Seattle Sounders

Chivas USA eliminated by Seattle

For the second year in succession, the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division bounced Chivas USA out of the U.S. Open Cup.

Goals from Taylor Graham in the 43rd minute and Sebastian LeToux in the 80th minute gave the Sounders a 2-0 victory Tuesday night at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash.

A year ago, the Sounders defeated Chivas USA 3-1 in a third-round match at Qwest Field in Seattle. Just before halftime, they were on their way again.

Kenji Treschuk sent a long through ball downfield, where LeToux got behind his defender and corralled it. He went in alone on Brad Guzan, but the Chivas goalkeeper made a sliding save, conceding a corner kick.

Josh Gardner took the kick from the right side and Graham slashed through the box, meeting the ball at the near post and sending a glancing header back across goal into the opposite corner.

Chivas went close in the 80th minute. On a free kick from a dangerous area, some 20 yards out to the right of goal, Sacha Kljestan blasted a shot through that Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander went to his knees to save at the right post.

From the stop, Eylander punted the ball downfield and LeToux caught up with it. He played it on a bounce off the turf, and with Guzan also having come out to play the ball, he sent it toward the unguarded goal. Before Guzan could retreat and recover, the ball bounced into the goal for a 2-0 Seattle lead.

The Sounders will be aiming for a fourth MLS victim in two years when they take on the Kansas City Wizards in the Open Cup quarterfinals on Tues., July 8 at Qwest Field in Seattle. A year ago, after knocking off Chivas, the Sounders defeated the Colorado Rapids 5-0 in the quarterfinals before losing in extra time to FC Dallas in the semifinals.

"Because we beat (Chivas) last year, expectations were a little different," Graham said. "We feel we're a good team and can compete against any team in this country. We relish the opportunity to do that against an MLS team."

Carolina nab late 2-2 tie with Seattle
CARY, NC -- Another lead late in the match for the Sounders, another disappointing result. David Stokes scored an 87th minute equalizer for the Carolina Railhawks to get the 2-2 draw in Cary, North Carolina.

Goals from Sebastien Le Toux and Kenji Treschuk weren’t enough as the Sounders drew for their fifth game in their last six league matches. The Sounders now travel to league leaders, Charleston Battery, on Saturday at 4:30 pm (PT) for the second game of their Carolina road trip.

Coming off an exciting 2-0 win against MLS’ Chivas USA in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night, the Sounders roster was thin as Josh Gardner and Leighton O’Brien did not travel to heal nagging injuries.

Seattle came out of the gate a little sluggish and Jacob Coggins took advantage getting on the end of a Dan Antoniuk pass and scoring in the 12th minute to give Carolina the 1-0 advantage.

The goal seemed to wake the Sounders from their sleep and they began to press the action as the half wore on. The always energized, Sebastien Le Toux, caused problems in the Carolina backline and created shooting chances for Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar and Andre Schmid around the 30th minute.

But it was the red hot Le Toux, scoring his sixth goal in four matches, who found the equalizer at the end of the half. The play started with Alcaraz-Cuellar off a free kick finding Le Toux in the box; his first shot was saved but he collected the rebound and found the back of the net. The sides went into the half tied at one goal a piece.

The Sounders came out of the break searching for the advantage but didn’t find the lead until the 69th minute from Kenji Treschuk. To start the play, Seattle had a man advantage coming down the left side. Cuellar, on-ball, elected not to play the through ball to Kante and crossed into Treschuk who headed the ball brilliantly from 10 yards into the back of the net.

With the goal advantage Seattle brought in defenders Nik Besagno and Noah Merl to clamp down on the Railhawk attack, but Carolina created a corner in the 87th and Steve Curfman’s delivery found the head of David Stokes for the goal.

The late equalizer was the second league match in a row that Seattle surrendered a lead late. The Sounders gave up a goal in the 84th minute to the Montreal Impact in their 1-1 draw at Starfire on June 28.

The Sounders next home game is a big one. They play the Kansas City Wizards of MLS in the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open cup at Qwest Field on Tuesday, July 8, 7:00 pm. Tickets are $17 in advance through ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com and $20 at the gate. $15 group tickets are available by calling 206-381-7908.

Battery beat Seattle 1-0

CHARLESTON, SC -- The Charleston Battery stretched its lead at the top of the USL First Division by edging league champion Seattle Sounders, 1-0, in front of 3,371 at Blackbaud Stadium Saturday. Lazo Alavanja's 10th minute strike proved the difference, and the free-flowing attack-at-will hosts may feel they could have added more goals. But with the season's biggest game just around the corner—a US Open Cup fixture with MLS team FC Dallas on Tuesday—the Battery's confident play pleased head coach Mike Anhaeuser.

"Getting a win tonight is a big thing—it gets your confidence going", Anhaeuser said. "We're getting goals all over the field, and our defense got a shutout tonight. We're going to need all that again Tuesday."

In the hot and humid Charleston weather, the host Battery enjoyed some early possession—perhaps taking advantage of a lethargic Sounders team who were just two days removed from a 2-2 tie with the Carolina RailHawks.

"We really wanted to push the tempo and take it to them," Anaeuser said. "Seattle is a team that likes to press, even after playing three games in six days. But our guys defended well, created chances and really played a complete game. We really never gave them a chance."

Within minutes of the opening kickoff, the Battery were threatening. Seattle had barely had a touch before Ian Fuller sent a dangerous ball forward to Randi Patterson on the edge of the six-yard box, but the league's top scorer couldn't make the connection.

The Sounders responded immediately with their best chance of the half when defender Zach Scott nodded in a corner kick that beat Battery 'keeper Dusty Hudock, but not the base of the far post.

Though the hosts dominated play on both flanks, the opening goal came from seemingly nowhere. Forward Alavanja picked up the ball in the midfield 30-plus yards out, giving him plenty of time to fire a straight-as-an-arrow shot to the top-left corner of the goal.

The goal injected confidence in the Battery's attack, opening it up enough to see them fire 10 first-half shots on goal to Seattle's two. Patterson came close at least twice more, forcing one save and shanking another over the bar from close range.

It was more of the same for the Battery as the second half got underway. In the 50th minute Darren Spicer turned his defender on the right flank, before sending in a pacey cross to Patterson in the middle. Patterson was able to get his head on the ball, but he glanced his effort wide.

Five minutes later the hosts thought they'd doubled the score when Patterson turned in a clever attacking move involving four Battery players, but the score was called back for offside.

That move was again started by Spicer, who once more turned provider when he fed Mike Richardson with a perfectly weighted pass. Richardson then fired a rocket from 15 yards out that careened off the crossbar and out of play.

Seattle had scant scoring opportunities while the Battery defended tenaciously. Visiting forward Sebastien Le Toux—who is the league's top scorer along with the Battery's Patterson—did manage to latch on a long kick from his own 'keeper, but the host defense did well to mop up the danger.

Seattle forced a last-minute attacking flurry in stoppage time, but the Battery held on to stay atop of the USL First Division.

NEXT UP: Charleston Battery at FC Dallas (MLS), US Open Cup Quarterfinal. Tues., July 8. Kickoff at 8:30 PM. REAL 1340 AM / 8:15 pm.

NEXT LEAGUE FIXTURE: v Puerto Rico Islanders, Sat., July 12. Kickoff at 7:30 PM, gates open at 6:30 PM.