Last 5 Matches

Game Location Winner Score Game Coverage
Home Timbers L, 1-0
Home Vancouver Whitecaps D, 0-0
Home Brann W, 1-0
Home Stabæk IF W, 2-1
Home Rosenborg BK L, 3-0
Scarves Up!

Newsletter

Enter your email address to recieve news updates, fan information and special offers.

Soccer 101
Ajax Refresh Link Robertson Stadium
0-1 Fulltime

    96'   B. Ching (B. Mullan)

Match Date, Time:
11/08/09, 12:00 PM
Broadcast Coverage:
FSN NW, KING 5, 770 KTTH
Location:
Houston, TX
Attendance:
27,465

Men of the Match

Sounders Fall In Houston

By MATT GASCHK
Sounders FC Insider

A season that came with 17 months of build-up and thrilling moments from the opening match came to an abrupt end Sunday when the Sounders FC fell 1-0 in extra time to the Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference semifinals.

After a 180-minute battle over the two legs of the series, two of the top defensive teams in the MLS held each other scoreless. Then in the 96th minute Sunday, Brian Ching scored the series-winning goal on a spectacular volley.

“It was either going to take a big mistake or a big effort and unfortunately we couldn’t quite make it happen. Not for lack of effort, you can’t fault anybody. They gave everything they had,” said goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who finished with four saves. “We battled and battled and just couldn’t quite make it happen. Maybe another day.”

Houston came out on the attack to start the game, getting early opportunities by Dominic Oduro that were turned away. Then in the 12th minute Seattle got their first big chance when Freddie Ljungberg swung a corner kick into the box. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado headed it toward the farpost for Tyrone Marshall, but Marshall’s header went wide left and the score remained tied.

Oduro was a thorn in Seattle’s side for the first 80 minutes of the game, getting behind Seattle’s defense on several occasions and taking five shots before being subbed off for Luis Angel Landin. But the defense, anchored by Keller, was still able to keep him off the board.

But in the 36th minute it took a great save by Pat Onstad to keep Seattle from taking the lead. Fredy Montero dribbled up the left side, then passed to Steve Zakuani going toward the endline. Zakuani crossed to Nate Jaqua in the box, but Houston defender Geoff Cameron nearly knocked it into his own net. Onstad was able to get his foot on it though, and knocked it clear.

“It’s disappointing. We had a few good opportunities we weren’t able to stick in the back of the net, but it was a battle and there wasn’t a lot that opened up on either side,” Jaqua said.

Later in the 81st minute, second half sub Roger Levesque flipped the ball to Jaqua charging down the box, but he was defended by Cameron and his shot went wide of the net.

The game remained scoreless into the 90th minute and went to extra time. There Ching, who played for the Sounders in the A-League in 2001 and 2002, was the difference-maker.

Houston defender Mike Chabala took the ball up the left side and crossed it into the box for Brian Mullan at the far post. Roger Levesque was there to defend him, but Mullan was able to deflect the ball to Ching for a right-footed, sidewinding volley into the net for a 1-0 lead in the 96th minute.

“They put a good ball into the box. We don’t quite clear it well and the ball bounces tremendous for Brian, but that’s an unbelievable finish for Brian Ching. He won’t score a better goal at a better time,” Keller said. “We battled away, but unfortunately just couldn’t get the goals that we needed.”

That score held up and the Sounders frustrations mounted in the 120th minute when James Riley was ejected from the game for a hard tackle in the midfield.

Not long after the foul and ensuing melee, the final whistle was blown on the Sounders season.

“We couldn’t find a way to win today and that’s the disappointing part,” Jaqua said. “But that’s the way it is. You’re not going to win every game and you’re not going to make it through every time.”

All told, it was a successful opening campaign for the expansion Sounders FC.

“To have won the Open Cup and have a winning record in the season and come two points away from winning the Supporters Shield and to have lost to a team that has been a dominant team in the playoffs is a pretty proud moment for a young expansion team,” head coach Sigi Schmid said. “But we don’t want to accept mediocrity. Our goal is always to win a championship and maybe the sting of today will help us to move forward into next year.”

Play by Play

Stop Auto Refresh
Time Event Description
121+Freddie Ljungberg was issued a yellow card after the end of the game after he voiced his displeasure with the referee.
121+After one-minute of stoppage time the referee blows teh whistle to signal the end of the match. Final score: Dynamo 1, Sounders FC 0.
120James Riley makes a tackle at midfield and is given a red card ejection.
118 Sanna Nyassi tries to cross into the box, but it sails over for a goal kick.
116 Leo Gonzalez is called for a foul 20 yards out on the right side when he runs through Cam Weaver.
105Cam Weaver subs on for Brian Ching.
106+ After one minute of stoppage time, the first overtime session comes to an end.
104Sanna Nyassi subs on for Tyrone Marshall.
100 Freddie Ljungberg nearly ties it up with a shot from the left side, but Pat Onstad got his hand on his arcing shot just before it dipped under the crossbar.
99Corey Ashe subs on for Brad Davis.
96Houston plays the ball into the box for Brian Mullan, who chests it away from Roger Levesque at the right side. Brian Ching swings a side-winding shot off the volley and gets it past Kasey Keller for a goal. Dynamo 1, Sounders FC 0.
94 Brad Evans gets a run up the right side, but his cross is deflected away for a Seattle throw.
91Sebastien Le Toux subs on for Fredy Montero.
91 Houston takes the opening kick, defending the south goal.
93+ After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blows the whistle to signal the end of regulation. After a brief timeout, they will play two 15-minute overtime periods.
92+Rough foul by Geoff Cameron knocking Fredy Montero to the ground at midfield and giving Cameron a yellow card caution.
89 Great back-heel by Luis Angel Landin, but the ball is played ot the other side for Brad Davis and his shot misses wide.
88 Two straight offside calls thwart Houston attacks.
84 Freddie Ljungberg takes a corner kick from the right side and it's headed away by Houston, who turns the ball the other way, only to have Seattle regain control when Brian Mullan stops a run up the right side.
82 Luis Angel Landin subs on for Dominic Oduro.
81 Roger Levesque gets the ball into the box and crosses the front of the goal to Nate Jaqua, who misses wide while battling Geoff Cameron. Cameron remains on the field with an apparent knee injury.
80 Freddie Ljungberg takes teh corner kick from the left side, but it's played back to Ljungberg by Brad Davis. Ljungberg takes teh ball into the box and is tackled from behind with no call.
78 Roger Levesque gets teh ball on the left side, but his shot is knocked away for a corner kick. On the play, Fredy Montero was left on the field at midfield with cramping.
77 Dominic Oduro shoots from the right side, but misses high through duress by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.
74 Tyrone Mashall goes down holding his knee, but Houston refuses to play the ball out of bounds. Seattle regains possession and knocks it out of play.
Note Attendance is announced at 27,465.
70 Brian Ching gets a shot away from the middle of the box, but Kasey Keller makes the save.
68 Fredy Montero shoots from the right side, but misses into the side netting.
67Roger Levesque subs on for Steve Zakuani.
67 Freddie Ljungberg takes the corner kick from the right side and Leo Gonzalez thumps a shot from 24 yards out, but misses high.
66 Fredy Montero shoot from the right side and Pat Onstad gets a glove on it to knock it away for a corner kick.
64 Dominic Oduro gets away on a run up the left side, but Kasey Keller cuts him off and Oduro knocks it over the line for a goal kick.
63 Freddie Ljungberg is getting manhandled in the midfield by Andrew Hainault, who is finally whistled for a foul when he pushes Ljungberg to the ground.
58 Stuart Holden takes a corner kick from the left side, finding Brian Ching for a header, but he misses outside the far post for a goal kick.
57 Fredy Montero finds some space on the right side of the box to take a shot, but Pat Onstad saves it at the near post.
55 Dominic Oduro shoots from the right side and it skips into the arms of Kasey Keller.
53 Freddie Ljungberg crossed to Nate Jaqua, but his shot narrowly misses outside the near post.
46 Freddie Ljungberg is fouled 30 yards out on the left side. Houston knocks away the ensuing free kick.
46 Seattle kicks off to start the second half, attacking the north goal.
Halftime Shots: Sounders FC 2, Dynamo 9. SOG: Sounders FC 0, Dynamo 2. Fouls: Sounders FC 7, Dynamo 9. Corner Kicks: Sounders FC 1, Dynamo 3. Saves: Sounders FC 2, Dynamo 0.
46+ After one-minute of stoppage time, the referee blows the whistle to end the first half.
45Mike Chabala tackles Freddie Ljungberg at midfield and gets a yellow card.
43 Freddie Ljungberg takes the free kick into the box where Nate Jaqua knocks it toward the net where Ricardo Clark tries to head it away, but instead hits the crossbar. Seattle tries to put in the rebound, but Nate Jaqua is called for a foul.
41 Geoff Cameron clips Freddie Ljungberg from behind for a foul, giving Seattle a free kick from 28.
36 Fredy Montero plays the ball up the left side to Steve Zakuani and Zakuani crosses to Nate Jaqua, but teh ball is nearly knocked in for a an own-goal by Geoff Cameron. Pat Onstad gets his foot on the ball, though, to knock it away.
33 Leo Gonzalez is called for a foul 26 yards out almost centered in front of the goal. Brad Davis takes the kick, but it goes right into the Seattle wall and away.
30 Dominic Oduro gets away up the right side, but his shot misses outside the far post for a goal kick.
27 Fredy Montero gets around a Houston defender off the free kick, but he misses wide for a goal kick.
26 Freddie Ljungberg is knocked to the ground at midfield, but the ball goes up the Nate Jaqua in the offensive third. After Jaqua veers away from the box, the referee blows the whistle for the foul at midfield. Can't say we haven't seen that before this series.
24Dominic Oduro gets away up the right side, but Tyrone Marshall intercepts him for a tackle, earning a yellow card in the process.
23 Dominic Oduro shoots form the left side of the box that looks to be going in, but clangs off the near post and is played away.
21 Fredy Montero gets the ball on the left sideline, but is shoved into the boards along the sideline. Initially, the referee awards a Houston throw, but changes the call to a foul on Boswell.
19 Steve Zakuani gets the ball in space on the left side and plays it to his left to Freddie Ljungberg, who tries for a cross into the box that's deflected over the line. Inexplicably, the referee awards a goal kick rather than a corner kick.
17 Great ball to Steve Zakuani up the left side and Zakuani races out on the attack, but Fredy Montero cant' catch up to his cross into the box and it goes through for a Houston throw.
15 Houston gets the ball into the box amidst a flurry of players, but Dominic Oduro's poke-shot is deflected away for a corner kick.
12 Near miss for Seattle. Freddie Ljungberg takes a corner kick from the right side and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado heads it to Tyrone Marshall at the far post, but his header misses high for a goal kick.
11 Seatlte plays a ball into Houston's end, but Bobby Boswell heads it away for a Seattle corner kick.
08 Great ball to Oduro going forward. He plays it across the box to Brian Mullan for a shot from distance, but Leo Gonzalez deflects it away.
03 Dominic Oduro gets in on the left side and slides a ball into the box for Brian Ching. The ball gets deflected, but Ching is still able to pop it over Kasey Keller, only to have James Riley save it off the line. Great recovery play by Riley.
02 Brad Davis took a corner kick from the left side but Seattle cleared the ball away.
Kickoff Houston took the opening kick at 12:06, defending the south goal.
Note The Sounders are in their blue tops and shorts with green socks.
Weather 70 degrees and cloudy. 80% humidity.
HOU Starters: GK Pat Onstad, D Andrew Hainault, D Bobby Boswell, D Geoff Cameron, D Mike Chabala, M Brian Mullan, M Ricardo Clark, M Stuart Holden, M Brad Davis, F Dominic Oduro, F Brian Ching (Captain). Bench: Tally Hall, Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Corey Ashe, Luis Angel Landin, Cam Weaver.
SEA Starters: GK Kasey Keller (Captain), D James Riley, D Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, D Tyrone Marshall, D Leo Gonzalez, M Nate Jaqua, M Osvaldo Alonso, M Brad Evans, M Steve Zakuani, F Fredy Montero, F Freddie Ljungberg. Bench: Terry Boss, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Sebastien Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi, Peter Vagenas, Roger Levesque.
Newsletter Signup Privacy

Seattle Sounders FC

Follow on Twitter Forum

I want to upload a

You must fill out all required fields
  • jpg, jpeg
  • Min size: 467x365
  • Max file size: 4MB
  • .mov, .mpeg, .avi, .m4v, .mp4, .wmv, .flv
  • Max file size: 100MB
Pick a Date
yyyy-mm-dd
*What are Tags?

Tags help describe and categorize your photo or video and make it easier to find.

Click on one of the featured tags or start typing.

For your convenience, we will list the tags that begin with the letters you have started typing.

Your username will be displayed along with your upload.

Guidelines Terms of Service
Your upload wasn't successful. Please try again.
Please wait while your file uploads.
Cancel
Close

Thank You For The Upload

Your upload has been added into our system. Photos can take up to 10 minutes to appear on the site. Videos can take up to 1 hour to appear on the site. Searching for your username or the title you entered will help you find your content.

What do you want to do next?

Upload Another Close
Close

You Must be Logged In To Upload Content.

Register
Close
DiggDeliciousNewsvineRedditStumbleTechnoratiFacebookTwitter