Ljungberg gets to his feet after being taken down inside the
box in the first half. He missed the penalty kick shortly after.
Aaron Weinberg/NSS
Down a goal and playing defense like a sieve, the Sounders exploded out of the second half with renewed energy but couldn't do anymore than tie the Crew 1-1 tonight at Qwest Field.
"I thought we had some chances, but I was disappointed in terms of our team's focus at times," head coach Sigi Schmid said. "I thought we got overly concerned about the referee and weren't concerned enough at times about our play."
The biggest tussle with the referees came in added time of the second half when defender Tyrone Marshall was given a red card after a skirmish with a Crew player, resulting in Marshall giving him an elbow to the face and receiving a ticket out of the game.
To continue...
Marshall said it was in response to an earlier attack.
"Being the competitor that I am, I'm not going to take that," he said. "Tough situation to be in, obviously, because we've been taking a lot of red cards. And it seems like we're not disciplined, but I don't think that's the case. I think we've been getting some unfair calls, really."
The Crew started off the scoring early in the 12th minute as forward Alejandro Moreno scored on a header from forward Pat Noonan's lob pass over Seattle's defense.
The play came on the heels of a Jhon Kennedy Hurtado penalty, which gave the Crew a free kick at the center of the field. The two forwards beat the entire Sounders defense, and goalkeeper Kasey Keller was out of position to stop the header, as he was watching Noonan on the right side.
Defender Tyson Wahle, who Schmid started in place of Nate Sturgis, was defending Noonan on the play.
Schmid said he made the switch from Sturgis to Wahle due to Wahle's impressive practice of late and his ability as a natural left-footer.
"I thought he hit some good passes out, especially in the first half," Schmid said. "We felt that was a part of our defense, and we wanted to make a change."
After playing with more energy and a more vibrant, attacking style in the second half, the Sounders got their tying goal in the 58th minute.
Receiving a cross from midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, forward Nate Jaqua caught the ball in the air and sent a rocket into the upper left corner of the Crew goal for his third goal of the year.
It came minutes after midfielder Peter Vagenas sent a shot just high of the goal.
Both teams were able to get some shots on goal late in the second half. Seattle's best came in the 75th minute when Columbus was called for a penalty just outside the penalty box, giving Seattle a free kick.
After a couple minutes of arguing and tussling, and two yellow cards issued to Crew players, Seattle's free kick amounted to one shot and no goal.
It seemed almost too close as Ljungberg didn't have the right angle to get the ball over the heads of the Crew defenders, who blockaded the goal, making sure no shot could sneak past. His shot hit a Crew defender and deflected out of bounds.
Ljungberg had a chance earlier in the game as well, kicking a penalty kick wide in the first half.
Schmid said he hadn't instructed Ljungberg to take the kick but figured either he or Vagenas would take the kick.
"Freddie grabbed the ball; we have confidence in him," he said. "You make penalties, you miss penalties. It's just one of those things."
Seattle falls to 4-2-5 with the tie and will next play Chivas USA 7:30 p.m. June 6 in Carson, Calif.
Reach Jeff Richards at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
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