After failing to score on a bevy of chances in the first leg, Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid doesn't believe his team will panic when they head to Houston for the return match in their Western Conference Semifinal Series. Although Sounders FC did not find the net at home Thursday night, the team's strong road form leaves them thinking they have a good chance to advance with a victory in Houston on Nov. 8.
"Getting a draw on the road is good for them, but we've been a good road team," Schmid said. "I look at it as we're 0-0 at halftime."
Sounders FC players felt unlucky to have come up empty. Seattle had its chances, looking especially dangerous on corner kicks and free kicks, with Freddie Ljungberg's service at the heart of those opportunities. On the other end, Seattle's Nate Jaqua was a constant threat in the air. Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad made two saves and his crossbar made another, off a header from Patrick Ianni.
"Of course it would have been nice if they would have gone in," Ljungberg said. "At the same time we are hitting the right areas of the corners and hopefully we will get a break and score three or something in the same game."
Seattle wasn't the only team that could have scored. There were several chances for either team in the wide-open match, which saw Seattle rattle off 14 shots to Houston's nine. The frenetic start of the match saw a few great chances for Houston in the first 10 minutes, a pace which held up through the entire match.
"It felt like a track meet up and down. The ball would be at one end and there is tons of space in midfield," said Seattle's Roger Levesque, who nearly gave Seattle an important goal on the last play of the game. "Just a wide-open game. I think both teams were going at each other, trying to throw that knockout punch."
Not to be lost in the match was an excellent performance by Jaqua. Finishing off the regular season with two goals in the final two matches seemed to do wonders for the big man's confidence, as he nearly scored on multiple occasions. Jaqua rose to the occasion in the absence of Montero, who had to be substituted for early in the second half as he appeared to be limited by the after effects of a minor illness.
"I said 'give me as many minutes as you can,'" Schmid said of Montero. "In the second I could see he was making the effort, but I saw him start to drag, so thought best to get fresh legs in."
Moving to striker for the stretch run of the match, Jaqua looked as active as he had all season, despite the bloody bandage he sported for the majority of the game. Jaqua was kicked in the head by Ricardo Clark during the run of play, an indication of the physical nature of Thursday night's skirmish.
"It just kept bleeding. They put a little band-aid on it but I had a header and knocked it off, started pouring blood again," Jaqua said. "So [the bandage] is kind of better because it kept the swelling out and pulled it back so that I could see."
The wound was also eerily similar of the wound Jaqua suffered against Houston during the U.S. Open Cup semifinal between the teams, which also bled profusely. Schmid commented that his player "seems to get wrapped up every time we play them."
In that U.S. Open Cup match, Jaqua also fought through a bloodied head to score a late goal. He almost did the same Thursday night, fighting off the physical challenge of his marker to direct a powerful header towards Houston's goal. Onstad was on hand to make the reaction save, but Jaqua had more to contribute before the night was finished.
Chasing down a long ball from midfield, Jaqua held off two defenders to score the apparent opener. However, referee Ricardo Salazar had whistled the play dead for a foul on the delivery, nullifying the opportunity but failing to give a yellow card to the player who had committed the foul. Among other decisions, that sequence left Schmid befuddled.
"I'm confused," Schmid said. "A lot of calls I was confused about. (Jaqua is) in on a breakaway, calls a foul, and calls the ball back and doesn't card the guy. It's confusing."
Jaqua also had his hands full defensively, tracking back to keep an eye on Houston's left midfielder Brad Davis. While Davis did swing in a number of dangerous free kicks, Jaqua's efforts helped minimized the danger as Seattle kept its defensive shape -- and the shutout.
"We hit the crossbar on the header. We had lots of balls that were close. Home or away, we're going to the get same opportunities," Schmid said. "They're a good team. They're going to battle and fight. I feel confident we can do the job in Houston as well."
Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
