2005 Oct 1

USL First Division Championship Match:
Seattle Sounders  1 - 1  Richmond Kickers (AET, kicks from the mark Seattle 4-3 Richmond)
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Preston Burpo; Taylor Graham, Billy Sleeth (Jake Sagare 120'), Ryan Edwards (Scott Jenkins 91'), Zach Scott (Brent Whitfield 70'); Kevin Sakuda, CJ Klaas, Leighton O'Brien, Gabe Sturm (Andrew Gregor 56'); Roger Levesque, Maikel Galindo (Ben Somoza 99'). Substitutes not used: James Ward, Brett Wiesner.

Richmond: Ronnie Pascale; Chris Fox (Matt Pauls 120'), Kevin Knight, Peter Luzak, Tony Williams; Tim Brown, Sascha Gorres, Joey Worthen, Chris Carrieri (Kevin Jeffrey 73'); Mike Burke (Robert Ssejjemba 90'), Matt Delicate. Substitutes not used: Steve Ankiel, Jeff Hare, Matt Bobo, Kofi Nti.

Goals:
24' RIC - Gorres
73' SEA - Galindo (Edwards)


Additional match reports: King County Journal, Seattle Times, Sounders, Mid-Atlantic Soccer Report, Kickers, USL, live report by Allison Andrews, George Holland photo gallery, soundercentral.com photo gallery.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

After a 1-1 draw, the Seattle Sounders won the USL First Division Championship by beating the Richmond Kickers at kicks from the penalty mark 4-3. A goal by Richmond's Sascha Gorres gave the visiting Kickers the lead in the first half, then Maikel Galindo's first goal for the Sounders leveled the match in the second half. After a scoreless 30 minutes of extra time, the match was settled by kicks from the mark. Scott Jenkins' last touch on the ball as a professional gave the Sounders their 4-3 edge and the league championship.

Seattle goalkeeper Preston Burpo was named Most Valuable Player of the championship match.

First Half

Richmond had the best of the first half, the first shot coming in the 3rd minute from Mike Burke's quick free kick, headed bouncing at goal Matt Delicate, parried up and caught on the line by goalkeeper Preston Burpo. In the 10th a long cross from Burke was headed on goal by Delicate, and Burpo leaped for a one-handed touch over the bar, his best save until the kicks from the mark.

In the 13th minute Kevin Sakuda's through ball looked like a great chance for Galindo, but he may have been pulled down from behind 15 yards from goal. Referee Ricardo Valenzuela refused to award the penalty kick that Galindo wanted.

Joey Worthen's speed gave the Sounders problems, first at 17' when he beat two defenders coming in from the left for a 15-yard shot that went a yard over the top near corner. In the 23rd Worthen streaked up the middle through 3 defenders with the ball to fire on goal from 18 yards, and Burpo came off his goal line to slap the shot over the bar.

24' Gorres. The resulting corner kick was punched out of the area by Burpo, but it went to an open Gorres in the middle 30 yards from goal, and he had time to trap the ball and fire a perfect shot past a diving Burpo and into the top left corner. It was a spectacular goal, certainly one of the best in the league this year. 1-0 Richmond.

Seattle's first shot didn't come until the half-hour mark, when CJ Klaas' cross gave Taylor Graham a pressured header that went well wide. In the 32nd Billy Sleeth's cross into the penalty area gave Leighton O'Brien a good chance, but the shot curled away from the far post, missing by two yards.

Both defenses shut down their opponents for the last 13 minutes of the half.

Halftime: Seattle 0-1 Richmond

Seattle's Klaas shot first from 23 yards in the 47th minute, but Pascale was easily at the near post for a save. Over the next 25 minutes the only offense either side could muster was a free kick on goal, both easily saved.

73' Galindo (Edwards). O'Brien's long free kick went to the left side of goal, where Graham headed it in front of goal. Ryan Edwards dove forward to head the ball towards the far post, and Galindo ran between two defenders to poke the ball into the net from a yard our. It was Galindo's first goal for the Sounders in his fifth match. 1-1.

Roger Levesque soon had a couple of opportunities, shooting just wide of the near post after receiving a short cross from the left from Gregor and heading another cross from Gregor a yard over the bar from 15.

In the 81st minute an unusual altercation during a Richmond attack occurred right on Seattle's goal line just as Tim Brown headed Delicate's cross a shot a yard wide. Seattle's Klaas and Richmond's Worthen went down on the line when Worthen backed into Klaas. They hit each other with short jabs, and both were sent off by referee Ricardo Valenzuela.

The 4th minute of added time saw Andrew Gregor with a chance to finish the match for the Sounders when he received a long cross from Sleeth at the far post and headed on goal, but Pascale was there to dive for the save.

90 minutes: Seattle 1-1 Richmond

Seattle outshot Richmond 7-4 in 30 minutes of extra time, but neither side could score. Extra time was mostly Seattle attacking Richmond's goal, but Richmond's defense allowed few good opportunities. Levesque was first at 92' with a 33-yard shot up the middle, but it went right to Pascale.

In the 105th, Gregor's corner kick past the far post gave Levesque a header from a steep angle that missed wide of the near post.

Graham was up for shots at 107' and 108', first a 10-yard shot from Gregor's cross that went a yard wide of the far post, then a 15-yard shot from O'Brien's drop pass that went well wide of the near post.

Richmond substitute Robert Ssejjemba had a chance when he sped up the middle for a 15-yard shot that went two yards over the top near corner. At 115' it was Tim Brown with a 35-yard shot up the middle, 2 yards over the top corner.

Seattle's Kevin Sakuda had the best chance in extra time at 117' when Levesque's drop gave him a 20-yard shot from the right that missed the far post by an inch.

The last good shot was Richmond's, when Ssejjemba got open 10 yards from goal by working a wall pass with Delicate, but the shot was too soft and Burpo dove on it.

AET: Seattle 1-1 Richmond

Kicks from the Mark:

After the 120-minute draw, the championship was settled with kicks from the penalty mark. In the 7th round, Jenkins' goal made the difference, his last touch as a pro giving him and his teammates the championship. Kevin Jeffrey had a chance to win it for Richmond in the 5th round, but hit the bar. Goalkeeper Pascale had a chance to level the score in the last round, but also hit the bar.

Seattle               Richmond
Gregor - 1            Delicate - 0 (high)
O'Brien - 1           Ssejjemba - 0 (saved)
Levesque - 0 (saved)  Gorres - 1
Somoza - 0 (hit bar)  Williams - 1
Graham - 0 (saved)    Jeffrey - 0 (hit bar)
Sakuda - 1            Pauls - 1
Jenkins - 1           Pascale - 0 (hit bar)

Statistics:
          Seattle  Richmond
Shots:      16        13
Saves:       6         5
Corners:     6         5
Fouls:      16        18
Offsides:    3         6

Misconduct:
17' RIC - Carrieri cautioned for dissent
19' SEA and RIC - Scott and T Brown both cautioned for tangling in goal before a Seattle corner kick
29' RIC - Burke cautioned for fouling Galindo just outside the penalty area
45' SEA - Edwards cautioned, although it was Sakuda who fouled Worthen on a run up the middle
65' SEA - Klaas cautioned for tripping Worthen 30 yards from goal
79' SEA - Gregor cautioned for a late challenge
82' SEA and RIC - Klaas and Worthen both sent off for a violent altercation after they both went down on the Seattle goal line during a Richmond attack

Referees: Ricardo Valenzuela; Yader Reyes, Colin Arblaster; Shahram Pourazari

Attendance: 8,011