July 11, 1998

Seattle Sounders  4 - 0  Vancouver 86ers
Memorial Stadium, Seattle
 
Baena (S) 22
Baena (S) 50
McCormick (S) 61
Jenkins (S) 68

Sea: Dusty Hudock; Bernie James, Jason Annicchero, Randy Mann; David Hoggan (76 Kei Kinoshita), Brandon Prideaux, Scott Jenkins, Dick McCormick; Mark Baena, Patrick Beech, Erik Storkson (80 Paul Gelvezon).

Van: Paul Dolan; Randy Samuel, Steve MacDonald, Richie Sumner; Jeff Skinner, Aaron Keay (73 Carl Valentine), Chris Franks, Spencer Coppin (56 Dominic Mobilio), Oliver Heald; Ian Clarke (63 Scigliano), Jason Jordan.


Match report from Ron Stickney:
 
Usually when the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver 86ers meet, the result is a close match. Tonight, the Sounders dominated the 86ers and took a 4-0 win behind a pair of goals by Mark Baena and the first of the year for Scott Jenkins and returnee Dick McCormick. The previous pairing of these teams produced an altercation between Vancouver forward Dominic Mobilio and Seattle sweeper Bernie James, with James being sent off for head-butting Mobilio. Tonight, the sides were excellent to each other, with no cards issued or deserved.

Fabian Davis was unavailable for Seattle this match, stuck in Jamaica clearing up some work permit problem. Vancouver were without regulars Garrett Kusch (gone to play for Ostende in Belgium), Steve Kindel (trying out in Germany), and Craig Dalrymple (red card suspension).

First Half

Seattle fielded a strong attacking lineup, a 3-4-3 with all three forwards from their roster up front and former defenders Jenkins and Brandon Prideaux as outside mids. Vancouver looked to attack as well with a 3-5-2 lineup.

Vancouver created the first chance of the match when Chris Franks bent in a cross from the left that goalkeeper Dusty Hudock misjudged and could only get his fingertips on, but a defender cleared the ball before Ian Clarke could pounce on it. Seattle's first chance came in the 8th when Baena beat the offside trap to earn a shot from the right, but he shot too high.

22' Baena (Beech). Patrick Beech took a forward pass and found Baena unmarked on the left side of the penalty area. Baena shot a bullet past the onrushing keeper, Paul Dolan, to put Seattle on the scoreboard.

With David Hoggan's pass, Beech broke towards goal and shot from 15 yards on the right, but he miskicked the ball and sent it well wide.

Midway in the half Ian Clarke sprinted forward with the ball to take Vancouver's first shot, but he missed the goal. Vancouver got another chance when Hudock misjudged a corner kick that curled across the goal mouth and was sent back across the goal. A Seattle defender managed to clear the ball before any 86er could tap it in.

Seattle's Jenkins looked good in taking a couple of headers from diagonal forward passes, the first just wide of the far post and the second on goal but saved by Dolan.

C. Franks got his head on another Vancouver corner kick but he was strongly challenged and popped the ball over the bar. Jordan nearly got a close shot when he took a pass in the heart of the penalty area, turned to the right and prepared to shoot. Jenkins slide-tackled the ball away just in time.

Beech showed his skills when he dribbled at speed from the halfway line toward the right corner and suddenly launched a hard shot from 25 yards, forcing Dolan to make a leaping save to keep the ball out of the upper right corner.

Halftime:  Seattle  1 - 0  Vancouver

Vancouver managed only three shots in the first half, then they went downhill from there. Early in the second half Spencer Coppin sent a nice, rolling cross past the penalty spot. Aaron Keay was there but he either missed the ball or he purposely dummied it, but for nobody. C. Franks finally got a Vancouver shot on goal, forcing Hudock's first save.

50' Baena (unassisted -- well, actually Dolan assisted). Dolan committed the most embarrassing of all goalkeeper blunders when he attempted to clear a back pass under pressure and hit Seattle's Baena in the back. The ball rebounded toward goal and Dolan could only watch it roll in. Baena bowed to the crowd.

Vancouver sent in Dominic Mobilio for Coppin and started attacking with more numbers. This left space in their backfield for Seattle's counterattacks. On one such attack, Jenkins ran up the middle and tried a flying header at the 18, but couldn't reach enough of the ball.

61' McCormick (Prideaux). Rookie Brandon Prideaux sent a cross from the right corner past the goal. Dick McCormick, in his first match back on the team, headed the ball in from a steep angle to put Seattle up 3-0.

68' Jenkins (Mann). From 20 yards into his own half with the ball in touch, Randy Mann threw the ball up the left touch line. A Vancouver defender got his head on the air ball, but only managed to flick it further up the touch line. Jenkins caught up with the ball on the first bounce and with his first touch chipped it past the charging Dolan and into the net. A second-year player, this was Jenkins' first professional goal.

Beech earned a couple of close-in chances in the late minutes, forcing a good save by Dolan on one of them.

Vancouver had some late chances as well. Oliver Heald's shot up the middle was deflected just over the bar by C. Franks. Another unlucky bounce for Vancouver happened when Hudock had to dive to block a driven, far-post shot, and the ball rebounded off Hudock into an attacker and towards goal, but just outside the post.

Final:  Seattle  4 - 0  Vancouver

Seattle next takes on the MLS Project 40 team, a.k.a. US Pro 40 Select, on Friday, July 17, at 7:00 PM.

Statistics

Shots: Sea 18, Van 9
Saves: Hudock 2, Dolan 6
Corners: Sea 3, Van 6
Fouls: Sea 21, Van 9
Offside: Sea 3, Van 1

Misconduct:
none

Referee: Craig Lowry