2006 Jul 15

Seattle Sounders  1 - 2  Montreal Impact
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Chris Eylander; Danny Jackson, Noah Merl (Jamal Sutton 81'), Jake Besagno; Ben Somoza (Craig Tomlinson 70'), Santa Maria Rivera (Jake Sagare 60'), Kevin Sakuda, Leighton O'Brien, Andrew Gregor; Roger Levesque, Cam Weaver. Substitutes not used: James Ward, Seyi Abolaji, Gabe Sturm, Nate Boyden.

Montreal: Andrew Weber; Gabriel Gervais, Nevio Pizzolitto, Jason DiTullio, Lars Lyssand; Pat Leduc, Zé Roberto, Mesut Mert (Leonardo Di Lorenzo 71'), Kirk Wilson; Massimo Di Ioia (Mauro Biello 60'), Joel Bailey (Dan Antoniuk 54'). Substitutes not used: Gerry Argento, Adam Brax, Mauricio Vincello, Mauricio Salles.

Goals:
31' SEA: Weaver (Somoza)
46' MON: Bailey (Mert)
72' MON: Biello (Antoniuk)

Additional match reports: King County Journal, Seattle Times, SounderCentral, Sounders, Impact.

Match report by Ron Stickney:

The host Seattle Sounders took the lead on another goal by rookie Cam Weaver, but then allowed Montreal Impact goals by Joel Bailey and Mauro Biello, giving the league-leading visitors a 2-1 win. One would have thought that the Sounders would have gotten themselves up for this match against a longtime league rival, but no, the performance was lackluster. At this point in this aging season, Weaver is the only candidate for most valuable player on the team, and both the most improved and most inspirational awards seem destined for Sammy the Sounder.

First Half

The early chance was for Montreal in the 4th minute, when an attempted clearance from Seattle's penalty area ended up at Massimo Di Ioia's feet 10 yards left of goal. He faked a cross and nearly beat goalkeeper Chris Eylander with a shot to the near side, but Eylander reached back to stop the ball with one hand and collected the leftovers.

Seattle's first shot came in the 13th with a 20-yard free kick by Andrew Gregor, but he bent it a yard wide of the lower near corner.

There were an interesting pair of yellow cards in the 19th minute. Seattle's Leighton O'Brien felt wronged and came in late at the touch line with an obvious retaliation, and he was promptly yellow-carded for it. But it took a 3-referee huddle to decide on a yellow card for Jason DiTullio after opposing players bunched and O'Brien was pushed roughly.

31' Weaver (Somoza). After quite awhile with no good chances either way, it was a throw-in that generated Seattle's goal. Ben Somoza's throw-ins are as good as a corner kick, and it was about time someone finished one. Goalkeeper Andrew Weber came out for the throw-in to the near side, but Weaver rose to the occasion and head-flicked the ball over Weber and into the open goal. 1-0 Seattle.

37' Bailey (Mert). It didn't take long for Montreal to level the score. After a Sounders turnover in the midfield, Mesut Mert's pass up the middle to Bailey split the Seattle defense, and neither right back Noah Merl nor sweeper Danny Jackson could catch Bailey. The shot from 18 yards went low past Eylander as he couldn't collapse in time. 1-1.

Halftime: Seattle 1-1 Montreal

The Sounders had the first chances of the second half in the 49th minute. Another Somoza throw-in was headed by Jake Besagno and deflected wide off his marker's head. O'Brien took the corner kick, and Weaver headed it down just a foot wide of the far corner. In the 56th it was again a Somoza throw-in, this time headed towards goal by Weaver, but headed clear by the defense.

In the 58th Montreal earned a free kick from the top right corner of the penalty area, and Pat Leduc sent it to the far post, where the attempted shot was nullified by an offensive foul. In the 63rd DiTullio was up on the right and wide open for a pass, earning a cross from inside the penalty area that was blasted through the goal area but out of reach of everyone.

For Seattle in the 64th, Roger Levesque volleyed a 25-yard shot up the middle nicely on goal, and Weber dove right to push it wide for a corner. In the 69th a Gregor free kick gave Weaver a header shot, but the defense cleared it out for another corner.

72' Biello (Di Lorenzo). Substitute Leonardo Di Lorenzo took the ball nicely up the middle on an attack, drawing defenders, and dished a pass to the right into the path of another substitute, Biello, who was wide open. The shot went low past Eylander to the far side. 2-1 Montreal.

The last 18+ minutes saw just one good chance when Biello shot up the middle from 35 yards and missed just wide.

In the 89th minute another card game broke out. Di Lorenzo was shown a straight red for violent conduct against O'Brien. O'Brien was then promptly shown a yellow-red for the hard foul that provoked Di Lorenzo's retaliation. Both sides played with 10 men during added time. Just before the restart, Gregor was shown the yellow, probably for what he said.

The 4 minutes of added time were uneventful. The Sounders had 22 minutes to reply to Biello's go-ahead goal, but they failed earn a chance at a goal.

Final: Seattle 1-2 Montreal

Statistics:
           Seattle   Montreal
Shots:       10        12
Saves:        5         1
Corners:      8         3
Fouls:       19        16
Offsides:     2         5

Misconduct:
19' SEA: O'Brien cautioned for a retaliatory challenge at the touch line
21' MON: Di Tullio cautioned after a 3-referee conference
23' MON: Gervais cautioned for a hard foul on Gregor
39' MON: Pizzolitto cautioned for a tactical foul
44' SEA: Besagno cautioned for a tactical foul on Mert at the halfway line
60' MON: Lyssand cautioned
89' MON: Di Lorenzo sent off after an altercation with O'Brien
89' SEA: O'Brien cautioned after an altercation with Di Lorenzo and sent off for his second caution
90' SEA: Gregor cautioned for what he said after O'Brien was shown the yellow-red

Referees: Colin Arblaster; Shahram Pourazari, Cory Dean; Steven Brannon

Attendance: 3,504