The boys from Seattle are back! For the sixth straight year the Seattle Sounders organization is heading to the semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. On Wednesday night at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA, the Sounders defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 and will now host FC Dallas in the USOC semifinals.
In front of 4,322 faithful fans, Seattle shot out of the gate and pressured the Galaxy back line early and often. Nate Jaqua was brilliant with his aggressive attacking early on and it paid off in the fourth minute. Not long after Jaqua careened a header off the far post he received a through pass from Pat Noonan just outside the box and slid it into the net for a 1-0 lead. Seattle would keep the pedal to the metal keeping Josh Saunders very busy. Multiple attacking players had good scoring opportunities throughout the first thirty minutes of the match. In the 25th minute Jaqua connected a play with Fredy Montero. Goleador turned outside of the 18 and fired a left footed strike that Saunders had no chance to save. It was really nice to see the original 2009 forward tandem having success early giving us a two goal lead.
That lead wouldn’t last long and the Galaxy would gain some momentum before halftime. In the 40th minute Chris Birchall would find Adam Cristman for the lone LA goal. The Galaxy definitely maintained good control going into half time and would carry that momentum into the second half.
As LA pressured our defensive third, Terry Boss stood in goal and came up huge on multiple occasions. The Boss man would tally five total saves in the match, and he was brilliant every time he had to step up. It’s the best game I’ve seen Terry play in goal since he’s been with the Sounders, and it’s comforting to see his improvements. He truly kept us in the lead, and gave us the opportunity to put it away.
In the 74th minute local boy Lamar Neagle revealed his class once again. Alvaro Fernandez cushioned a pass to Lamar, and he was able to one-time it into the corner. Neagle is growing his confidence and experience with each match he plays in, and he’s showing the coaching staff that their making the right choice in calling his name. This kid could be a shining star in this league for years to come.
The Sounders played with confidence and control with their two goal lead, and are now looking forward to hosting FC Dallas at Starfire on August 30th. You can really feel that the players and coaches can sense their favorable position to get back to the championship game. The team is very well prepared, playing in top form, and look to be having fun all at the same time.
I would like to conclude this recap with some postgame quotes from the coaches and players to help sum up their feelings on the game:
Head Coach Sigi Schmid:
(On being one step closer to being three-time U.S. Open Cup champions.) “We always take it seriously. Now we’ve got Dallas in the next round and we’re at home, so that’s a good thing for us. Our guys really respond to the fans and the intimate atmosphere here. I think it’s tremendous and it gives the fans a chance to see it up close and personal. But we’ve got a tough semifinal game; Dallas is a good team. Our goal is always whatever we enter; we’re going to try to win.”
(On roster expansion helping teams in this tournament…) “I think obviously the roster expansion (helps) and the reserve league as well. Guys that are stepping out there for us and playing in the Open Cup game have already played at least seven reserve league games. That’s a lot more than they would’ve had last year stepping into an Open Cup game at this point. I think it’s helped everyone’s development. Certainly when you have guys training with you more often and you got more competition in training, it allows you to build better teams.”
Forward Nate Jaqua:
(On how exciting it is to have made it this far in the U.S. Open Cup with the Seattle Sounders FC in each of his seasons with the team…) “Yeah, it’s great. We’ve got a good opportunity now. I think we have the game here at home again. It’s fun playing here. I love it. I love the fans that come out. I’m looking forward to it.”
(On the match…) “I was able to get that first one early and I had a couple of other ones I would have liked to put away, but that’s how it goes sometimes. The bottom line is that we got the win and we’re moving on to the next round.”
Midfielder Lamar Neagle:
(How quick did it take you to pick up on how the team values the Open Cup?) “Well, I was here in 2009. I wasn’t playing, but being around it and being at Starfire during those Open Cup games it was kind of cool. The things that we put into these games, you can see from our lineup that we’re going for it.”
‘Keeper Terry Boss:
(On the team’s defense…) “Our whole team did a good job but specifically the back line, Jeff and Ianni and Zach, everybody did a great job. Leo is such a good one-on-one defender. He did a great job for us. They definitely did. We didn’t break down that many times so it was nice to walk away with only one goal.”
Los Angeles Galaxy’s Landon Donovan:
(On playing at Starfire…) “I guess kind of a typical early round Open Cup game. It was a good atmosphere, it was a good environment. The turf actually played okay. And [the Sounders] were good tonight. They deserved to win.”
Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena:
(On Starfire Sports Stadium…) “The field and all of that is tough, but you know, both teams play on it. It’s fine. It’s all part of it. What are you going to do? We didn’t react real well to it technically or tactically and the better team won the game.”
(image courtesy of Seattle Sounders FC)
