It was home match day three in the Emerald City this past Saturday. The sun was doing it's best to peek through the clouds but the clouds would not be denied on this day.
I got downtown a bit early to secure a "perfect" parking place. For my definition of perfect parking place, see my Monday Column (March 31st). This time I remembered to bring my tickets.
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A buddy that I played soccer with and grew up with in San Jose met up with me. This was his first Sounders game so he was not sure what to expect.
We met some friends at Fado Pub and left a little early to partake in the pregame festivities and "march to the match". Upon arrival to Occidental Park, not only did I see the band and a gaggle of green but also came across a Brazilian Samba band. Europe meets South America. It was an eclectic mix of two cultures and it appeared to be working well.
Toward the back of the pack was the mighty Emerald City Supporters singing and clapping and I decided to join in as my friend took snap shots and observed the festivities with detached amusement. We then marched to the match. It seemed that the crowd was even bigger for the march than it was last home match.
Inside X-Box Pitch before the match
Again, we have loud a boisterous Saturday evening sellout crowd who again brought the noise and the rave green. Robbie Bach, Sr. VP of Microsoft X-Box, was awarded the "golden scarf" by majority owner, Joe Roth, Scarves up everyone.
After the Golden scarf ceremony it is time for the players to enter the field of battle. Is it just me or does anyone else get goosebumps when the players march out to the match with the triumphant music playing in the background walking hand in hand with the children and potential future MLS player or fan as they enter the pitch?
Key match turning point
It took the Sounders a little bit of time to feel out Kansas City. About 15 minutes into the match they started to control the match in the midfield and mount an attack. It seemed that KC was well prepared because the marking and spacing was very tight and did not allow a lot of room for long runs.
Montero and Ljungberg run down field.
Aaron Weinberg / NSS
The other thing that was apparant is that whenever Montero or Ljungberg possesed and challenged defenders one on one and sometimes one on two, the only way that KC could stop them was to throw a body on them or foul. It was very chippy out there.
At about 29:00 minutes in, Claudio Lopez deflects a head ball into the space, Zach Scott was clearly beaten to the ball through the middle by Hercules Gomez which created an almost certain scoring opportunity for the Wizards. Keller had to come way off of his line. When I say way off, I mean outside of his box. Instinctively, Keller puts his hands up, Gomez' shot glances off of Keller's hands into his chest thus saving possible goal but earning him an automatic red card.
Dragavon sits in disappointment after letting through
the first goal of the season against the Sounders.
Aaron Weinberg / NSS
Keller is out, Le Toux has to come out to bring in a new keeper. The Sounders are forced to play shorthanded the rest of the game. Enter local player, former WWU goalie Ben Dragavon. At this point, Coach Sigi Schmid obviously has to totally adjust his strategy for the the rest of the match.
Dragavon who, is not even on the permanent roster and was moved into the number two keeper spot due to an injury to Chris Eylander, probably did not expect to play. Dragavon performed admirably and came up with some massive saves but a shot from outside the box at about 79 minutes in the match by Arnaud gave KC all they needed for the win and Sounders FC first loss of the season. It was a hard strike but in this writer's opinion, it is the type of strike that the more internationally seasoned and physically larger Keller could and would have stopped.
The silver lining
This was a tough loss and even though this was Seattle's first loss of the 2009 campaign, the boys played well and with one man down continued to attack in the second half and thus created some lovely scoring opportunities. With the way that the Sounders were able to force the action on Kansas City's side of the pitch, one would be hard pressed to tell that Seattle was down a player for the majority of the match.
Most of the fans that stayed until after the final whistle showed their appreciation for a great effort under difficult circumstances.
Reach Greg Roth at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
