TUKWILA, Wash. – Vancouver held off a furious Seattle rally in the closing match of the Cascadia Summit on Sunday as the ‘Caps won 3-2 behind a goal from top SuperDraft pick Omar Salgado, who also helped set up the eventual winner.
The Whitecaps also got goals from Russell Teibert and Camilo Sanvezzo in a strong overall performance to cap a weekend that saw them draw Portland 1-1 on Saturday at the Starfire Sports complex.
Roger Levesque had a goal and an assist for Seattle, but the loss was overshadowed by a serious injury to striker Michael Fucito, who was helped off the field with a hip injury in the first half.
Vancouver staked themselves to a 2-0 lead early thanks to two Sounders mistakes. On the first, a poor touch by Taylor Graham gifted Salgado with a one-on-one with the Sounders goalkeeper Terry Boss. The 17-year-old did his part, taking on Boss and slotting the ball home at the far post.
The Whitecaps doubled the lead in the 12th minute. Boss mishandled an innocuous cross from the left side by midfielder Teibert. As the 'keeper dove to his left, the ball squirted through his arms and into the net.
Seattle attempted to regroup through defender Zach Scott. In the 20th minute, the Sounders captain for the day had a goal-bound header saved by Jay Nolly. The Vancouver ‘keeper was on his toes again in the 23rd, denying Levesque with a kick-save.
The Sounders kept pressing, but the momentum was killed when Fucito’s injury took the breath out of the announced crowd of 3,100. On the play, the third-year man was sprinting to catch up to a through ball from Zach Scott down the right sideline when he pulled up lame.
There was no contact on the play and Fucito needed to be helped from the playing surface. Expected to be a key attacker for the Sounders in 2011, the injury is latest for the Harvard graduate who missed parts of 2009 and 2010 with injury.
Levesque, playing at right midfield, scored for Seattle just before halftime. Patrick Ianni kept a ball alive in the box for Levesque, who put it away from inside the six-yard box. Lamar Neagle, who subbed on for Fucito, almost created another goal but was thwarted by Nolly.
Vancouver scored quickly to begin the second half. Boss came out to contest a long ball but was chipped by Salgado. Patrick Ianni, who had scrambled back to save the goal, watched his header fall straight to Sanvezzo, who scored easily to put the ‘Caps up 3-1.
But Seattle substitute Miguel Montano directed a Levesque cross home from close range in the 77th minute. Less than a minute later, the Sounders nearly tied the game but David Estrada’s header from extremely close range was an agonizing miss.
With stars Osvaldo Alonso and Steve Zakuani sent in for the final 15 minutes, Seattle threatened to find the equalizer with Montaño in the center of much of the action. However, despite six minutes of injury time, the final goal never came as Vancouver earned an excellent victory.
Scoring Summary:
VAN - Omar Salgado (unassisted) 6'
VAN - Russell Teibert (unassisted) 12'
SEA - Roger Levesque (Patrick Ianni, Zach Scott) 45'
VAN - Camilo Sanvezzo (unassisted) 47'
SEA - Miguel Montaño (Roger Levesque, David Estrada) 77'
Discipline Summary:
SEA - Taylor Graham (caution) 10'
VAN - Nizar Khalfan (caution) 18'
VAN - Joe Cannon (caution) 81'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC: Terry Boss, Zach Scott, Taylor Graham (David Estrada 46'), Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Roger Levesque, Servando Carrasco, Erik Friberg (Osvaldo Alonso 76'), Michael Tetteh (Steve Zakuani 76'), Mike Fucito (Lamar Neagle 40'), O'Brian White (Miguel Montaño 61').
Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Jay Nolly (Joe Cannon 46'), Wes Knight (Jonathan Leathers 62'), Greg Janicki, Michael Boxall, Bilal Duckett, Nizar Khalfan (Cornelius Stewart 62'), Gershon Koffie, Alexandre Morfaw (Terry Dunfield 64'), Russell Teibert (Jeb Brovsky 83'), Omar Salgado (Atiba Harris 87'), Camilo Sanvezzo (Long Tan 66').
Referee: Dave Gantar
Referee's Assistants: Darren Clark, Cameron Blair
4th Official: Drew Fischer
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: 49 degrees and cloudy
Attendance: 3,100
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