Sigi Schmid – Sounders FC Head Coach

(On Michael Fucito . . .) “He has a never say die attitude. Sometimes that’s what you need on the field. Sometimes you can die with beauty and sometimes you can succeed with simplicity.”

(On Brad Evans . . .) “It has been a tough week for Brad. He takes things pretty personal and pretty deep. He was still carrying a lot of responsibility in the early part of the week. Peter Vagenas does a lot for us on the field and he talks a lot on the field so he makes people around him better. For sure, Brad is not out of our plans and he showed that by contributing on the goal.”

(On control of tempo . . .) “We needed to get some energy in the game. We had good chances in the first half that we could have scored on. I thought before the substitution for Brad they had control for ten minutes. Bringing him in changed our energy.”

(On referees . . .) “It was an interesting game from the referees standpoint. I see it both ways. I can’t say anything on the offside call on Freddie. There are some calls that I’m far away from so I’m sure he got them right. There were others that I didn’t fully understand. It was an interesting game.”

(On Kansas City near goal at end . . .) “We almost fell asleep there for a second. I actually wanted to get the sub on before the kickoff and the fourth official was dragging his feet. I think Mike was in a state of euphoria still and didn’t get back on the left side on defense. I think he’ll be in that state for the next 72 hours.”

(On bloody jerseys . . .) “We’ve called Adidas and asked for a new shipment of jerseys because we’re running out.”

(On Sounders FC offense . . .) “We’re trying to be varied in our attack and have different people pop up in different places. We stay up too high sometimes as a front four. Sometimes we become stagnant, need to be flexible and variable in our attack.”

Michael Fucito – Sounders FC Midfielder
(On game-winning goal . . .) “I remember from film that on throw-ins you always want someone to stretch. I saw Brad [Evans] had the ball and I ran through trying to stretch them. He made a great throw right in my path and I was one-on-one with the goalie. I hit it and I finished it well. It was unbelievable.”

(On emotions after the goal . . .) “That’s the best feeling in the world, scoring a goal. It was at such an opportune time. I want to thank the coaches for putting me in and giving me a shot and my teammates for their support, too.”

(On game-winning goal, continued . . .) “It’s completely different. The game matters and for it to be a winning goal means that much more.”

Brad Evans – Sounders FC Midfielder
(On Michael Fucito’s goal . . .) “We had eye contact and he made a good run. It was easy from there for him.”
(On almost allowing late goal by Kansas City . . .) “We score in the 90th minute and they almost scored in the 91st. Kasey made a great save. Teams are going to get chances and it doesn’t matter if it’s the first minute or the 91st minute.”

(On win creating momentum . . .) “It’s very good to get three points. We’re going to carry it into Dallas for a game that will be on ESPN, so you know we’re looking forward to that one.”

(On past week of training . . .) “The first couple days were tough. I took things pretty hard. Talking to other players on other teams and the coaches helped.”

(On his own performance . . .) “I thought I came on and made a good contribution. Whether it’s coming off the bench or
starting, whatever I can do to help get three points is what I’m going to do.”

Official Club Recap:
SEATTLE – Michael Fucito scored the game-winning goal in second half stoppage time to give Seattle Sounders FC a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday afternoon on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

Sounders FC (2-1-1, 7 points) bounced back from a draw last weekend at Real Salt Lake while Kansas City (2-1-0, 6 points) lost its first match and allowed the first goal of the season.

Fucito struck in the 92nd minute. Brad Evans took a quick throw-in that found Fucito on the right side of the box. His right-footed shot went past Jimmy Nielsen and inside the near post from 10 yards.

Fucito had entered the game as an 85th minute substitute for Steve Zakuani. It was his first MLS goal and it came in the rookie’s second appearance.

Evans was also a substitute, entering the game for Pat Noonan in the 70th minute. Evans now has one goal and one assist in the first four games.

Just seconds after taking the lead, Seattle’s Kasey Keller made a diving save on an 18-yard shot from Chance Myers. In the 50th minute Keller rushed off his line to deny Jack Jewsbury from 16 yards. The shutout is Keller’s second of the season.

Seattle had a goal by Evans called back in the 72nd minute due to offside.

Seattle also had a scoring opportunity in the 10th minute when James Riley took a pass from Fredy Montero on the right side. Riley’s cross found Noonan wide open in front of goal but his shot missed wide left.

Tyrone Marshall, who started the 250th match of his MLS career, dealt with a bloody forehead throughout the game after receiving a cut in the 15th minute on a challenge with Kei Kamara.

Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad was replaced by Matt Besler in the 32nd minute when he left the game with a strained calf.
Zakuani, Riley and Evans were all issued yellow cards on Saturday. It is the second yellow card of the season for Riley.

Veteran midfielder Peter Vagenas saw his first action of the 2010 season when he started Saturday’s match. Vagenas played the full 90 minutes.

Next week Seattle visits FC Dallas for a nationally televised ESPN2 game on April 22 and then plays at Toronto FC on April 25. Sounders FC is back home on May 1 against the Columbus Crew at 7:30 p.m. PT.

Sounders FC

The Wizards (2-0-0, 6 pts) are coming off a Bye Week after recording a 4-0 First Kick win against DC United, and a 1-0 victory over Colorado. With both of those wins coming from their home pitch, KC takes to the road for the first time in MLS competition this season.

KC lost on the road 2-1 to Colorado on Tuesday in a Play-In game for the US Open Cup.

Seattle (1-1-1, 4pts) returns to Qwest after walking out of Real Salt Lake last weekend with a draw thanks to a stoppage time equalizer from RSL’s Alvaro Saborio. Seattle tallied goals from Steve Zakuani and Tyrone Marshall.

Sounder at Heart's Reference Card

In Seattle’s inaugural season, the Wizards were the first team to defeat the Sounders at Qwest when KC won 1-0 on April 11. In the second meeting between the two clubs in ’09, Seattle used goals from Roger Levesque and Nate Jaqua in the final 20 minutes of the match to rally for a 3-2 win.

Quick Facts for the Match

• Seattle is 11-1-4 all-time when scoring first
• Tyrone Marshall’s next start will be his 250th
• Sigi Schmid is 14-15-5 all time in his career against KC
• Pat Noonan has 5 career goals against KC. Marshall has 4.

REFEREE: Jair Marrufo will be the Man in the Middle. He’s the ref who reportedly accepted Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s jersey as a post-game gift last season. He also ref’d Seattle’s Inaugural match against NYRB. In 7 MLS matches in 2009, he issued 24 cautions (3.4) and 2 red cards.

For those unable to make it to Qwest, the game will be broadcast on KONG 6/16 and on KIRO 97.3.

Following this match, Sounders FC will be on the road for two consecutive games as they travel to FC Dallas for a Thurday game and Toronto FC next Sunday before returning to Qwest to take on the Columbus Crew on May 1.

just read these quotes from sigi on the penalty takers… as i suspected there is a chain of command, and it looks like he doesn’t want the guy that is fouled taking the shot. but what is weird is that sturgis is one of two, and it didn’t seem like he wanted it. i applaud le toux for taking charge on this.

“We had talked and it was Sturgis and Montero unless somebody gets fouled,” he said. “Sturgis really didn’t want to hit it and Montero had been fouled. Seba grabbed the ball and at that point, when players are in those discussions on the field, I think you gotta let them resolve it. If you’re resolving it for them, you’re maybe handing the ball to the guy that doesn’t want to hit it or maybe you’re handing the ball to the guy who’s now pissed off for some reason….It went in, so we don’t have to worry about anything. If it didn’t go in, then I’d be kicking somebody right now.”

**Original post below

i am as tired of talking and reading about poor refereeing as the rest of you, i really am, but boy wass it lame tonight. i will say, that it was likely equally lame. the wizard players were as unhappy as the sounders players, in fact, i think i saw two red cards to two of the wizard coaches at the end of the match.

so i won’t go as far to say as it was once sided, but boy did it suck. it was as if this guy didn’t make it in the police academy, so he turned to rent a cop, and then he didn’t make that either… so why not exert your power trip on the pitch. he seemed to fixate on the littlest thing and was calling the match as if he was on display. even the penalty that we got, which by the way was the 3rd clear penalty that we should have got, he dramatically pointed to the spot. if i was a wizards fan, that would have royally pissed me off. the best refs go unnoticed and this guy did anything but.

ok, enough of that.

the first 20 minutes we dominated and missed 3-4 great chances, and then we must have felt like it was their turn. KC missed 3-4 great chances before the endof the half. how it wasn’t 2-2 at half, i will not know. the second half turned a little sloppy with a lot of yelling at the ref, but not a lot of great chances for either team. there was at least 1, likely 2 penalties that i thought were no brainers, but the ref disagreed. just as it looked like we were going to extra time, well montero was chopped down pretty hard. it was the typical striker kicking the ball away but the keeper coming out and missing the ball and getting all of the man. i am sure montero didn’t hesitate to go down, but it is a penalty every time.

seba grabbed the ball, but montero wanted it too. there was a bit of bickering at the top of the box and both players wanted it. it was a little silly to be honest. this should be sorted out before the match. you have your first and second PK takers already decided, and there is a hard and fast rule if the man who wins the penalty is even an option. some teams it is always the man who wins the penalty, and some, never the man that wins it. either way, it isn’t a discussion b/c it is clear. well seba won the ‘argument’ and nobody will care that there was one, b/c he went low and left and beat the horribly colored bleach blond haired keeper in the 87th minute.

all in all it was a little bit of a forgettable match to be honest. there are few performances that stand out.

hurtado shut down almost everything that came his way.

zakuani had some great runs, but honestly, his last touch seemed to always be too far and he was easily pushed off the ball in the box.

king seemed to be everywhere and he really seemed to savor the role of pulling all the strings in midfield

jaqua and montero will not be happy withtheir finishing tonight. let’s chalk it up to a little bit of bad luck, but they both could have had 2 if we are being honest.

ok, so it is houston on either the 21st or 22nd. houstons travel sucks of late. they had to ogo to charlston today, and then coming to seattle this saturday, and then toronto the following saturday, and then back to seattle that tuesday or wednesday. there is no way that doesn’t affect them some. to be this close to the final, well, we have to take that game very seriously.

ok, off to bed.

COMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SOUNDERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

Fredy Montero was taken down by Hartmann in the penalty area resulting in LeToux’s PK.

The Sounders will take on the Houston Dynamo on July 21st in a US Open Cup semifinal. That match will be at Starfire as well.

From Sounders FC

TUKWILA, Wash. – Sebastien Le Toux scored on a penalty kick in the 89^th minute to send the Seattle Sounders FC into the semifinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Wizards on Tuesday night at before a capacity crowd of 4,352 at Starfire Sports Stadium.

Seattle will host the Houston Dynamo at Starfire on July 21. The Sounders FC also faces the Dynamo this Saturday in an MLS game on Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field. Kickoff is 1 p.m.

Houston defeated the Charleston Battery, 4-0, in another quarterfinal Open Cup game played on Tuesday night.

Le Toux scored his 11^th career Open Cup goal by beating Kansas City keeper Kevin Hartman to the lower left corner. Le Toux had entered the match in the 71^st minute as a substitute.

The penalty was called by referee Abiodun Okulaja after Sounders FC forward Fredy Montero was taken down in the box by a Wizards defender. Before being fouled, Montero had latched onto a pass by Stephen King on the left side of the box.

Seattle has now won three in a row in all competitions and is undefeated (4-0-2) in its last six games in league and cup play.

Kansas City had been the only team to defeat Seattle at home this season, handing the Sounders FC a 1-0 defeat in an MLS game on April 11.

Seattle finished with a 12-6 advantage in shots and keeper Kasey Keller made only one save in posting the shutout. The Wizards owned a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.

The Wizards finished with 10 men after Santiago Hirsig received his second yellow card during added time of the second half.

D.C. United, the defending Open Cup champion, will host the Rochester Rhinos of USL-1 in the other semifinal match.

All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

Seattle Sounders FC Quotes

Head Coach Sigi Schmid

(On PK in 89th minute) “It took long enough for sure, I thought overall in the run of play we created a lot of chances in the first half, I thought we were a little unfortunate (not finishing).  I thought we created some good chances in the second half as well, Sanna Nyassi’s chance when he broke in on the right, the one that (Fredy) Montero had the left footed shot that he put wide, Steve Zakuani, the one where he cut in and put the right-footed shot over the top, those were good chances in the second half as well, but in the second half they controlled a little better the middle of the field, and gave us a little more of a fight, but they’re a good team and you always have to be prepared for that. I was happy that we hung in there, I was happy that we played tough defensively, didn’t break down, didn’t give anything away, and that allowed us to be in the position that when we were awarded the penalty we were able to take advantage and turn it into a win.”

(On seeking the Open Cup title) “It’s always about titles and you always want to win games, and all the years when I was with Columbus we never got in to the Open Cup in three years so it was a ways away and when I was with LA we got into two finals and won one of them.  So we definitely want to get back there, it’s definitely exciting and the word on the street is that it might lead to a CONCACAF Champions League spot as well so that’s important to the club.  I think our guys can for sure smell it now and taste it and obviously the next round is Houston and that’s going to be a battle, it’s going to be another tough game, but I think our team is looking forward to that.  We’re basically two steps away from trying to bring a title to Seattle.”

(On playing Houston twice in two weeks) “It’s always special to play against them. Dominic (Kinnear) is a friend, the coach, I coached Dominic (Kinnear) when he was on the world cup squad and on the national team in 1992 and ‘93 and now he’s a colleague and I’m coaching against him. But Houston certainly is a very difficult team because they have a lot of veteran players. They have a certain way of playing to get eight guys behind the ball and defend like mad.  They leave their two guys up front and look to counter and have pace and so-forth.  They’re very disciplined in their approach, they’re very confident in their approach because of their history now, they’ve won big games, they’ve won championships, they feel when they get in a tight game that somehow, some way it’s going to break for them.  But now our team, our history is not as great, we’re young and maturing but tonight was the first one where we thought we had it, thought we had it, thought we got the goal but no it didn’t come, stay in there, don’t give anything away, don’t make a mistake, and we got the goal at the end.  When we win games like that eventually we’ll build up that same character that Houston has.  It’s great to be able to play them twice in two weeks, it’s a good challenge for our team, it’s a great opportunity for our fans, to see one of the best teams in the league.”

F Steve Zakuani

(On sigh of relief with goal at the end) “Yeah I think it is – I think we had a lot of chances.  I missed one in the second half, Fredy (Montero) had one in the second half, so we knew it was kind of coming, but maybe the clock would beat us but thankfully we got a nice peek at the goal and Sebastien (Le Toux) was brave enough to step up and put the ball in the goal.”

(On chances through the game) “I think so, it’s a good sign though, when you’re creating the goals because you’re just one step away from finishing it.  If you’re not creating any goals then you’re not creating and finishing, so we came in at halftime very happy about that, considering we could keep it going in the second half we had a lot of chances, they didn’t really have much, and it was tight again and we were stressed a little bit but we got the win and now we move on to the next round.”

Fredy Montero

(On deciding who is going to take the penalty kick…) “Sebastian [Le Toux] is the official kicker in this tournament and had scored two penalty’s before. I had wanted to kick it and had asked him but ultimately the decision is up to him. It what was best for the team and we scored and that is all that counts.”

(On being frustrated on not scoring a goal despite a number of opportunities…) “Sure, I always push myself to score. I would have preferred to but what counts is we got the penalty the resulted in a score.”

Sebastian Le Toux

(On taking the penalty kick…) “I told Fredy that I would take it. I scored and we won. Coach has told it is not good to take the penalty shot when the foul is you.”

(On there being pressure to score in that situation…) “Of course there is always pressure on you. I knew I had score. I was confident and lucky the keeper did not stop it.”

(On the approach he took towards the penalty kick…) “I decided right at the start, but I was watching the goalkeeper, and watching him keep his line. I just stayed with my line and was lucky the ball went into the goal.”

(On being one match closer to the U.S. Open Cup Final…) “It is a very hard game and we have to be ready for this competition. We have to prepare for our next game which is against Houston on Saturday.”

The USL Sounders matched up with these same Wizards last year in the Quarterfinals of the USOC at Qwest Field- a match that Seattle won in Penalty Kicks.

Kansas City needed Penalty Kicks to defeat the Minnesota Thunder94-3)  in the Third Round last week. Seattle defeated Portland 2-1.

These two clubs met in April when the Wiz defeated Seattle 1-0 at Qwest Field, giving the Sounders their first MLS loss. Captain and Goalkeeper, Kasey Keller, was sent off for an intentional handball in the 30th minute.

As a reminder, teams participating in the US Open Cup may only use 5 international players (as opposed to the 7 in MLS play). It is likely that those five will be Seba LeToux, Sanna Nyassi, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Steve Zakuani, and probably Fredy Montero.

The Sounders will be without Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica) and Brad Evans (US) who are competing in the Gold Cup. The Wizards will be without Jimmy Conrad or Davy Arnaud (USA) and Roger Espinoza (Honduras).

This is the Wizards’ fifth match in two weeks.

Kickoff is slated for 7p from Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. A live audio broadcast will be available on SoundersFC.com.

If the Sounders win, they will host the Semifinal match on July 21 at Starfire against the winner of the Charleston Battery-Houston Dynamo match.

The game will be held at Starfire Sports in Tukwila on July 7th. Kickoff is set for 7p.

If the Sounders win, they will host the Semifinal match on July 21 at Starfire against the winner of the Charleston Battery-Houston Dynamo winner.

Playing with only 10 players for the final 60 minutes following a red card issued to Kasey Keller for an intentional handball, the Sounders maintained an offensive pressure through out the game.

Monroe native and Western Washington alumn, Ben Dragavon, an MLS hardship pool goalie replaced Keller.

However KC’s Davy Arnault was able to get a 35 yard blast past third string goalkeeper in the 80th minute.

Seattle drops to (3-1-0) and Kansas City moves to (2-2-0) on the young season.Seattle will head to Carson, CA next week to take on the Western Conference leaders, Chivas USA.

Sounders FC Lineup: Kasey Keller (x 31), James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Zach Scott (Sanna Nyassi 86), Sebastien Le Toux (Ben Dragavon 31), Osvaldo Alonso, Freddie Ljungberg (Steve Zakuani 81), Brad Evans, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua.

Other Recaps

• Seattle Times
• Prost America

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