Seattle Sounders

Wizards bow out on penalty kicks

SEATTLE -- After a game that saw both goalkeepers save their teams time and time again, it was fitting that they would be completely in the spotlight at the end -- with penalty kicks deciding the match.

And it was Seattle Sounders 'keeper Chris Eylander who rose to the occasion again, stopping Tyson Wahl's shot in the seventh round of kicks and benefiting from teammate Zach Scott's final penalty to knock the Kansas City Wizards out of the U.S. Open Cup in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at Qwest Field after a scoreless tie through 120 minutes.

Seattle came out the aggressor, a predictable occurrence for the USL team that has given MLS opponents fits in the U.S. Open Cup during the past couple years -- especially in their home city. The Sounders played several long balls in the air early on, looking for the quick breakthrough. The young Kansas City visitors, starting almost none of their regular lineup, seemed content to feel the Sounders out and settle with some long, speculative efforts.

Mere minutes after the opening whistle, Seattle received the opportunity of a lifetime as Andre Schmid beat the Kansas City backline without straying offside and took a looping through ball that left him completely alone at the top of the box behind the defense. But he was uncomfortable with the touch as he moved in on charging Wizards 'keeper Eric Kronberg and nudged the ball too far to the right of the goal when he should have done much better.

Kansas City had its own heavenly opportunity in the 19th minute, as Ryan Pore probed the right side of the box before sending a low boring cross through the area. Wizards forward Mike Kraus met that offering with perfect timing from point-blank range, but Eylander seemingly read Kraus' mind to dive and smother the shot to keep the scoreboard spotless.

Pore was quite active on the right side during the right half, and his offensive mentality was equaled by the consistent threat of Sounders forward Sebastien Le Toux, who made his presence felt with both strong runs through the defense and impressive touch on the ball.

As the half wore on, Seattle seemed harder-pressed to mount dangerous efforts on goal, while the Wizards used turnovers to spring their runs downfield. But Kansas City still settled for some longer efforts on goal outside the box, so even though Eylander ended up with five saves for the first half, few of them were difficult.

Just when Seattle's offense seemed to be waning, though, Le Toux took over the game for several minutes.

First he latched onto a through ball down the right side of the field in the 38th minute, entered the box and forced Kronberg to deflect his strike wide to the right. Then in the 40th minute, Le Toux took a through ball down the middle of the field and seemed to be all alone until he went down around the top of the box after contact from behind from Wizards defender Rauwshan McKenzie. But the referee was oblivious to the penalty appeals from Seattle, while the home crowd expressed their displeasure.

Seattle ended the half with a rocket from Leighton O'Brien that Kronberg parried away to his right to keep the game goalless at halftime.

Just after halftime, Kronberg was again tested on a Zach Scott shot in the box, but he was able to sprawl out and get a glove on it to deflect it away. Then Josh Gardner came even closer to breaking the deadlock when he hit the crossbar from the left side of the box in the 61st minute.

Kansas City, who put regulars Jimmy Conrad and Michael Harrington in for the second half, again had spells of controlled possession but rarely troubled Eylander outside of more long-range efforts.

Then in the 78th, Le Toux took a ball in the box and chipped it past Kronberg right towards the wide open goal. But there was defender Tyson Wahl, who arrived on the scene just in time to volley away the would-be score.

Kansas City seemed to gain momentum after about the 80th minute and began to pepper the Seattle goal, and a shot from Roger Espinoza forced another nice save from Eylander as regulation slowly came to a close with extra time waiting.

Although the Sounders looked to be tired, they came up with extra time's first golden opportunity in the 94th minute. Jason Cascio came onto a ball in the box after a beautiful setup and lasered a shot towards the goal, but Kronberg again dove to his right and pushed the ball just mere feet outside the right post.

In the 105th, Pizarro danced across the top of the box between defenders and laced a shot that rose high and right of the goal. Le Toux again, in the 121st, got a perfect touch on the ball in the box and chipped an unprepared Kronberg but was again denied by the stubborn crossbar, which played its defender role perfectly.

Cascio then made a one-man run through the Wizards defense in the 115th minute and put his cross just over the bar.

Even in the 120th minute, a deflected free kick from Kerry Zavagnin made Eylander switch directions while the ball was in mid-air and lunge to the left to keep the game level and send it to penalty kicks.

It took seven rounds, but for the second year in a row, the Sounders reached the Open Cup semifinals at the expense of two MLS opponents, and this time a date with another USL First Division side, the Charleston Battery, is all that stands between them and the final.

Seattle, Charleston, D.C. and New England Advance to Semifinals of Open Cup

CHICAGO (July 8, 2008) – The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be evenly represented in the semifinals – and final – as two teams from the USL First Division and Major League Soccer were victorious in their quarterfinal matches on Tuesday evening.

The Charleston Battery and Seattle Sounders both pulled off upsets in their matches to advance to the semifinals, with the Battery soundly defeating FC Dallas, 3-1, and the Sounders pulling out a dramatic penalty kick shootout to down the visiting Kansas City Wizards.

The two USL clubs will now face off in the semifinals with the Battery hosting the Sounders at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C., on Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

The semifinal winner between the Sounders and Battery will become the just the second-ever non-MLS team to play in an Open Cup final since the top professional league entered the tournament in 1996. The Rochester Rhinos advanced twice, falling to D.C. United in 1996 before winning the tournament in 1999 against the Colorado Rapids.

In the other semifinal match, D.C. United will host the New England Revolution at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., as both teams won their respective quarterfinal matches. The New England Revolution survived a penalty kick shootout scare from Crystal Place Baltimore, and D.C. United tallied an overtime game-winning goal to outlast the Chicago Fire. The semifinal match will also be played on Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

The Battery and Sounders are both making their third-ever appearance in the Open Cup semifinals, and for the Sounders it will be their second straight appearance after falling to FC Dallas last year.

Luck not on Wizards' side in PKs

SEATTLE -- Whether it was a botched breakaway in the game's early minutes, numerous saves from two determined goalkeepers or multiple denials from the unfriendly woodwork, the ball flat out refused to find a home in the net for much of Tuesday night's U.S. Open quarterfinal match between the Kansas City Wizards and the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field.

But penalty shootouts do not accept ties, and the Wizards found themselves on the losing end of that ritual Tuesday night, losing 6-5 in the seventh round of penalties thanks to a save from Sounders 'keeper Chris Eylander, followed by a coolly taken final penalty from Zach Scott into the right side of the net.

Scott rushed straight into Eylander's arms after the score, and the celebration ensued as the Wizards trudged off with a tough-break loss after a 0-0 tie through 120 minutes of play.

"That's the biggest thing is just try not to think about and be confident in where you're going to go with the ball," Scott said. "I knew where I was going to go the whole time, it was just a matter of whether or not I would be the seventh kicker or not."

The Wizards played hardly any of their regular players -- although bringing on Jimmy Conrad and Michael Harrington during the second half - mainly because they need to prepare for Thursday's MLS match against the New York Red Bulls. That said, they put up an impressive fight against a USL-1 team that has made a habit of knocking off MLS foes in Seattle.

"I do think there was some very good performances within our group," Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said. "Anytime you have an opportunity to play a game that really matters, you learn from it. We had five rookies on the field, we had a couple second-year players and a couple third-year players. We had a very, very young team on the field, and I think they did a good job."

Seattle came out the aggressor, a predictable occurrence for the USL-1 team that has given MLS opponents fits in the U.S. Open Cup during the past couple years. The Sounders played several long balls in the air early on, looking for the quick breakthrough. The young Kansas City visitors, starting almost none of their regular lineup, seemed content to feel the Sounders out and settle with some long, speculative efforts.

"I think it was two different styles," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "We're a bit more direct when we get possession we like to try to get in behind and get Sebastien (Le Toux) in behind."

The Sounders got behind the defense early, but it wasn't Le Toux. Seattle received the opportunity of a lifetime as Andre Schmid beat the Kansas City backline without straying offside and took a looping through ball that left him completely alone at the top of the box behind the defense. But he was uncomfortable with the touch as he moved in on charging Wizards 'keeper Eric Kronberg and nudged the ball too far to the right of the goal.

But Kansas City had its own opportunity in the 19th minute, as Ryan Pore probed the right side of the box before sending a low boring cross through the area. Wizards forward Mike Kraus met that offering with perfect timing from point-blank range, but Eylander smothered the shot to keep terms level.

That was the theme for most of the game -- close opportunities, but nobody able to get the ball past that little white line.

"I thought our guys fought extremely hard, I thought we created quite a few chances, took a lot of shots on goal, fell a little bit short," Onalfo said.

Kronberg became a big fan of his crossbar as the night went on. The top part of the goal frame stopped a shot by Seattle's Josh Gardner in the 61st minute and then denied a beautiful chip in extra time from Le Toux, who is already set to play for Seattle Sounders FC in the MLS next season. It also stopped Le Toux's penalty kick during the shootout.

But Kronberg did his part, as well, stopping a Le Toux shot off a run down the right side late in the first half and then parrying a 94th-minute strike from Jason Cascio just right of the post.

"It definitely helps to get in the game, to make a few saves, get some hands on the ball," Kronberg said.

Extra time brought additional opportunities, but Wizards midfielder Nelson Pizarro's run along the top of the box ended up in a shot that faded high and to the right. Even in the 120th minute, Eylander had to stay focused to collect a deflected free kick to send the game into penalty kicks.

"Anytime you go into PKs, you never know what's going to happen," Onalfo said.

Le Toux and Conrad both missed their second-round kicks, but everyone else held serve until the fateful seventh round. The loss sends Seattle on to the semifinals against Charleston, while the Wizards will now turn their attention back to the MLS season.

"I think quite frankly it was an evenly played game. I think 0-0 was a fair result," Onalfo said. "And it comes down to PKs, and you know the luck went Seattle's way. I think that's the way I see the game."

Sounders visit Rochester Friday on FSC
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Sounders slip by Montreal 1-0
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TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced the USL First Division and USL Second Division Team of the Week honors Tuesday for Week 13 of the season, honoring Seattle’s Chris Eylander and Charlotte’s Jorge Herrera as the Players of the Week, respectively.