Houston Dynamo - Seattle Sounders Football Club

Winner	Score	Game Coverage
FC Dallas	W, 4-2	Game Coverage
Earthquakes	W, 4-0	Game Coverage
Sporting KC	W, 1-0	Game Coverage
Union	D, 2-2	Game Coverage
Rapids	W, 1-0	Game Coverage

Game Location

Winner

Score

Game Coverage

FC Dallas

W, 4-2

Game Coverage

Earthquakes

W, 4-0

Game Coverage

Sporting KC

W, 1-0

Game Coverage

Union

D, 2-2

Game Coverage

Rapids

W, 1-0

Game Coverage

Men of the Match

Sounders FC reach Cup Final with 2-1 OT win

By MATT GASCHK
Sounders FC Insider

TUKWILA, Wash. – Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid senses a rivalry brewing between Seattle and the Houston Dynamo. The US Open Cup semifinal Tuesday night at Starfire will certainly fuel that duel as the Sounders won 2-1 in overtime to reach the final against DC United.

The two Western Conference foes engaged in a physical battle and Houston held a 1-0 lead into the 89th minute. But Nate Jaqua scored the equalizer to send the game to overtime and Stephen King notched the game-winner to send the Sounders to the cup final.

“We knew coming in that it was going to be really physical,” King said. “It was a battle, but we showed in the last 20 minutes of regulation – we were still going and I think they ran out of gas a little bit. That was the difference.”

After combining for 40 fouls and nine yellow cards, including two for Seattle defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, the scoresheet showed just how physical the game became. And if that wasn’t evidence enough, Jaqua’s wrapped head was Exhibit B. In the opening moments, Jaqua collided with a Houston player and cut the right side of his head.

“I don’t know exactly what the collision was,” Jaqua said. “I was a little bit angry - anytime you get hit in the head, you get a little bit angry. It was just a real physical game, so stuff like that happens.”

Houston got off to the lead when Ade Akinbiyi got free in the box in the 32nd minute and knocked a loose ball past Kasey Keller from close range for the 1-0 lead.

That score held until halftime, but Seattle went to the offensive in the second half. The Sounders outshot Houston 12-0 in the second half, but it was Jaqua’s 89th minute goal that was the back-breaker.

On the equalizer, James Riley played a ball forward through space to Sebastien Le Toux at the top of the 18. He slipped it to Roger Levesque in the middle of the box and Levesque played it on a touch to Jaqua coming down the left side. Jaqua gathered the ball and blasted a left-footer inside the far post to make it 1-1.

“We were getting good chances and we were opening up and playing well the last 20 minutes and it felt like they were slipping a little bit in their energy level,” Jaqua said. “We were just thinking, if we keep going we’ve got to get one.”

Seattle continued their run of offense in the overtime, doubling up Houston’s shots 10-5 after regulation.

In the 94th minute, Steve Zakuani got out on a run up the left side. There he took his defender one-on-one to the endline and crossed it to the middle where Houston midfielder John Michael Hayden misplayed it to the feet of King, who blasted it home for the go-ahead score.
“We take this tournament really seriously. We know we want to win it, so to be a part of the run in the Open Cup,” said King, who also netted the game-winner against Portland in the third round. “To get a goal against Portland and a goal here, it’s pretty special.”

In the games waning moments, Seattle faced an uphill climb when Hurtado was sent off for his second caution on a reckless tackle, leaving the Sounders a man down for the final ten minutes.

“We knew we were going to have to bunker in a little bit and pay attention to their runners. I think everyone fought hard and we were able to do that,” King said.

The win sends Seattle to the final for the first time. The club reached the semifinal at the A-League and USL levels in 1995, 2007 and 2008, but lost all three times.

“It’s great, but we still have business to do. We want to win this thing so I guess we’re going to DC now,” Jaqua said. “We’ll go to DC and win this thing. I think it’ll be special for this club, in their first year, to win the Open Cup.”

The win was the second in ten games against the Dynamo, getting both big wins in come-from-behind fashion.

“You need to win big games in order to get confidence that you can win big games,” Schmid said. “Coming from behind twice against Houston certainly helps that.”

DC United topped the Rochester Rhinos 2-1 Tuesday and will host the final Sept. 2 at 4:30 pm (Pacific Time) at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Play by Play

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Time	Event	Description
Final		After 120 minutes the game has gone final ... Sounders FC 2, Houston Dynamo 1. Mr. Schmid returns to Washington. The Sounders will face DC United in the Open Cup final September 2.
118		Houston earns a free kick 10 yards off the endline on the left side of the box.
117		Sebastien Le Toux slides a ball through to Nate Jaqua, but his redirect goes just wide for a goal kick.
116		Seattle gets out to a breakaway, but Steve Zakuani is taken down in the box ... Seattle gets a corner kick out of the play.
113		Sebastien Le Toux sends a ball into the box from the left corner and Fredy Montero snaps a header toward the net that Tally Hall parries free.
110		Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is issued his second yellow card of the match for a tackle in the midfield. That means a red-card ejection and the Sounders play a man down for teh final 10 minutes.
2nd Overtime		Seattle kicks off to start the second half of extra time, attacking the west goal.
105		The first half of extra time concludes with the Sounders FC leading 2-1.
105		Houston takes a corner kick from the right side, but the shot is over the bar for a goal kick.
99		Osvaldo Alonso misses wide right on a shot from 33 yards out.
95		Stephen King hammers home a goal. Sounders FC 2, Houston Dynamo 1. Steve Zakuani got the ball in deep and got a shot off. Sebastien Le Toux got the rebound and touched it to King just behind him for the goal.
Overtime		Houston kicks off to start the second half, attacking the east goal. The game will go to two 15-minute overtime periods. At the end of the 30 minutes, if the game is still tied, they will go to kicks from the mark.
93+		The referee blows the whistle to end regulation.
91+		Sebastien Le Toux takes a free kick from just outside the box on the right side, but Nate Jaqua heads it high into the air and Tally Hall pulls it down.
90		Mike Chabala fouls Seattle just outside the box and is given a yellow card.
89		Nate Jaqua got a shot off from point-blank range and a Houston defender slid into the net to knock it clear, but knocks it into the net for a goal.
86		Great volley by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, but it flies just over the crossbar.
84		Steve Zakuani gets a shot off, but misses just wide left.
84		Roger Levesque subs on for Tyson Wahl.
81		Attendance is announced at 4,895 and every one of them is screaming for the Dynamo to stop stalling and play soccer.
80		Tyrone Marshall gets a yellow card for the skirmish.
78		A skirmish breaks out in the Houston box after Seattle continues to play while Brian Mullan lays on the field. Mullan tried to get up to defend the ball several times, but only remained on the turf when the play went past him.
73		Steve Zakuani got some room on the left side but hit the far corner post. Osvaldo Alonso slammed the rebound, but missed wide left.
70		Yellow card issued to Brian Mullan for a tackle on Fredy Montero.
67		Jhon Kennedy Hurtado earns a yellow card for a tackle.
67		Steve Zakuani gets a shot away after evading a Houston defender, but Tally Hall sprawls to his left to make the save.
65		Kei Kamara subs on for Dominic Oduro.
65		Osvaldo Alonso subs on for Peter Vagenas.
62		Nate Jaqua gets a yellow card after a tie-up with a Houston defender.
61		Sebastien Le Toux takes a free kick from 33 yards out. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado makes a good run at it and heads it just clear of the bar for a goal kick.
61		Steve Zakuani subs on for Sanna Nyassi.
60		Mike Chabala subs on for Julius James.
59		Seattle with a good run of possession, patiently working teh ball into the Houston box before earning a corner kick.
53		Danny Cruz is taken off the field with an apparent head wound, similar to Jaqua's.
48		Sebastien Le Toux takes the corner kick and Seattle gets a head on it, but a Houston defender heads it off the line for the save.
48		Sanna Nyassi got away up the right side, but Julius James chased him down and knocked it away for a corner kick.
46		Houston took the second half kickoff, attacking the west goal.
Halftime		The second yellow card for Houston was given to Bobby Boswell, not Erik Ustruck.
Halftime		Houston has been called for 12 fouls, to six for Seattle.
45		As the clock turns to 45, the referee blows his whistle for halftime.
43		Brad Davis is issued a yellow card for delaying a restart. Houston is taking plenty of time on their throw-ins.
42		Brad Davis lines up over a corner kick on the right side, but James Riley heads his kick in for a throw in.
37		Another hard Houston foul against Nate Jaqua, this time against the right sideline, six yards off the endline. Sebastien Le Toux takes the free kick and it spills to Pete Vagenas, but his shot form the top of the box goes high.
35		Nate Jaqua is fouled against the left sideline.
32		Ade Akinbiyi scores on a loose ball in the box to give Houston the lead. Dynamo 1, Sounders FC 0.
30		Another Houston player, it appeared to be Erik Ustruck, also is given a yellow card after some words with the referee.
30		Yellow card to Julius James for pulling down Fredy Montero just outside the box. Sebastien Le Toux takes the kick, but swings it just over the bar for a goal kick.
26		Sebastien Le Toux lines up over a free kick from 22 yards out on the right, but Houston knocks it clear.
24		The referee sends a bloody Nate Jaqua off the field for medical attention. At the half, I will find out how Jaqua's head was split.
21		Houston's Brad Davis takes a corner kick from the right side, but Kasey Keller punched it clear.
18		Tyson Wahl played a great ball to Fredy Montero, but Montero had trouble controlling it on the turf and Houston played it clear.
15		Sebastien Le Toux is fouled 10 yards off the endline on the left side. Le Toux takes the kick and finds Tyson Wahl at the far post, but his redirect is handled by Tally Hall.
14		Great run by Seattle. Tyrone Marshall plays a ball forward from his own 18. Nate Jaqua knocks it down to Sanna Nyassi who carries it into the Houston box before passing to Fredy Montero, but it's played away from him.
12		Seattle has already had two players go to the sideline for medical attention. Nate Jaqua is wearing a bandage on his head after apparently clashing heads in the early minutes.
11		James Riley takes a rare strike from 28 yards out that Tally Hall parries over the bar for a corner kick.
09		We are in the ninth minute and this game has already established itself as phyisical affair.
08		Ade Akinbiyi is called for a handball in the attacking third.
04		Julius James fouled Fredy Montero hard at the midfield stripe, drawing a stern admonishment from teh referee, but no card.
02		Corey Ashe just used a nifty spin-move against the left sideline to elude James Riley, but the Sounders recovered and he was unable to gain any ground on the play.
Kickoff		Seattle is defending the east goal, so Kasey Keller is facing the sun for the first half. The Sounders took the opening kickoff at 7:22.
Pregame		Referee - Edvin Jurisevic. Assistant Referees - Ian Anderson, Eric Boria. Fourth Official - Baldomero Toledo.
Pregame		Houston Dynamo starters: Tally Hall, Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Danny Cruz, Erik Ustruck, John Michael Hayden, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe, Ade Akinbiyi, Dominic Oduro. Reserves: Brian Mullan, Kei Kamara, Cam Weaver, Craig Waibel, Mike Chabala, Pat Onstad, Wade Barrett
Pregame		Sounders FC starters: Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Peter Vagenas, Stephen King, Sebastien Le Toux, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua. Reserves: Osvaldo Alonso, Steve Zakuani, Nathan Sturgis, Zach Scott, Roger Levesque, Lamar Neagle, Terry Boss.

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