VANCOUVER, B.C. - Seattle Sounders FC (11-4-2, 35 points) fell, 1-0, to Vancouver Whitecaps FC (6-3-7, 25 points) Saturday night at BC Place. Sebastian Fernandez scored the lone goal as Seattle's three-match winning streak was snapped.
In the 12th minute, Fernandez gathered a pass from Pedro Morales with space and fired a 25-yard shot into the top corner of the net.
With 35 points, Sounders FC remains first in the Supporter's Shield standings, seven points clear of second place. They now trail Vancouver by five points in the race for the 2014 Cascadia Cup.
Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei made five saves in the match, including key stops on a breaking Kekuta Manneh in the sixth and 37th minutes. In first-half stoppage time, the Swiss-international fended off a hard strike from Morales on the right side of the box.
In second half stoppage time, Marco Pappa nearly equalized when he curled a shot from distance just wide of the far post.
Tristan Bowen made his Sounders FC debut when he came on for Lamar Neagle in the 55th minute.
Sounders FC has two games this coming week against the Portland Timbers. On Wednesday, the two sides will meet in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Starfire Stadium, then face off Sunday in MLS play in front of a full-capacity crowd at CenturyLink Field.
Scoring Summary:
VAN - Sebastian Fernandez (Pedro Morales) 12'
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Jalil Anibaba, Chad Marshall, Zach Scott, Leo Gonzalez (Aaron Kovar 86); Lamar Neagle (Tristan Bowen 55), Brad Evans, Micheal Azira, Marco Pappa; Kenny Cooper (Cam Weaver 74), Chad Barrett.
Substitutes Not Used: Josh Ford, David Estrada, Fabio Pereira, Sean Okoli.
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Pappa 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Barrett, Pappa 1); FOULS: 21 (Barrett 4); OFFSIDE: 1 (Barrett 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Pappa 2); SAVES: 5 (Frei 5).
Vancouver Whitecaps FC - David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Carlyle Mitchell, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Gershon Koffie, Matias Laba, Sebastian Fernandez (Russell Teibert 86), Pedro Morales (Christian Dean 90+3); Kekuta Manneh (Nigel Reo-Coker 68), Erik Hurtado.
Substitutes Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Darren Mattocks, Omar Salgado, Nicolas Mezquida.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Hurtado 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Hurtado, Manneh 2); FOULS: 12 (Hurtado 3); OFFSIDE: 1 (Manneh 1); CORNER KICKS: 0; SAVES: 2 (Ousted 2).
Misconduct Summary:
SEA - Chad Barrett (caution) 79'
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee's Assistants: Frank Anderson, Mike Rottersman
4th Official: Drew Fischer
Attendance: 22,500
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Cloudy and 66 degrees
