MacDonald (V) 28
Megson (S) 70
C. Clarke (V) 95
Van: Paul Dolan, Craig Dalrymple, Richie Sumner, Steve MacDonald, Chris Franks, Jeff Skinner, Oliver Heald, Paul Dailly, Steve Kindel (75' Ian Clarke), Jason Jordan, Domenic Mobilio (69' Chris Clarke).
Sea: Dusty Hudock, Bernie James, Scott Jenkins, Brandon Prideaux, Jason Annicchero, Neil Megson (72' Eugene Poublon), Stoner Tadlock, Paul Gelvezon, Kei Kinoshita, David Hoggan, Erik Storkson.
Every time Seattle and the Vancouver 86ers met last year,
the winner could walk off the pitch
in first place. The same held true for this match, as
Vancouver's 2-1 overtime win pulled them
into a 4-way tie for the Pacific Division lead with the
Sounders, the San Francisco Bay Seals
and the California Jaguars.
Seattle are suffering from an alarming number of injuries
for just two weeks into the season.
The Jamaicans were all out, Patrick Beech with a sore
hip, Fabian Davis with a sore ankle and
Kevin Lamey still in Jamaica. David Hoggan, Neil Megson
and Eugene Poublon all played while
nagged by injuries. Rookie Ian Russell and veteran Chugger
Adair are still recovering, with
Adair due back on June 1.
Vancouver threatened as early as the 2nd minute when the
Sounder defense let Paul Dailly enter the area for an open shot, pushed
over the bar by Hudock. Veteran Domenic Mobilio took a pair of shots, the
first when Jason Annicchero tried to block a long pass but instead deflected
the ball to Mobilio, and the next a minute later when Mobilio beat Annicchero
only to shoot over
the cross bar. Steve Kindel tried a 35-yarder but was
wide, and Richie Sumner was a yard high
from 30 yards out.
Kei Kinoshita got Seattle's first good shot from 25 yards
on an attack started by Stoner
Tadlock, forcing a save from netminder Paul Dolan.
28' MacDonald. Kinoshita's foul gave Vancouver a free
kick from 30 yards. From Oliver Heald's
free kick, the ball was headed onto the cross bar, and
the rebound fell in front of Steve
MacDonald who finished the goal.
Seattle got a chance from a free kick at 39' when Neil
Megson headed sharply on goal. Paul
Dolan made the save and his momentum carried him into
the goal, but he kept the ball from
crossing the line.
Seattle's Erik Storkson got knocked down while going up for a header and needed some treatment on the pitch, but he stayed in. In the final minute of the half, David Hoggan saw the yellow card while arguing for a Seattle corner kick rather than a Vancouver goal kick. Then Brandon Prideaux stopped Jason Jordan's hard shot with the chin.
Vancouver took the 1-0 lead into the locker room, feeling
good about controlling most of the
play in the first half.
Second Half
Vancouver threatened early again in the second half, heading a corner kick just over the bar.
At 58' from Hoggan's feed, Scott Jenkins headed on goal
and forced Dolan to tip the ball over
for a corner. From the resulting corner kick, Storkson
shot from 2 yards and hit the outside of
the net, wanting another corner but not getting awarded
one.
Dailly pounced on a blocked Vancouver shot and took a
good shot from 10 yards, but Hudock
saved.
Tadlock got free on a good run but was taken down by Chris
Franks, who was cautioned for the
nastiness. Tadlock couldn't resist retaliating against
Franks and earned a yellow card as well.
70' Megson (Gelvezon). Finding space on the left side,
Paul Gelvezon beat a man and sent a
cross to Megson, who got up and headed the ball down
toward the goal. Dolan got a hand on the shot but couldn't stop it.
Hoggan sent in a dangerous cross for the sliding Storkson,
but he could only reach a piece of
the ball, and Dolan easily saved the shot.
Heald beat two Seattle defenders to earn a good chance, but Hudock was equal to the near-post shot. Vancouver took ten corner kicks in the half, several in the last few minutes. MacDonald got his head on two of the later ones, forcing a save by Hudock on one, then sending the other wide while bothered by Storkson.
Overtime
Vancouver pressured early in the overtime period when
some balls rattled around in front of
Seattle's goal, but Vancouver couldn't get the ball through
the defense.
At 94' Hoggan received a pass on a Seattle attack, turned and shot, forcing a save by Dolan.
95' C. Clarke (Dailly). Suddenly on a counterattack, Chris
Clarke, who had come on for Mobilio,
found space to attack on the left, passed to Dailly,
and got the ball back. Clarke beat sweeper
Bernie James with his shot and beat Hudock inside the
near post for the match winner.
These two teams have the rest of April off, then meet
in Seattle on May 2 for a rematch, the
Sounders' home opener. Kickoff is at 7:00 at Seattle
Memorial Stadium.
Statistics
Shots: Vancouver 28, Seattle 8
Saves: Dolan 5, Hudock 6
Corners: Vancouver 14, Seattle 2
Fouls: Vancouver 12, Seattle 20
Offside: Vancouver 3, Seattle 3
Misconduct:
45' Sea: Hoggan cautioned for arguing for a corner kick.
49' Sea: Megson cautioned for a hard foul.
64' Van: Franks cautioned for taking Tadlock down during
a run.
64' Sea: Tadlock cautioned for retaliating against Franks.
Attendance: 6,039 (a nice crowd for the 86ers' home opener)