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A Fredy Montero brace powered the Sounders past their rivals to the north and back into second place in the Western Conference.
The Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps go to the break even at one after a highly entertaining, end-to-end first half. Vancouver drew first blood in the 22nd minute after a perfectly executed corner clearance and counter attack, Davide Chiumento sliding a perfect low cross past an outstretched Kasey Keller for Camilo to send into an open net. The Whitecaps lead would last for ten minutes before Alvaro Fernandez won a penalty for Seattle after his cross in the box struck Jay Demerit in the hand. Brad Evans stepped up and buried the spot kick to equalize.
The Sounders started a bit slowly and Vancouver had the better of the play for much of the first half, but Seattle seemed to wake up after Vancouver went ahead and were far more dangerous as time ticked along. There are more goals in this game and Seattle seems the more likely to score as it stands but Vancouver still looks very dangerous on the break and with the Sounders pressing so heavily the openings are there. Seattle tightened up after Camilo's goal but with the pace down the wings and physical presence of Eric Hassli it wouldn't take much of an opening for Vancouver to test Kasey Keller.
Given Erik Friberg's hip injury, James Riley's concussion, Tyson Wahl's suspension due to yellow card accumulation and Mike Fucito being less than 90 minutes fit the Sounders will go with Brad Evans, Zach Scott, Leo Gonzalez and Nate Jaqua in the lineup this evening. Aside from that things are as expected for Seattle, with the only even moderate surprise being Alvaro Fernandez slotting on on the right and Lamar Neagle on the left.
The biggest challenge for Seattle will be keeping the Whitecaps speedy wingers in check down the flanks, especially on the counter. Zach Scott has been vulnerable when asked to do more than mark a single player out of the game, and though Leo Gonzalez has been strong defensively on the season he's far from what could be called speedy and it's always a worry when the opposition in able to get behind him in transition.
Joe Cannon; Jonathan Leathers, Jay DeMerit, Michael Boxall, Jordan Harvey; Davide Chiumiento, Gershon Koffie, Peter Vagenas, Camilo Sanvezzo; Eric Hassli, Mustapha Jarju.
Kasey Keller; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leo Gonzalez; Alvaro Fernandez, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle; Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero
The Vancouver Whitecaps have not had the most impressive debut season. Their current record is the worst in the league and they lag far enough behind (six points) their closest "competitors" the New England Revolution that they're likely to finish the season with that same dubious distinction. They've won just four games all season, their -18 goal differential is better than only Toronto's -20 and their mark of 28 goals scored is worst in the league, as is their mark of 14 losses. Ever since an impressive 4-2 win over Toronto FC on the first day of the season it's been downhill for the Whitecaps and the entire season has been a massive struggle. Head coach Teitur Thordarson was fired on May 30th and after compiling a record of 1-5-6; his replacement Tom Soehn hasn't fared much better, the club posting a 3-9-4 mark under his guidance.
But despite the futility, the Whitecaps have had a few bright spots. High on the list of many Vancouver supporters would likely be the 2-2 draw in Seattle, equalized at the death thanks to Eric Hassli's goal-of-the-year wonderstrike. It wasn't a win for the Whitecaps but it certainly felt like one, and as far as Seattle was concerned it was arguably the most disappointing result of the season and the apex if a very frustrating stretch of games.
That Hassli was the hero in that game should be little surprise; it would be an overstatement to say that Hassli is the Whitecaps, but it wouldn't be as far off as it might seem. The enigmatic French striker has been the driving force of the Whiteaps attack, leading the club with 10 goals and creating space for teammates thanks to his distribution and off-ball movement. Hassli's mystique isn't all in his play of course; though he's been better behaved as of late, his early season flurry of bookings (including most amazingly the second yellow he received for removing his jersey after scoring, apparently thinking he would not be booked because he was wearing another jersey underneath the first) certainly helped to make an impression from the get-go.
Bizarre goal celebration logic aside, Hassli is clearly a very special player and if he were playing for a better team it's likely his numbers would be even better. He's not, however, and most MLS clubs have found that if the threat the big striker presents can be neutralized the Whitecaps don't have a great deal of other weapons in their arsenal. Camilo, the smaller half of Vancouver's striker pairing, has impressed at times but he's far from a consistent weapon and beyond him there's very little; the Brazlian's 8 goals are second to Hassli on the team, but no other Whitecaps player has scored more than twice. Camilo is creative enough and Hassli powerful enough to threaten, but if the supply to the front is cut off Vancouver is in a great deal of trouble.
In Osvaldo Alonso, the Sounders have a player that is more than capable of disrupting that supply. With a player as good as Hassli there's always a threat, but to expect Vancouver to give the Sounders back line a great deal of cause for concern isn't especially reasonable. And though the Whitecaps defense hasn't been nearly as incompetent as their attack, it hasn't been especially good either. The return of Jay DeMerit from injury has given Vancouver's back line a boost, but this is still a team that can have gaudy numbers put up against them on any given day. The key for Seattle will be whether or not they can continue to click without the team's most valuable player. This is the first of what is likely to be five games for which Mauro Rosales will be unavailable, and though Seattle is otherwise at close to full-strength losing a player of such importance is clearly going to change some things. The Sounders still have a host of potent attacking weapons and strong back line, and they should be considered heavy favorites. But this will be the first MLS game since the Sounders really began to click in late June that Rosales will not play, and it could give a preview of what we can expect from the team for the duration of his recovery.
The result against the Whitecaps is vitally important, both because a win would clinch the Cascadia Cup for the Sounders and playoff positioning is still very much in the air, but even three points will not be enough to completely silence the concerns of nervous fans. To do that Seattle will need to show the fluidity, cohesion, creative attacking play and ability to control the pace and flow of the game that have become their hallmarks. The Sounders have qualified for the playoffs and look to be headed towards a fairly high seed, but that's all for naught if the momentum is derailed by the loss of Rosales. The Sounders have a chance to show that they can still be a dominant force-as well as lift their first silverware of the season-tonight.
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-3 Seattle Sounders: Montero Brace, Strong Second Half Land Sounders The Cascadia Cup
For much of the night, Fredy Montero seemed just a bit off. He wasn't bad per se, but he'd certainly seen better nights. And then, in the 64th minute, it came together; Montero gathered a poor clearance from Jay Demerit just outside the area and used a stunning bit of skill to find space before lofting a left footed shot into the top corner to give Seattle a 2-1 lead. It wouldn't take long for Montero to put things away; just three minutes later Montero dribbled into space outside the box and sent in a powerful chip that deflected off of Demerit and over the keeper. It's tough to say whether the shot would have kept its trajectory and gone in if not for the deflection, but what matters is that it did.
That might be for the best, because the Whitecaps continued to look threatening for the rest of the evening; the Sounders would have other chances-both Sammy Ochoa and Lamar Neagle were denied by the post-but Vancouver were denied several times by the post as well and forced Kasey Keller to make several outstanding saves. The Sounders showed their superiority and certainly played well enough to win, but on another night it's easy to see this game ending up a draw and the final scoreline is likely harsh on Vancouver. They fought all game long and make Seattle work for it, but it wasn't to be.
It was clear that the Sounders were missing Mauro Rosales, but it's reassuring to note that Seattle played well enough tonight against a clearly motivated and inspired Whitecaps side to beat any of the teams remaining on their domestic schedule. Even without Rosales-and Blaise Nkufo, Steve Zakuani, O'Brian White, James Riley, Tyson Wahl and Erik Friberg-the Sounders are still a very good team. With just four league games remaining and an eight point cushion over FC Dallas for a bye in the playoffs the Sounders don't necessarily need to keep up this pace for the rest of the year, but for momentum's sake it would be nice if they could. And it can't hurt the Sounders confidence that they put together a solid performance tonight. The players are aware how important Rosales has been to their success, and if they can win without him it will only serve to magnify the boost to morale when he returns.
And so the Cascadia Cup returns to Seattle for the first time since 2007 (and the first time they've had a crack at it since 2008.) With the win the Sounder move back ahead of Real Salt Lake into second place in the Western Conference and have all but locked up a first-round bye. The focus will now move to qualification for the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League (Seattle can secure a place in the quarterfinals with a win over Communicaciones on Tuesday) and the quest for a third straight US Open Cup. There's still a lot to do, but watching Kasey Keller hoist the Cascadia Cup in front of Seattle's traveling support gave the impression that the captain's trophy-hoisting arm is just getting warmed up.
Sep 24 11:06p by Aaron Campeau