In the 89th minute, Sounders FC found themselves down 0-1 at Sporting KC thanks to a 20th minute goal by Kei Kamara and all signs were pointing to a road loss and an extension of SKC’s 14 game unbeaten streak.

Then magic began. Servando Carrasco set up Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales in the box, and through his deftness got past two KC defenders who went to ground. Rosales then slid the ball past another defender and KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen in the 90th minute for the equalizer.

2 minutes later, in injury time, the momentum that had swung in favor of Seattle, swung even more. With a right-side attack that started with James Riley, Rosales pushed the ball up the flank and fed Mike Fucito at the top of the 18. After dumping the ball to Lamar Neagle, the local boy gave Seattle the game winner has he slipped the Sounders’ second goal past Nielsen in less than two minutes.

Seattle improves to 11-5-8 (41 points) on the season.

The Sounders next play Chivas USA at CenturyLink on the 13th. Kickoff is set for 1p.

Scoring Summary:

KC – Kei Kamara (Matt Besler) 20′
SEA – Mauro Rosales (unassisted) 90′
SEA – Lamar Neagle (Mike Fucito) 92

Seattle Sounders FC – Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl, Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan 55′), Fredy Montero (Mike Fucito 55′), Roger Levesque (Lamar Neagle 68′).

Substitutes Not Used: Josh Ford, Patrick Ianni, Erik Friberg, Nate Jaqua.

TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 3.

Sporting Kansas City – Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, Matt Besler, Julio Cesar, Seth Sinovic, Kei Kamara (Chance Myers 82′), Birahim Diop, Graham Zusi, Jeferson (Luke Sassano 39′), Omar Bravo, C.J. Sapong (Teal Bunbury 65′).

Substitutes Not Used: Soony Saad, Eric Kronberg, Daniel Cyrus, Milos Stojcev.

TOTAL SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 9; OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 3.

Misconduct Summary:
KC – Birahim Diop (caution; Reckless Tackle) 37′
KC – Omar Bravo (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 59′

Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: Frank Anderson; James Conlee
4th Official: Fotis Bazakos
Attendance: 17,493
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: 93-degrees and sunny

Post Match Quotes at the Bottom..

GoSounders is very lucky to be able to provide you Chris Coulter’s great shots again. SoundersPhotos.com was on hand at Saturday’s victory for the Sounders over Sporting KC.

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All images © thanks to Chris Coulter and SoundersPhotos.com

Sounders FC vs. Sporting Kansas City Postgame Quotes

Sigi Schmid – Sounders FC Head Coach

(General Comments…) “It seems like every time we play these guys we get a last minute goal here at home. We’ll take it. One minute, one moment like that changes everybody’s mood. Today, with us trying to play a little bit of a different system, I thought at times we held the ball well, but at other times we were a little bit disjointed. We wanted to come, obviously, with some offensive players at the end to try and get the goal. I thought we put a little more pressure on them in the second half in that regard. Can we play better? Yes. Do we like the three points? Yes.”

(On scoring on a set play…) “It’s one of the things we talked about before the game. Before the game we talked about how we wanted to get goals off corners and free kicks. Those things change games. When games are tight they make a difference. Over a season’s time, if you can get 6-10 goals over the course of a season, it makes a difference. You can swing a game here or there. We actually pointed out a couple guys and said, ‘When was the last time you scored off a header, off a kick and got a goal.’ They said a couple season ago, maybe longer. That was the guy (Parke) who scored the goal, so maybe I should pick someone else for the next game. Those things tip the scale in tight games.”

(On team being flat…) I don’t think we’re emotionally flat or anything like that. I think Omar Bravo coming back to their team helped their team. Omar did a good job not only offensively, but also trying to bottle up Ozzie in the midfield. And Carrasco and Fernandez with the slightly different roles, they didn’t come to grips with it right away. I don’t think emotionally we were below par. I thought we were there.”

(On center back position…) “It’s a situation where we have three very good center backs in Parke and Ianni, and Hurtado. We have three games here in a week, so we’ll probably play each of them a couple games. We got a shutout tonight, so that was good. They each bring something good slightly different to the table. It’s more rotation than anything else. Roger has been playing well at practice. Nate may be at a physical lull right now, trying to get fit and in shape and it’s causing his touch to be off, so we decided to switch it around.”

(On Carrasco…) “He was playing on the right side of the midfield and he was supposed to pinch in a little bit, but he went out wide all the time it seemed like and that brought Flaco in all the time. We need better balance there sometimes. Carrasco’s outside and sometimes he’s inside, but he’s a rookie and he’s still learning, but he gives you everything he has when he’s steps on the field and he makes more good decisions than bad ones.”

(On injured players…) “OB (O’Brian White) was in the locker room before the game. Steve (Zakuani), because of his (late) arrival, wasn’t in there before the game because by the time he got here, it was a little later and he didn’t want to take away from our preparation. They had some time with O’Brian and I know they want to spend some time with Steve and talk to him. It’s like having a family member who’s sick. You want to see him healthy again.”

(On defense…) “I thought they played alright. I thought Kennedy (Hurtado) was good. I thought Tyson did well with Kamara and that’s a difficult matchup as well. And Ozzie at times has Bravo, so he did a good job. Our center backs did a good job of containing the two. I thought we matched up with them fairly well. In the first half I thought there were two or three that dropped into the box that we could have done better with, but in the second half, there wasn’t much.”

(On shots on goal…) I thought we were still a little disjointed in terms of how we were playing in the diamond in midfield. We were a little cockeyed with Servando wide on the right side. As a result of that, our cohesion wasn’t there. We had some good looks, but didn’t put the shots on goal. Ozzie’s shot was over the goal by two feet. If that’s on goal, it forces a save. You want to make the goalkeeper make saves, so that’s something we have to do better.”

(On looking ahead…) “We wanted to get three points tonight and that was important for our confidence as well. We’ll look at Dallas and Salt Lake tomorrow, those are our next two opponents, and we’ll get after it.”

Jeff Parke – Sounders FC Defender

(On scoring his first MLS goal since 2004…)  ”I scored a lot of goals during preseason matches and stuff like that, of course, and I’ve had my chances but tonight was finally the back of the net.”

(On how the play worked out for him to score…)  ”It took a little bit because the guy’s been grabbing me all night – either [Kei] Kamara or whoever the kid was at the end there.  But finally I was just like, ‘Ref man, take a look at this guy.’  And then he started mouthing off to me and it just kind of got me fired up because he was holding me all night and finally you saw a guy not grabbing onto me and I was able to get up and get my head on something.”

(On the defensive effort tonight…)  ”It is good to see their two players get taken off.  They’re good players and they can come at you at any time of the game so it’s important for us to be solid and those guys are good players and tonight I thought the defense and the back four, back five did real well.  Kasey [Keller] did well and as a team, I thought we deserved the points.”

(On if there was extra motivation being back in the starting lineup…)  ”Yeah, it’s nice to be back.  I don’t know if it’s extra but it’s good to get the points and the goal, obviously.”

(On what he felt when the ball went in…)  ”It took a little bit.  I kind of looked over like this and was watching it and it skipped and I was like, ‘Come on, get in there!’ Then finally – it was definitely a little bit of an outer-body experience because I don’t score that often – so once it hit the net, I [thought], ‘What do I do?’ Everything left the head, I just looked and saw my guys on the sideline and I took off after them.”

Kasey Keller – Sounders FC Goalkeeper

(On the win…) “That’s why you play 90 minutes and you don’t leave the stadium early. You just keep going and put the ball in the back (of the net) and that’s what will happen. It was obviously a great ball from Tyson and Jeff–I’m sure you’ve all heard, Sigi called him out and asked when the last time he had scored–and now he’s scored. It’s great for Jeff, great for the team and obviously the fans. Everybody gets to leave now all excited. It’s good for us. It was nice to get that late goal.”

(On the game, continued…) “You got a team that’s struggling a little bit, finding ways not to get results. It thought they played well. They came with a purpose and executed that. Teams that can score goals off free kicks always give themselves an opportunity to win games. I always want to be on a team that’s in that plus category.

Mike Fucito – Sounders FC Forward

(On the importance of Jeff Parke’s winning goal…)  ”It was great.  We had talked before the game about how free kick goals are important and we’re a team that is capable of capitalizing on chances like that.  Parke was able to get up and get one finally and whether it’s the first minute or the 90th minute, we can always take advantage of those.  Parke did great on that.”

(On if he thought he would get a goal after having some chances…)  ”I was close.  I hit that one off the corner pretty well that got blocked and then the other one on my right foot.  But they’ll come, they’ll come.”

(On if there’s any thought in his head about beating Kansas City in the final minutes like last year…)  ”I mean, a little bit but it’s a game and we just wanted the three points, wanted to score that goal.”

Mauro Rosales – Sounders FC Midfielder

(On what made getting a goal today difficult…)  ”They (Kansas City) came here and they were OK with one point and they played for draw and made it difficult for us to play without space but we didn’t surrender to the last minutes.”

(On how his injury felt…)   ”It was OK.  I felt very good during the week and I talked with the coach and I said, ‘I want to play because I felt like I [could].’  It was a good chance to play against this team and to prove that I’m OK. It was fine.  I felt OK.”

Peter Vermes – Sporting KC Head Coach

(On his impression from the match…) ”I think we played a very good match tonight. We’re very organized and disciplined and didn’t give anything away. It is very disappointing to walk away from here tonight without a point.”

(On his reaction to the goal by Seattle…) ”I will have to wait til I see the replay. I really haven’t had a chance to see it yet. I’m not sure if [Jeff] Parke was wide open or not. It may have been someone missing their assignment but I have to go back and watch it.”

(On hoping for a draw tonight…) ”Absolutely, hundred percent. They had one chance in the second half and our guy made a great tackle. Easily should have been a draw, especially since we are playing away from home. We were organized in the way we played and disciplined in our assignments and worked very hard.”

(On playing so many road games to start the season…) ”It is always difficult but even more so when you play games like this. To lose a game like this when you work so hard for 90-plus minutes is difficult.”

(On his players being fatigued from playing so many road game…) ”I don’t necessarily think so. It would be nice to play at home every once in a while but that is not going to happen for a couple of more games. When you travel you lose a day on preparation and recovery.”

(On his reaction to the crowd…) ”Excellent, this is a great place to play. The crowd is always a big factor in the game. I think our team did a great job not letting it affect them in the way the game was played.”

Davy Arnaud – Sporting KC Midfielder

(On his impression of the match…) ”I thought we deserved something out of the game today. We defended well, we didn’t give them any legitimate chances, and anything they got was on set pieces. We worked so hard for each other defensively and stuck to our game plan and we deserved to get a point out of this game. It hurts to give up a goal like that. The worked we put in we deserved something out of it.”

Jeff Parke rose above the rest for Saturday's winning goal. (Chris Coulter photo)

It was the unlikeliest of offensive combinations that led to Seattle’s 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

After initial confusion over whether Seattle won a throw-in or corner kick in the waning minutes of the match, Tyson Wahl‘s eventual kick from the corner was headed home by defender Jeff Parke to give Seattle a 1-0 victory over Kansas City in dramatic fashion.

**View Photo Gallery**

The win improves Seattle’s record to 4-3-5. The 17 points puts the Sounders in 2nd place in the Western Conference

Release

Jeff Parke’s header in the final minutes of second-half stoppage time lifted Seattle Sounders FC to a dramatic 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night in front of 36,098 fans on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

With the victory, Sounders FC (4-3-5, 17 points) jumps from fifth to second in the MLS Western Conference standings and extends its unbeaten streak to three games (1-0-2). Seattle has lost just once in its last 10 matches.

Sporting Kansas City (1-6-1, 4 points) has lost five in a row and falls to 1-4-0 all-time in the regular season series with Sounders FC.

Parke’s game-winner came in the third minute of stoppage time when Tyson Wahl sent a corner kick into the box. Wahl’s cross found Parke, who managed to slip through the defense of Kansas City and connect with an 8-yard header that snuck inside the far post.

The goal was Parke’s first as a member of Sounders FC and his first since June 12, 2004, his rookie year with New York. Parke has two goals in his seven MLS seasons and tonight’s was his first game-winner.

Wahl earned his first assist of the season and his first game-winning assist of his career.

Sounders FC held an advantage in total shots, 12-7, but managed to put only two on goal.

Kasey Keller earned recorded three saves, including the vital diving stop in the fifth minute. It was his 24th career shutout and third of the season.

In the game’s fifth minute, KC midfielder Ryan Smith got off a shot from the right side but Kasey Keller made a diving stop. Omar Bravo’s rebound attempt was also stopped by Keller.

In the 20th minute, Sounders FC midfielder Alvaro Fernandez lobbed pass over multiple Sporting defenders to Mauro Rosales, whose header went just over the crossbar.

Rosales swung a cross from the right side into the box for Fernandez in the 34th minute but his attempt at a header on goal was defended away for a corner kick.

Seattle midfielder Osvaldo Alonso pounded a shot from 28 yards out in the 35th minute but missed just over the crossbar for a goal kick.

Rosales, Sounders FC’s co-leader in assists, returned to the starting lineup and saw action for the first time since aggravating a hamstring injury on May 4 at DC United.

It was the 38th consecutive sellout at Qwest Field for a MLS regular season or playoff match.

Sounders FC will complete their three-match home stand on May 25, hosting defending MLS Western Conference champion FC Dallas at 7 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

Scoring Summary:
SEA — Jeff Parke 1 (Tyson Wahl 1) 93+

Sporting KC– Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, Craig Rocastle, Ryan Smith (Chance Myers 86), Kei Kamara, Davy Arnaud, Omar Bravo (Graham Zusi 76), Teal Bunbury (C.J. Sapong 73).

Substitutes Not Used: Birahim Diop, Julio Cesar, Luke Sassano, Eric Kronberg.

TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Davy Arnaud 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 15 (Teal Bunbury 3, Craig Rocastle 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4 (Omar Bravo 2, Graham Zusi 2); SAVES: 1 (Jimmy Nielsen 1)

Seattle Sounders — Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl, Servando Carrasco (Nate Jaqua 55), Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez, Mauro Rosales (Mike Fucito 69), Fredy Montero (Patrick Ianni 89), Roger Levesque.

Substitutes Not Used: Erik Friberg, Lamar Neagle, Zach Scott, Terry Boss.

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Mike Fucito 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Alvaro Fernandez 1, Jeff Parke 1); FOULS: 14 (4 tied with 2); OFFSIDES: 1 (Fredy Montero 1); CORNER KICKS: 8 (Mauro Rosales 3, Tyson Wahl 3); SAVES: 3 (Kasey Keller 3)

Misconduct Summary:
SEA — Alvaro Fernandez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 44
KC — Ryan Smith (caution; Dissent) 49
SEA — Servando Carrasco (caution; Tactical Foul) 51
SEA — Mauro Rosales (caution; Reckless Tackle) 64
SEA — Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Tactical Foul) 84

Referee: Geoff Gamble
Referee’s Assistants:-Corey Rockwell; Eric Proctor
4th Official: Drew Fischer
Attendance: 36,098
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Cloudy-and-53-degrees

After missing the last five games, KC’s Designated Player Omar Bravo is listed as probable following a recovery from a sports hernia. He is expected to be available for selection on Saturday to bolster a Sporting KC attack that has been shutouttwice in the last four matches after opening the year with eight goals in the first three games. Sporting KC has not won since their 1st match of 2011.

Saturday’s match against the Rave Green will be the first of three matches that Sporting KC (1-5-1) will play in the next 8 days.

The Sounders (3-3-5), meanwhile, enter in fifth place in the Western Conference and have lost just once in their last nine matches. With a victory, Seattle can jump to second in the West.

In the all-time series between the two clubs, the Sounders lead 3-1-0. Sporting KC handed the Sounders their first-ever MLS defeat at Qwest Field, but have lost the last three MLS matches between the two teams.

For Seattle, Mauro Rosales and Erik Friberg are noted as questionable for the match, but both have trained at full strength in this week’s training. Brad Evans, who leads Seattle with 3 goals, is noted as questionable as well, but in more unlikely than Rosales and Friberg.

Scouting Report: vs Sporting KC from Seattle Sounders FC on Vimeo.

Local TV: KONG 6/16
Local Radio: 97.3 KIRO FM
Talent: Arlo White and Erin Mayovsky (sideline)
Pregame Talent: Chris Egan with Alan Hinton (TV); Matt Johnson with Jimmy Gabriel (radio)

Spanish Radio: La Gran D 99.3 FM
Talent: Rene Aleman, Victor Hernandez and Noe Menendez

The win secured Seattle’s (13-9-6, 45pts)  inclusion in the 2010 MLS Playoffs.

Nyassi broke the scoreless tie when he followed up his first blocked shot attempt to score the match’s first goal. The play was setup by a pass by Nate Jaqua who entered the match the minute before. The goal was Nyassi’s second of the last two MLS games, and including the US Open Cup Final, was his 4th in 3 matches.

The eventual game winner by Fernandez came in the 78th minute as he slid a left footed shot underneath KC Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.

The Sounders gave up a Penalty Kick in the 84th minute when a foul was whistled on Jeff Parke for a foul in the penalty area.

Seattle is now 9-1-2 in their last 12 MLS matches.

Sounders FC became the third team in MLS history to qualify for the playoffs in its first two seasons. Chicago and Miami both achieved the feat in 1998 and 1999.

Seattle has won its last four league matches and is 9-1-2 in its last 12. It has surpassed the 2009 win total.

Scoring Summary:

SEA – Sanna Nyassi (Nate Jaqua) 66
SEA – Alvaro Fernandez 78
KC – Davy Arnaud (penalty kick) 84

Kansas City Wizards – Jimmy Nielson, Michael Harrington, Jimmy Conrad, Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, Davy Arnaud, Jack Jewsbury (Graham Zusi 73), Craig Rocastle (Birahim Diop 85), Kei Kamara, Ryan Smith (Josh Wolff 68), Teal Bunbury.

Substitutes Not Used: Eric Kronberg, Korede Aiyegbusi, Stephane Auvray, Jonathan Leathers.

TOTAL SHOTS: 18; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 1.

Seattle Sounders FC – Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Sanna Nyassi (Tyrone Marshall 89), Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan Sturgis, Steve Zakuani (Alvaro Fernandez 75), Fredy Montero (Nate Jaqua 65), Blaise Nkufo.

Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Tyrone Marshall, Zach Scott, Mike Seamon, Mike Fucito.

TOTAL SHOTS: 8; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 2.

Misconduct Summary:

SEA – Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Persistent Infringement) 28
SEA – Fredy Montero (caution; Delaying a Restart) 61
KC – Teal Bunbury (caution; Reckless Foul) 63
KC – Davy Arnaud (caution; Reckless Tackle) 81
SEA – Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless Foul) 81

Referee: Kevin Stott
Referee’s Assistants: Bill Dittmar; Brian Poeschel
4th Official: Mark Kadlecik
Attendance: 11,522
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 75-degrees

The match provides Sounders FC (12-9-6, 42pts) an opportunity to clinch an MLS Playoff spot; if Seattle manages a single point against the Wizards, the Rave Green’s passport to the Postseason has been stamped. For Kansas City, it is almost a time for desperation. They find themselves 7 points behind San Jose with only 4 matches left.

Sigi Schmid’s boys have won their last 3 MLS matches, 2 of which were on the road in Chicago and Columbus. And the Sounders are sporting an 8-1-2 record in league games over their last 11 matches. Over the last 15 MLS and US Open Cup matches, the Sounders have lost once.

The two clubs met back in April; a thriller of a match in which Sounders FC walked away the victors thanks to a stoppage-time goal by Mike Fucito.

Kickoff is set for 530p and will be aired on KONG 6/16.

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.