2007 Aug 7

US Open Cup, quarterfinal:
Seattle Sounders  5 - 0  Colorado Rapids
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Seattle: Chris Eylander; Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott, Kevin Sakuda; Kenji Treschuk (Nathan Knox 79'), Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Leighton O'Brien (Greg Howes 45'), Josh Gardner; Sebastien Le Toux (Andre Schmid 71'), Roger Levesque (Noah Merl 56'). Substitutes Not Used: Ben Dragavon, Adam West, Santa Maria Rivera.

Colorado: Zach Thornton; Brandon Prideaux, Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen; Colin Clark (Nicolas Hernandez 45'), Jacob Peterson, Pablo Mastroeni (Jovan Kiroviski 60'), Jose Cancela (Dan Gargan 51'), Mehdi Ballouchy; Conor Casey, Herculez Gomez (Daniel Osorno 64'). Substitutes Not Used: Bouna Coundoul, Terry Cooke, Nick LaBrocca.

Goals:
23' SEA: Graham (Gardner)
25' SEA: Scott (O'Brien)
41' SEA: Colorado own goal (Imehelu)
56' SEA: Gardner (Le Toux)
68' SEA: LeToux

Additional match reports: Rapids, Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, Tacoma News Tribune, Rocky Mountain News, USOpenCup.com, GOALSeattle.com, Shotgun Prose.
Photos: SPMsportspage.com, GOALSeattle.com.

Match report from the Seattle Sounders:

The Seattle Sounders defeated the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer tonight in the quarterfinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by a score a 5-0. The Sounders advanced with early goals by defenders Taylor Graham and Zach Scott, followed by an own goal by the Rapids. Seattle added second-half goals by Josh Gardner and Sebastien Le Toux.

This is the first time in the MLS era the Sounders have advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

In the 19th minute, Colorado put a cross into the box drawing goalkeeper Chris Eylander off his line committed to stopping the ball. But a deflection put the ball at the foot of Conor Casey who took a point blank shot. Sounders defender Danny Jackson was able to recover to clear the shot out of danger.

Minutes later, Gardner on the corner kick sent an inswinger to the head of Taylor Graham who put the ball into the back to the net for a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. It was Graham's first goal of the season for the Sounders.

In the 25th minute, the Sounders' momentum continued as Leighton O'Brien took a free kick from 30 yards out and found the head of Zach Scott, who came running through the Colorado defense for the 2-0 advantage.

The Sounders struck again just before half time as a deflection off Rapids goalkeeper Zach Thornton landed in the back of the net. Gardner played a ball into Roger Levesque, Levesque was able to get around the Rapid defense and take a point blank shot on Thornton, and the ball deflected off Thornton and into his own defender and into the back of the Rapids net.

In the 49th minute, Facundo Erpen made a huge mental mistake when he made a cleats-up tackle into the thigh of Roger Levesque and received his second yellow card of the game, resulting in an automatic red. That left Colorado with 10 men for the final 42 minutes of the game.

The Sounders found the back of the net again in the 56th minute as Sebastien Le Toux patiently drew in the Rapids defense. Once Le Toux made the defenders commit, he found the onrushing Gardner. With time, Gardner placed the ball just past the fingertips of Thornton. That pushed Seattle's lead to 4-0.

Le Toux pushed the Sounders' lead to 5-0 in the 68th minute when he out-ran three Rapids defenders and rip a shot past goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

FC Dallas of MLS will be at Qwest Field on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7 PM for the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. Tickets will go on sale for season-ticket holders starting Wednesday, Aug. 8, through the Seattle Sounders office at 206-622-3415. Tickets for the general public will go on sale Monday, Aug. 13 at 10 AM through Ticketmaster and the Seattle Sounders.

Statistics:
          Seattle   Colorado
Shots:        7         7
Saves:        3         3
Corners:      7         1
Offsides:     6         1

Misconduct:
30' SEA: Treschuk cautioned
30' COL: Gomez cautioned
38' COL: Erpen cautioned
42' SEA: O'Brien cautioned
42' COL: Cancela cautioned
49' COL: Erpen cautioned and sent off for his second caution
68' SEA: LeToux cautioned

Referees: Ricardo Salazar; Jeff Hosking, Mike Rottersman; Shahram Pourazari

Attendance: 6,619