Seattle Pitch - Seattle v. Rochester

June 29, 1996

Seattle Sounders 1 - 0 Rochester Rhinos
      (halftime  0 - 0)

Farrell  (S)  49'

Seattle: Marcus Hahnemann, James Dunn, Billy Crook, Doug Morrill, Wade Webber, Neil Megson, Dick McCormick, Nate Daligcon, Jason Farrell, Niall Thompson (52' Joey Leonetti), Jason Dunn (82' Sidney Zanin).

Rochester: Bill Andracki, Leon Minott, Chris Kennell, Rene Rivas, Marco Rizi, Hector Marinaro, Danny Kelly, Yogi McKay, Tommy Tanner (58' Doug Miller), Lenin Steenkamp, Fuseini Dauda.

Cautions: Seattle - 62' Morrill for a trip from behind; Rochester - 39' Kelly for taking down Morrill from behind, 40' Marinaro for a foul.
Offside: Seattle 5, Rochester 2
Other Fouls: Seattle 14, Rochester 10
Corner Kicks: Seattle 6, Rochester 5
Shots: Seattle 14, Rochester 7
Saves: Hahnemann 2, Andracki 6
Attendance: announced 3,429; estimated actual 1,500

A brief word from Mark Coker:
A richly deserved victory for the lads in white. Both teams had new starters. Seattle started Niall Thompson, who at first blush appears to be quite the scrapper. It appears he was brought in to "light a fire" under Jason Dunn and Joey Leonetti. Wearing the number three for Rochester was none other than Lenin Steenkamp, a bargain buy in the Atlanta fire sale.

Goal came just after halftime off a Jason Dunn throw in to the far post, which Farrell nodded home. At least that's what they say. I was getting an espresso when it happened.

The lads dodged a bullet late in the second half when Rochester clanged a penalty kick off the crossbar. I thought the little communist took it, but the Times credited the failure to one of the other Rhinos.

Attendance still sucks. Friday night is New York, who looks to be a solid team, taking three points of Montreal yesterday.

And now the Ron Stickney Account (tm)...
The Seattle Sounders pressured the goal often in the second halfand got just one goal for their work, a Jason Farrell header into the top right corner from a long Jason Dunn throw-in that sailed all the way to the far side of the goal mouth in the air. In the spirit of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, both the Sounders and the visiting Rochester Rhinos added offensive fireworks to their starting lineups. Rochester added a Sounders nemesis, the forward from South Africa, Lenin Steenkamp, who was sold during the previous week by a financially suffering Atlanta. Seattle, seeking a replacement for Chance Fry who is out for the season with a broken leg, bought Canadian U-23 team forward Niall Thompson from Montreal.

Seattle's defense made just one substantial mistake on the way to a shutout, but didn't have to pay for it when Steenkamp's penalty kick hit the underside of the crossbar and rebounded back out.

Seattle had the early shots as Wade Webber headed on goal and Jason Dunn worked through the defense for a shot, but goalkeeper Bill Andracki saved them well to keep his net empty. Marco Rizi took Rochester's only shot of the first half on a ball that had been cleared, but Rizi's shot was high and wide.

Thompson's first chance for Seattle came when he ran in to head Farrell's cross, but he was pushed enough to miss the shot and not enough to earn a PK. Player/coach Neil Megson received a nice pass from Nate Daligcon, turned and shot from near the center of the 18-yard line, but the shot went right to Andracki for a save. Expect Daligcon to get the start again next game for serving his coach such a nice ball.

After the quiet, 0-0 first half, the pace picked up. at 48' Jason Dunn was bumped as he headed Farrell's corner kick and the ball went over.

Seattle struck at 49' when Farrell skied about 10 yards out from the left post to head home Jason Dunn's long, airborn throw-in. The shot went back across the goal to the upper right corner.

Joey Leonetti came on for Thompson at 52' when Thompson had trouble with his right hamstring.

Rochester came back strong with a series of three shots. Hahnemann came out from goal and got his hands on the ball just as it was headed on goal. The ball deflected up and out for a corner kick. The corner kick was sent towards the middle of the field, shot in hard, and cleared up and over by James Dunn.

Seattle got the momentum back with several excellent chances. At 67' Leonetti curved a nice pass across the goal mouth for Farrell, whose shot hit the left post and went out. Leonetti's header from a throw-in play was saved by Andracki for a corner kick. Farrell, with time, dropped to an onrushing Megson whose 20-yard shot was blocked by Rochester halfway to the goal. Leonetti came running in to head Jason Dunn's cross, but just barely got to it and couldn't get the shot on goal. Jason Dunn beat the last man, went deep into the penalty area, and crossed for Leonetti, whose close-in shot was deflected out for a corner.

At 80' Seattle's defense finally broke down once. Steenkamp lost Doug Morrill in the right corner and dribbled into the penalty area, looking like he had only Hahnemann to beat. But Megson slid in with a desparate try for a tackle and tripped Steenkamp for a penalty kick. Some people say you shouldn't let the fouled player take the PK, since he is apt to still be upset about the foul. Well, Steenkamp hit the underside of the crossbar with his penalty shot and the ball rebounded out. It was knocked back in and Steenkamp tried to redeem himself with a spectacular bicycle kick shot from 6 yards, but Hahnemann was able to clear the shot away to preserve the win.