Kansas City Wizards - 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

FOUR STARS

Sounders Reach Open Cup Semifinal On Late PK

BY MATT GASCHK
Sounders FC Insider

TUKWILA, Wash. -- Fredy Montero led the Sounders with five shots. In the end, it wasn’t a shot he took, but a shot he couldn’t take that gave the Sounders FC a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Wizards to reach the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup semifinal.

With time winding down on a scoreless game, the Sounders were growing frustrated by a mounting number of opportunities that they just couldn’t put away and an increasingly physical game with the Wizards. Stephen King got ahold of the ball at midfield and took off on the offensive. He saw Montero working his way into a clearing in the penalty box and bounced a pass his way.

Montero took a touch to his left to elude Kevin Hartman and got one step past the veteran Wizards keeper, but Hartman knocked Montero down to the turf. The 4,352 in attendance at Starfire shouted in unison as referee Abiodun Okulaja pointed to the spot signaling a penalty.

“I was able to just slip it in behind the defense to him. He made a good play and touched it by the keeper and the keeper took him down. We were unfortunate not to get a call earlier in the game, so having those non-calls earlier in the game, the ref had to give us that one,” said King, who scored the deciding goal in a 2-1 win against the USL Portland Timbers a week earlier to advance to the semifinal.

Sebastien Le Toux and Montero discussed who would take the pivotal shot, landing finally on Le Toux, a 72nd minute substitution into the grinding battle.

Le Toux stepped over the ball and twisted a shot into the low right corner, just outside the reach of Hartman to give Seattle the 1-0 lead in the 89th minute.

“I am always pushing myself to score. But what counts is that at least I forced the penalty that resulted in a score and that brought us to the semifinal,” Montero said. “It was a score and that’s all that matters.”

For Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid, the win marked a return to the semifinal after missing out on the tournament altogether in his last three years with the Columbus Crew.

“I was happy that we hung in there,” Schmid said. “I was happy that we played tough defensively, didn’t break down or give anything away. That allowed us to be in position, when we were awarded the penalty, to take advantage and get the win.”

The Sounders will face the Houston Dynamo on July 21 at Starfire at 7 pm in the semifinal.

Seattle outshot the Wizards 12-6 and Kasey Keller made the only save he needed to make in the 69th minute. But it was Montero’s penalty draw and Le Toux’s strike that made the difference.

Last year, when the USL Sounders faced the Wizards in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup, the scoreless match went to penalties. Le Toux stepped to the ball with a chance to give the Sounders the lead, but missed on his PK. The Sounders went on to win the game 6-5 on penalties to advance to the semifinal, where they lost to the Charleston Battery – again on penalties with Le Toux missing his penalty opportunity.

He says he wasn’t thinking about those misses when he stepped over the ball in the 89th minute of a scoreless tie and this time, he scored.

“If I think about missing, I’m going to miss, so I try not to think about that,” Le Toux said after he scored his 11th career Open Cup goal to earn the win. “Of course there was a little pressure, but I was confident. I was lucky that the keeper didn’t stop it and I scored.”

Like each of the last two years when the USL Sounders reached the semifinal, this year’s Sounders squad is two wins away from hoisting the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

“I think our guys for sure can smell it now,” Schmid said. “We’re basically two steps away from trying to bring a title to Seattle.”

The Sounders face the Dynamo Saturday at Qwest Field in MLS league play, before a semifinal rematch July 21 at Starfire.

Play by Play

Time	Event	Description
Up Next		The Sounders will face the Houston Dynamo at 7 pm on July 21 at Starfire in the semifinal of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. ... and Steve gives it a thumbs up.
94+		Fredy Montero is takclesd hard in the box by a Kansas City defender, but rahter than continue to allow the Wizards to foul every time a Seattle player touches the ball, the referee blows the final whistle. Sounders FC 1, Kansas City Wizards 0.
92+		Santiago Hirsig is ejected for a foul on Fredy Montero in the midfield ... I believe he was shown a second yellow for the ejection.
91+		Peter Vagenas subs on for Nathan Sturgis.
89		Sebastien Le Toux lines up over the penalty and beats Kevin Hartman to the left post for a goal. Sounders FC 1, Kansas City Wizards 0.
88		Kevin Hartman comes off his line and tackles Fredy Montero on a run in the box for a penalty.
87		Sebastien Le Toux picks off a pass from Kevin Hartman and slides the ball to Fredy Montero up the middle. Het gets up and twists a shot toward teh net, but it bends wide for a goal kick.
82		Roger Levesque plays a ball forward for Fredy Montero up the rigth side, but Montero is tackled from behind before he can even make a run at it, though no call is made.
79		Fredy Montero is issued a yellow card.
79		Claudio Lopez bears down on a ball from the top of the box that misses high over the bar.
78		Roger Levesque subs on for Sanna Nyassi.
76		Yellow card to Santiago Hirsig for a tackle in the midfield.
70		Claudio Lopez subs on for Abe Thompson and Sebastien Le Toux subs on for Steve Zakuani.
69		Herculez Gomez shoots from distance on the right side right into the hands of Kasey Keller for what could be his first save of the match.
62		Seattle gets into the box twice, but bad bounces turn the ball to the Wizards.
56		The Wizards are given a corner kick and James Riley heads teh Jack Jewsbury corner clear from the box.
54		Steve Zakauni leaves his defender on the turf, but his right-footed chip shot sails over the bar for a goal kick.
53		Nate Jaqua heads over his shoulder to Fredy Montero up the left side, but his shot from 18 just misses teh top corner for a goal kick.
51		Steve Zakuani takes a pass from Fredy Montero and races into the box, but takes one too many touches and it is knocked away for a goal kick.
49		One of the beauties of Starfire ... while sitting in the press box I have now been told by Sounders fans Steve and Zac to say hello to those following the blog ...
46		Stephen King leads Sanna Nyassi up the right side. He carries into the box, but his shot goes just wide of the far post.
46		Lance Watson subs on for Jonathan Leathers to start the second half.
46+		The referee blows the halftime whistle with the two teams knotted at 0-0.
40		Santiago Hirsig hammers Stephen King in the midfield for a foul from 35 yards out.
36		Santiago Hirsig wrestles the ball away from Steve Zakuani, but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado harrasses him into turning it back over to the Sounders.
33		Fantastic cross-field ball from Sanna Nyassi to Fredy Montero, who jukes his defender, but his shot is right into the hands of Kevin Hartman.
31		Does Seattle have Kansas City on the defensive? ... 10 of their 11 players were in the box defending a Sounders attack.
29		Steve Zakuani gets a little bit of room from 27 yards out, but mis-hits the ball and it goes wide for a goal kick.
27		Sanna Nyassi gets deep into the box and slips a pass to Nate Jaqua, but his one-time redirect from six yards out off the right post hops just wide for a goal kick.
22		Kansas City misses just outside the left post on a header from Abe Thompson ... Matt Besler sent in the cross from the left side.
21		Sanna Nyassi chips just wide of the net from 12 yards out, but he was whistled offside.
20		Stephen King lobs a pass to Sanna Nyassi up teh middle, but Kevin Hartman charges off his line to slide the ball away from danger.
18		Nathan Sturgis makes a great run up the left side and finds Steve Zakuani coming down the box, but Zakuani's volley falls just outside the near post.
16		Steve Zakuani is using his creative mastery on the left side ... he just crossed from just outside the box and just over the head of Nate Jaqua.
16		The standing supporter group extends all the way in front of the press box ... great crowd here at Starfire.
13		Sanna Nyassi crosses into the box from the right side, but it is just over the head of Nate Jaqua and out for a goal kick.
12		Jonathan Leathers sneds a ball into the box from the right sideline, but it is just out of reach for Josh Wolff and goes clear for a goal kick.
11		Steve Zakuani works his magic with some nice footwork up the left side and gets a nice ball in front of the net, but Nate Jaqua can't get there before the defense and it is knocked clear for a corner kick. Kansas City defenders the corner clear.
09		Great play by Fredy Montero to get a cross in from the right side. Nate Jaqua gets a head on it, but the Wizards knock it clear and Nathan Sturgis draws a foul in the middle of the field 25 yards out. Fredy Montero takes the free kick, but Kevin Hartman makes the save.
07		Santiago Hirsig got into some open space but his shot from 32 yards out missed high over the crossbar.
04		Steve Zakuani misplayed a pass to Nate Jaqua, but recovered quick enough to carry the ball into the box, but Kansas City got back on defense and Kevin Hartman smothered the ball to stop Zakuani.
03		Fredy Montero picks off an errant ball from Kevin Hartman, but missees high with a left-footer from 27 yards out.
01		Patrick Ianni chases down a ball in the defensive corner and knocks it off of Michael Harrington for a goal kick.
Kickoff		Kansas City keeper Kevin Hartman is facing the sun defending the east goal. The Wizards take the opening kickoff at 7:18.
Pregame		I just spotted Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell sitting near the field.
Pregame		The Houston Dynamo topped the Charleston Battery 4-0, so the winner of tonight's match will face teh Dynamo in the semifinals
Pregame		Officials for tonights game ... Referee - Abiodon Okulaja Assistant Referees - Mike Rottersman and Jeff Hosking Fourth Official - Josh Wilkens
Pregame		Kansas City Wizards starters: Kevin Hartman, Jonathan Leathers, Rauwshan McKenzie, Aaron Hohlbein, Matt Besler, Hercules Gomez, Santiago Hirsig, Jack Jewsbury, Michael Harrington, Josh Wolff, Abe Thompson. Subs: Lance Watson, Claudio Lopez, Kurt Morsink, Matt Marquess, Boris Pardo, Graham Zusi, Michael Kraus.
Pregame		Sounders FC starters: Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Nathan Sturgis, Stephen King, Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua. Subs: Peter Vagenas, Sebastien Le Toux, Evan Brown, Zach Scott, Roger Levesque, Lamar Neagle, Terry Boxx.

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