Sounders Header July 17, 1997

Necaxa 4 - 1 Seattle Sounders
1996 CONCACAF Champions Cup Quadrangular Finals
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Almager (N) 32
Blanco (N) 47
Vazquez (N) 75
Blanco (N) 89
Hattrup (S) 91 (PK)

Necaxa: Guadarama; Esquivel (de la Torre 57), Becerril, Montes; Almager, Kalusha, Del Olmo, Blanco; Ordiales (Alvarado 46, Cabrera 70), Pavon, Vazquez.

Seattle: Hudock; Barton, McNiel, Jenkins, Morrill; Cowmey (Stoddard 62), Daligcon (Kinoshita 41), Gelvezon, Hattrup; Fry (Storkson 59), Adair.

Cautions: Hattrup (S), Jenkins (S), Adair (S)

Shots: Nec 23, Sea 10
Saves: Guadarama 6, Hudock 2
Corners: Nec 9, Sea 1
Fouls: Nec 8, Sea 11
Offside: Nec 6, Sea 2



The above stats and match report below is provided by Ron Stickney.
 
In their second game of the quadrangular final round of the 1996 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Seattle Sounders fell behind the Necaxa Rays (Mexico) 1-0 in the first half and then faded in the second half to lose 4-1.  Seattle will play one more match in Guatemala City on Sunday against Cruz Azul of Mexico. Sunday's match is supposed to air live on Univision at 9:00 am Pacific Time, then it will air on Seattle's KRPM 1090 AM at 11:00 am.

Necaxa outshot Seattle throughout the game, but the Sounders did have their chances, scoring one goal and forcing several good saves from Necaxa keeper Alberto Guadarama.

Necaxa's Joaquin Del Olmo created some excitement early when he tried to score with a bicycle kick, but he missed the goal. Kalusha Bwalya's shot a minute later was 2 feet over the bar.

Bryan McNiel took Seattle's first shot at the 24' mark, but sent the ball over the goal. A minute later Peter Hattrup stirred the crowd when he beat three opponents to earn a 35-yard shot, but he didn't get enough on the shot and Guadarama easily saved.

Most of Necaxa's shots were from 30 yards or more as Sounder sweeper Kieran Barton was doing a good job the first half at cleaning up any balls that penetrated the defense. Seattle usually played the ball wide on the attack and tried to cross to forwards Chugger Adair and Chance Fry, but few crosses had adequate accuracy.

32' Almager. Seattle's defense finally allowed a pass to an attacker running toward goal and keeper Dusty Hudock saved the first shot, but Sergio Almager was right there to head the rebound into the net for the
game's first goal.

Nate Daligcon, who was injured earlier serving a cross from inside the penalty area, limped off at 41', replaced by Kei Kinoshita.

Near the end of the half Seattle had a good opportunity when left mid Paul Gelvezon crossed for Adair, who got behind the defense. The play was broken up roughly and the crowd, which had swung in favor of the underdogs, called for a penalty kick, but the whistle remained silent.

The Guatemalan crowd cheered the Sounders when they came out for the second half, then they whistled at Necaxa, whose play they were not happy with, and finally they laughed as a Necaxa player tripped and fell running onto the pitch.

In the first minute of the second half, Fry stole the ball from Necaxa and Hattrup took a pass with a good look at the goal, but his shot was blocked.

47' Blanco (Pavon). Carlos Pavon's corner kick was directed perfectly to an unmarked Blanco out from the near post, and Blanco sent the ball inside the near post for a 2-0 lead.

Necaxa forward Sergio Vazquez beat Hudock with a good shot, but Barton did well to prevent the goal at the goal line and Scott Jenkins cleared the ball from danger.

The other way, Adair saw the keeper off his line and tried a chip shot, but sent it over. A few minutes later Adair was sprung for a breakaway, but Guadarama blocked the first shot and caught Adair's shot from the
rebound.

Forward Erik Storkson, probably on Seattle's roster for this tournament only, came on for Chance Fry at 59'.  Storkson last played for the Sounders during the 1995 A-League championship series against Atlanta, when Seattle qualified for this tournament.

Sitting on the ground, Storkson made a nice pass to an open Kinoshita who would have had a good shot, but failed to trap the pass.

75' Vazquez (Pavon). Pavon's cross found a wide open Vazquez, who shot and scored to put Necaxa up 3-0.

At the other end Storkson forced a good diving save by Guadarama.

89' Blanco (Kalusha). Blanco just missed the far post with a chip shot, then two minutes later he slid in to finish a low cross from Kalusha Bwalya. Necaxa was now up 4-0. This goal and the previous one seemed easy, as fit and fast Necaxa had worn down the Sounders defense.

91' Hattrup. After gathering a cross near the side of the penalty area, Hattrup was taken down trying to move towards goal. A penalty kick was given, and Hattrup beat Guadarama with a right-footed shot to the upper
left corner to change the scoreboard to 4-1.

Storkson gave Seattle one more chance with a pass to Gelvezon behind the Necaxa defense, but Gelvezon shot wide. In the final minute, Hattrup earned a few "Ole" chants as he beat opponents on the dribble.
 

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