Seattle Pitch - Seattle v. New York

July 5, 1996

Seattle Sounders 1 - 1 New York Fever
(Seattle wins shootout)

???  (NY)  3'
Jason Dunn  (S)   21'

Attendance: 3,119 (announced)

A brief word from Mark Coker:
New York scored at 3 minutes--a result of some slack marking. Suitably at a disadvantage, the Sounders came roaring back, generating most of the opportunities for the balance of the match. It was about time to see the disco panted one hit the back of the net. He's worked hard and it's good to see it come to results. In fact I can only recall one real opportunity for New York the rest of the match. It appeared that at about 70 minutes or so New York was resigned to attempting to win via shootout. A bad decision, because Chewy nuked them three times, while our three shooters (Farrell, Jason Dunn, Sidney) all hit.

In summary, a disappointment that we couldn't get the three points.

By Craig Smith, Seattle Times staff reporter
On a night when a Sounder co-owner predicted a merger for the A-League, Jason Dunn turned in an A-minus performance.

The forward scored his first goal of the year, then added a shootout goal [sic] last night as the Sounders beat the New York Fever in a shootout (3-0) after regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie.

The victory [sic] was the second in a row for Seattle and improved the third-place Sounders to 8-4 [sic] with 18 points. New York fell to 5-4 with 11 points.

Co-owner Neil Farnsworth said after last night's game he expects a merger for 1997 to be completed between the A-League and the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL) within the next 30 days.

"Everyone is pretty much in agreement that it would really be good," Farnsworth said. "It would be great for us because we would have rivalries up and down the coast."

Farnsworth said the Sounders "absolutely" will field a team next season. Although the announced attendance was only 3,119 last night, Farnsworth said the Sounders have exceeded past sponsorship revenue this year.

Dunn's goal came in the 21st minute and was the first time in 10 games the Sounders have scored in the first half. Seattle hasn't scored two goals in a game in the past nine outings, dating to a 2-0 victory in Vancouver May 25.

Dunn gained control of a deflected shot by Nate Daligcon shot and found the net from 15 yards.

"This broke this ice," Dunn said. "Hopefully, goals will start pouring in."

Sounder Coach Neil Megson was relieved that Dunn finally scored. Megson's only criticism was that Dunn passed up a later shot.

"I wish he'd gotten more greedy," Megson said.

Dunn's goal pulled the Sounders into a 1-1 tie because they had allowed their quickest goal of the season--a 10-yarded by Reynold Carrington three minutes into the contest.

In the shootout, Sounders goalie Marcus Hahnemann blocked two shots and another was wide left. Dunn, Jason Farrell, and Sidney Zanin all scored for Seattle against Fever goalie Peter Zaratin.

The Fever had beaten Seattle in a shootout 2-0 June 16 on grass in New York. Hahnemann said the carpet of Memorial Stadium all but eliminates the chances of getting beat by a chip shot, so he played aggressively and charged shooters.