jason Jordan.
 



Match report by Ron Stickney:

The Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver 86ers met to open the preseason just as they had done a year earlier. This time Seattle came out on top 3-1 with goals from Sounders veterans Erik Storkson and Sean Henderson and an insurance goal from trialist Robbie Baarts, a native of Vancouver, BC. The 86ers got one from trialist Conrad Chala. The match was dubbed the Bell Cup, named for Bob Bell, one of the founders of Marysville Youth Soccer.

Both sides gave most of the playing time to newcomers and trialists. Seeing a lot of playing time for Seattle were past Sounder (1994-96) Dick McCormick, past Sounder (1997-98) Kei Kinoshita, 20-year-old Brian Wood, ex-Columbus Crew (1998) midfielder Andrew Gregor, and ex-indoor forward Chris Scotti, all signed we believe. Bartts is an indoor player who was in most of the match but is not signed; he took some nice shots and found net with one. The youngest player for Seattle was 17-year-old George Souza from Pullman High School, Pullman, WA.

Taking some of Vancouver's best shots was ex-Sounder (1997) Dion Earl, trying out for the 86ers. Other trialists who saw a lot of time for Vancouver were Shawn Blakeway, Conrad Chala, goalkeeper Ian Ritchie, Jason Thompson, Jamie Auvigne, Kevin Gilbert, and 17-year-old Andrew Corazza.

First Half
 
McCormick took the first good shot when he got open in the right side of the penalty area, received a pass, and shot just wide of the lower far corner.

6' Storkson (Jenkins). The first goal came soon when Scott Jenkins at the near post deflected a corner kick low across the goal mouth and Storkson slammed it into the net from inside the goal area.

Earl had a couple of good chances for Vancouver. Unmarked on the left, he carried the ball into the penalty area and beat sweeper Bernie James for a shot that got by goalkeeper Preston Burpo only to be cleared by the retreating Kieran Barton. A hesitation move bought Earl entry into the area for another chance, where he beat the last defender and had his shot pushed wide by Burpo.

29' Henderson (Storkson). Viet Nguyen's cross from the right rattled around in front of the goal, then was dropped by Storkson to an open Henderson just above the arc. Henderson blasted the ball inside the right post to put the Sounders up 2-0.

At 34' James and a teammate tangled legs pursuing a Vancouver attacker and both Sounders went down, with James injuring his right shoulder. Kinoshita replaced James, who was soon seen on the bench with an ice pack on his shoulder.

41' Chala (Blakeway). Rob Hall's throw-in from the right flag was headed across the goal mouth by Blakeway as Burpo gaurded the near post. Chala finished with a header from 6 yards out before Burpo could recover, narrowing Seattle's lead to 2-1.

Just before the end of the half, Barton sent a 40 yard free kick over the goalkeeper, who was off his line, but the ball didn't dive enough to get under the bar.

Halftime:  Seattle 2 - 1 Vancouver
 
47' Baarts (Nguyen). A defensive turnover was quickly pushed through the offside line by Nguyen and Baarts was sprung free. Ritchie came out quickly but Baarts had time to chip past the keeper and into the net for the Seattle insurance goal.

Baarts soon had another chance after taking a nice pass from Gregor. Baarts saw Ritchie off his line and tried to bend a shot over him but the ball couldn't quite get under the bar.

Seattle goalkeeper Bill May, who had come on at the half, nearly scored an own goal when he missed a trap of a Seattle back pass. The ball hit the outside of the post as it rolled over the goal line. Just two minutes later, May redeemed himself with the save of the match, a leaping, one-handed save to prevent a Corazza blast from finding the top left corner.

A nice cross from Seattle's Kinoshita gave Wood a try at a low, flying header, but the ball just missed the far post. Scotti got to a through ball just inside the penalty area at the same time as the 86ers goalkeeper, resulting in the ball rolling towards the left corner flag with Scotti the only player near it. A Vancouver defender tried to clear Scotti's cross but the ball fell to Gregor inside the penalty area. Gregor's shot was saved nicely by Ritchie, who had recovered just in time.

Rookie Howes had the last good shot of the match, a low 18-yard shot nicely aimed at the lower corner but pushed wide by a diving Ritchie.

Final:  Seattle 3 - 1 Vancouver

Statistics:
Shots:  SEA 14, VAN 12
Saves:  Burpo 4, May 3; Ritchie 3
Corners:  SEA 5, VAN 3
Fouls:  SEA 11, VAN 11
Offside:  SEA 0, VAN 1
 
Misconduct:
26' Assistant Coach James (SEA) cautioned for a foul against Vancouver Assistant Coach Tony Fonseca.
62' MacDonald (VAN) cautioned for tripping as Bartts went after a through ball.
69' Earl (VAN) cautioned for tripping Howes.
73' Corazza (VAN) cautioned for his second consecutive late foul.
85' McCormick (SEA) cautioned for tripping an attacker who had gotten by.
 
Referee: Mohammed Zarrabi-Kashani; Asst. Refs: Fariborz Khadem, Scott Lawrence; 4th Official: John Pfeil
Attendance: 2,031