Sounders Header September 14, 1996

Seattle Sounders  2 - 1  Atlanta Ruckus
       (halftime  1 - 0)

Jason Farrell (S)  4'
Joey Leonetti (S)  65'
Sylvan Bednar (A)  79'
Seattle: Marcus Hahnemann (46' Tom Dutra), James Dunn, Billy Crook, Doug Morrill, Wade Webber (46' Justin Stoddard), David Hoggan (61' Nate Daligcon), Dick McCormick (71' John Cowmey), Tom Bialek, Joey Leonetti, Niall Thompson, Jason Farrell.

Atlanta: Yaro Dachniwsky, Ken Tometsco (69' Javier Vivanco), Sylvan Bednar, Thomas Elliott, Chris Fun, Charlie Morgan (76' Jason Woodall), Chris Dunlap, Greg Sheen, Randy Sheen, Chris Hellenkamp, Alex Bahr (61' Todd Gispert).

Cautions:
52' Atlanta: Bednar (for pulling Farrell's shirt)
53' Seattle: Hoggan (for complaining to the referee)
57' Atlanta: Bahr (for pushing Stoddard down after he crossed the ball)
90' Seattle: Thompson (for a sliding tackle from behind)
Shots: Seattle 18, Atlanta 11
Saves: Hahnemann 1, Dutra 4; Dachniwsky 6
Corner Kicks: Seattle 2, Atlanta 6
Offside: Seattle 5, Atlanta 0
Fouls: Seattle 13, Atlanta 13.
Attendance: 6,072 (largest of the season)

The Stickney Account (tm):
The rain came down heavy in Seattle's final regular season game against the Atlanta Ruckus, with the Sounders ending the season in third place with a 2-1 win behind goals by Jason Farrell and Joey Leonetti. Sylvan Bednar's long shot for Atlanta eleven minutes from time kept the outcome at risk for the final minutes.

Jason Farrell struck quickly for Seattle in the 4th minute. David Hoggan's free kick from left of the penalty area was headed down by Farrell and kept alive by Niall Thompson out from the right post for Farrell to knock in from 15 yards.

Seattle got several other quality chances in the first half. At 15' Farrell's rising rocket was just over. A minute later Thompson was put through 1v1 but his shot was blocked by Yaro Dachniwsky for a save. At 18' Thompson's diving 25-yarder didn't quite dive in time. At 25' Farrell headed a cross down for an unmarked Thompson, who shot right at Dachniwsky.

Farrell put in Hoggan's cross from two yards out at 29', but another Sounder fouled in the goal area and the goal was not allowed. Just before the halftime whistle Thompson's close-in shot from the left just missed the far post.

For the second half, Tom Dutra replaced Marcus Hahnemann in goal and Justin Stoddard replaced Wade Webber.

Thompson notched a couple more misses early in the second half, heading wide left in the opening minute and later sending a promising blast at the upper right corner that Dachniwsky did well to deflect over with his arm.

At 65' Joey Leonetti headed inside the far post a Tom Bialek cross from six yards out from the near post, putting Seattle up 2-0. Leonetti tried to add another goal five minutes later from a Justin Stoddard cross, but he was roughed on the shot and sent the ball over the bar.

At 74' Sylvan Bednar deserved a second yellow card for slamming full speed into Farrell, but he only received a tongue lashing from the referee. This was fortunate for Atlanta, as five minutes later Bednar was still on the field to send a beautiful 35-yard shot from the right side into the upper left corner over a leaping Dutra, pulling Atlanta to within a goal at 2-1.

Atlanta had a couple of chances to even the score in the final minutes. At 85' Dutra had to make a save on Atlanta's fourth consecutive corner kick play. In the final minute, it was deja vu all over again as Bednar teed up another shot from the same spot he earlier scored from, but this time his shot was a bit lower and was caught by Dutra, preserving the 2-1 win for Seattle.

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