Sounders put on a late show in front of a record crowd. Defeat Earthquakes 2-1.

By Money Mike

Last night, a record crowd of 64,140 fans came to CenturyLink Field to pay tribute to one of the greatest goalkeepers in the game, Kasey Keller. The Sounders played their final regular season home match of the 2011 season, taking on the San Jose Earthquakes who were playing for pride after already being eliminated from the playoffs. The fans were treated with yet another come-from-behind win for the Men in Rave Green as they scored two goals in the last eight minutes of the game to defeat the Quakes by a score of 2-1. The Sounders still have another home match on Tuesday as Mexican side Monterrey in the final CONCACAF Champions League group stage match for 2011-2012. Following that match the Sounders will head to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California to close out the regular season against Chivas USA.

10 minutes into the game, the Quakes nearly caught the Sounders ball watching. Simon Dawkins took the corner kick from the far hash mark and the initial cross looked like it was for Chris Wondolowski at the near post, but he mistimed his jump. Khari Stephenson's follow up was blocked by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and the ball rolled past Ozzie Alonso who just stood there instead of trying to clear it away and Wondolowski ended up shooting it just wide.

In the 13th minute, Ozzie Alonso may have scuffed what looked like a volley towards goal. The ball fell in the box to Fredy Montero who made a nice cut inside on Jason Hernandez before being clipped near the thighs by Hernandez, but referee Michael Kennedy decided not to point to the penalty spot. I've looked at the replay a few times and seriously, this is why FOX Soccer will give up their rights to NBC following the end of the 2011 season. They said Kennedy got the decision right. Give me a break. I looked at the replay over and over again and Hernandez definitely caught Montero, so unless he got the ball first, that should've been a foul and that should've been a penalty.

In the 19th, Khari Stephenson, who scored a wonder goal against the Sounders in the first meeting back on April 2nd, decided to test Keller from about 29-yards out (Once again, it's from my point of view, in which case I may be wrong). Kasey Keller dived to his right to parry it away. Stephenson this year has put together the best season of his MLS career, making 30 appearances, scoring 5 goals and assisting in 3 other goals. The Earthquakes have been switching things around in the second half of the season because of key players being injured and making trades and stuff. They traded Brandon McDonald to D.C. United in late June. Ryan Johnson was traded to Toronto FC for Nana Attakora, Alan Gordon and Jacob Peterson. Edmundo Zura was acquired on loan from El Nacional, but his loan deal was terminated after one match because of his lack of fitness. Alan Gordon only made two appearances since his move from Toronto before undergoing season ending surgery. Scott Sealy has been missing. Steven Lenhart took a family leave of absence, which was a huge blow for their attacking game. Everything just backfired for this team. I think the San Jose Earthquakes are a better team than this and despite being a Sounders fan and all, I think it's a little disappointing to see them miss out on the playoffs because there's a lot of talent on that team.

In the 24th minute, San Jose capitalises on a costly mistake by defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Brad Ring tried to flick the ball on for Chris Wondolowski, but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado gives it right back and Rafael Baca sent Wondolowski away. Wondolowski takes two big touches, slows down a bit in the process, and calmly slides the ball into the corner past Keller for his 15th goal of the season. The Sounders, pretty much the entire first half, made a bunch of sloppy and unnecessary passes like last week in their 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union.

In the 65th minute, a horrible pass by Patrick Ianni nearly resulted in a second goal for the Earthquakes. Ianni tried to pass the ball back to Kasey Keller with Khari Stephenson in his face he completely made a mess of it. Keller came off his line to deny Stephenson. The ball then fell to Chris Wondolowski who made a move, then had a go on his left foot and Keller made another save. Simon Dawkins then had a try and was also denied before the Sounders could finally clear the ball away. Both the center backs for Seattle had a terrible game, mainly because of the crappy passing. Hurtado's giveaway leading to the opening goal by Wondolowski and a giveaway by Ianni which nearly resulted in a second goal.

The Sounders made two big substitutions in the 64th minute, bringing on Mauro Rosales, who made his return after suffering an MCL sprain a few weeks ago, and four minutes later, they brought in Sammy Ochoa and both of them nearly combined for an equalizer in the 75th minute....

With 15 minutes to go, Rosales whipped in a very good cross to the top of the area for Sammy Ochoa whose header sailed well over the bar. Three minutes later, Rosales found Fredy Montero who was able to head the ball down, but wide of Jon Busch's right hand side.

In the 82nd minute, Mauro Rosales and Sammy Ochoa hooked up again. This time, a long through ball did the trick. Rosales sent Ochoa behind the San Jose defense with a good long ball. Ochoa waited for the ball to bounce in front of him before slotting the ball past Jon Busch and in off the left post for his first Sounders goal. Remember, Ochoa spent 5 years at Esdudiantes Tecos and scored only two goals in 27 appearances for them. I think the more playing time he gets, the more goals he'll score for this club. This guy has the potential. He is still working to get to the level where he can start a game and go a full 90 minutes because of the fact he didn't get much playing time with Tecos and hopefully by the final game of the regular season, if not the playoffs, he could make his way into the starting 11, but at the same time, he may continue to come off the bench and continue to improve on his form during the offseason.

Five minutes later, in the 87th minute, the Sounders capped off another dramatic comeback. Sammy Ochoa knocked Bobby Burling off the ball before he could clear. Brad Evans found Lamar Neagle, who quickly slotted the ball in the penalty area to Fredy Montero. Montero did very well to turn and quickly fire the ball off the outside of his right foot into the far corner of the net for his 12th goal in MLS and his 17th goal in all competitions this season. That goal also turned out to be the match winner as Kasey Keller's home finale ends in another Sounders come-from-behind win.

OK, so looking at this photo, you would think I was there, just like April 9th when the Sounders got their first win of the season and October 4 when the Sounders won the U.S. Open Cup. But no, I wasn't at this game. I had no luck on the tickets so I ended up watching this game on TV. But looking at the entire stadium full of fans to watch an American soccer game is always huge, and of course I'm talking about non-soccer specific stadiums like CenturyLink Field. And by the way, not only was the stadium built for the Seattle Seahawks, it was built with a hope of bringing an MLS team to Seattle, and all the talks about that started somewhere around the year of 2006. And I remember very well, comissioner Don Garber was interviewed on ESPN when one of the midseason matches in 07', and he talked about possibly the league expanding somewhere in the Northwest. And the fact that the Sounders when they were in the USL First Division, won the Championship that year which I believe was the reason they were awarded an MLS team. We've had a crowd like this for friendly's and international matches (with the Hawks Nest opened as well), but for an MLS game, not until last night. It's something you always want to see.

Scoring summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Wondolowski 15 (Rafael Baca 3) 24'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa 1 (Mauro Rosales 13) 82'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 12 (Lamar Neagle 2, Brad Evans 4) 87'

Misconduct summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Justin Morrow (caution; Reckless tackle) 6'

San Jose Earthquakes - Brad Ring (caution; Reckless foul) 40'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni (caution; Unsporting behavior) 48'

San Jose Earthquakes - Jason Hernandez (caution; Unsporting behavior) 57'

Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Burling, Justin Morrow; Rafael Baca, Brad Ring, Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins; Chris Wondolowski, Khari Stephenson

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Alvaro Fernandez (Sammy Ochoa 68'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle (Zach Scott 90'); Mike Fucito (Mauro Rosales 64'), Fredy Montero

Seattle Sounders FC preview vs San Jose Earthquakes. Over 62,000 tickets sold as Kasey Keller prepares for his final home match.

By Money Mike



A record crowd of over 62,000 will fill CenturyLink Field tomorrow as one of the greatest Goalkeepers in the game, Kasey Keller gets set to play in his final regular season home match of his career. A lot of folks have been chanting "ONE MORE YEAR!!" hoping that he will change his mind and return for the 2012 season. For them, and it hurts me to say this, they won't get their wish. And then people have been asking if he will be in net for the playoffs, and obviously, that's a dumb question. Keller will of course be in net for the playoffs. The Sounders on the other hand have two games remaining before the playoffs. Tomorrow, they take on the San Jose Earthquakes, who are already eliminated from playoff contention. These two teams met back on April 2 down at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose. Brad Evans and O'Brian White were the goalscorers for the Sounders, but the Earthquakes got two of their own from Simon Dawkins and Khari Stephenson and the match ended all square at 2-2. Right now, San Jose's big focus would be Chris Wondolowski getting his second straight Golden Boot, he'll be their go-to guy in this one.


Injury report:

San Jose Earthquakes - For the Earthquakes, Andre Luiz, who seriously needs to retire, has a left knee injury and he is out. Ike Opara has a left foot injury and is also out, and that's a key injury because this guy is a threat on set peices. Alan Gordon had season ending surgery, I don't know where though. Bobby Convey has inflammation on his right knee. Steven Lenhart is not injured, he has taken a family leave of absense for the rest of the season. Anthony Ampaipitakwong and Ramiro Corrales are both listed as doubtful. And Nana Attakora and Scott Sealy are both listed as questionable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Sounders, of course Steve Zakuani, Mike Seamon and Terry Boss are shut down for the season. Jeff Parke suffered a concussion last week against the Philadelphia Union and he has been ruled out for the home finale. O'Brian White still has not recovered from his second blood clot surgery and he may not be back this season. And finally, Mauro Rosales has been cleared for play this weekend after sitting out for a few weeks with an MCL sprain he suffered against D.C. United.


Looking back at Kasey Keller's 20-year career:

I tell you what, thing will never be the same without Kasey Keller. He made his U.S. national team debut in 1990 when he was still playing College Soccer at the University of Portland. With the national team, Keller picked up his 100th cap in the semifinals of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup against Canada because of the fact that Tim Howard was carrying a yellow card and would've been suspended for the final if he picked up another one in the semifinal. So they benched Howard and started Keller and the U.S. eventually won the match 2-1 after a last second equalizer by Atiba Hutchinson was ruled out for offside. The U.S. would go on and win the Gold Cup in 2007 defeating Mexico 2-1 in the final. Keller made 102 appearances overall for the United States from 1990-2007, and there's no doubt, he made some big plays for the national team, including in their second match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Italy when he made a world class save to deny Alessandro Del Piero a go ahead goal. He made 176 appearances for Milwall from 1992-96, 99 appearances for Leicester City from 1996-99 and also won a League Cup for them, 51 appearances for Rayo Vallencano from 1999-2001, 85 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur from 2001-2005, 4 appearances during his short loan stint with Southampton in 2004, 78 appearances for Borussia Monchengladbach from 2005-2007, 13 appearances for Fulham during the 2007-2008 English Premier League season and so far, 91 appearances for the Seattle Sounders since 2009.


A Tribute to the Captain:

Sounders strike twice in a 2-2 draw at San Jose

The Sounders are still due for a win after finishing level at San Jose. Brad Evans and O'Brian White were the goal scorers for the Seattle Sounders in a 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes. Nothing changed in the standings with all the draws we had this week. Only the LA Galaxy and the Columbus Crew won their matches. The Sounders were without their designated player Fredy Montero, who didn't travel with the team after having a minor wrist surgery.

Seattle nearly broke through in the 3rd minute when Osvaldo Alonso found Steve Zakuani but goalkeeper Jon Busch came out to deflect his attempt wide of the goal.

The Sounders continued to dominate in the early stages and they got on the board first in the 17th minute. Mauro Rosales, who took Montero's place, shook free of Sam Cronin and delivered a good ball at the near post to Brad Evans who beat Chris Leitch to the ball and smashed it home from point-blank range and the Sounders took their first lead of the 2011 season, leading 1-0. San Jose had a great early chance to take the lead earlier in the match when Ramiro Corrales's lead pass found last seasons Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski who redirected the ball and broke free for a shot from 16-yards out, dead center, but Kasey Keller made a huge reaction stop with his left hand to deflect it wide. However, Keller had nothing to do in the 32nd minute.

Former Reading F.C. midfielder Bobby Convey threaded a great pass through three defenders and found Simon Dawkins, and the man on loan from Tottenham Hotspur won the race to the ball and placed it neatly past Kasey Keller inside the far post to tie the match up at 1. It was also San Jose's first non-Wondolowski goal in regular season play since September 5.

The Sounders came right back to re-take the lead. Steve Zakuani sent in a high lofted ball into the six-yeard box for O'Brian White, and the third year man out of the University of Connecticut fended off Jason Hernandez for a diving header that left Jon Busch helpless. It was O'Brian White's first goal with the Rave Green. He previously made 33 appearances and scored only 4 goals during his time with Toronto FC.

Keller came up huge again on the stroke of halftime when Tacoma native Joey Gjertsen who sent free from Chris Leitch and his effort was stoned by the veteran goalkeeper.

In the 52th minute, San Jose would level it up again. Khari Stephenson intercepted a pass from Alonso and ripped a shot from 35-yards out that beat Kasey Keller, into the upper 90. And that was how it ended, Sounders-2 San Jose Earthquakes-2.


Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (Mauro Rosales, Erik Friberg) 17'

San Jose Earthquakes - Simon Dawkins (Ryan Johnson, Bobby Convey) 32'

Seattle Sounders FC - O'Brian White (Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo Alonso) 42'

San Jose Earthquakes - Khari Stephenson (unassisted) 52'

Misconduct summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Leitch (caution; Reckless Takle) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Nate Jaqua (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71'

Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 80'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leonardo Gonzalez; Erik Friberg (Alvaro Fernandez 46'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mauro Rosales (David Estrada 83'), Steve Zakuani; O'Brian White (Nate Jaqua 66')

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Chris Leitch (Ike Opara 70'), Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales; Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins (Scott Sealy 85'), Joey Gjertsen (Khari Stephenson 46'), Bobby Convey; Ryan Johnson, Chris Wondolowski