Randall Hauk

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: Portland Timbers take advantage of Clint Dempsey meltdown, beat 7-man Seattle Sounders 3-1 in OT (video)

June 17, 2015 by Randall Hauk

Clint Dempsey is sent off in the 112th minute after ripping up referee Daniel Radford's notebook. Photo: Video screengrab — Clint Dempsey is sent off in the 112th minute after ripping up the referee’s notebook. Photo: Video screengrab

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that Real Salt Lake will host the Portland Timbers in the next round.

In what will likely go down as one of the most-memorable matches in the contentious rivalry between Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers FC, the visiting Timbers took advantage of a short-handed Sounders team in added time, delivering their hosts a 3-1 loss, marking the first time Seattle has lost in US Open Cup play at Starfire Stadium.

Despite the history, however, this match will likely be remembered more for the Sounders finishing with seven men, thanks to three red cards and an injury to Obafemi Martins that came moments after Sounders coach Sigi Schmid had used his final substitution. With Seattle already playing with nine men, but only trailing 2-1, Michael Azira was shown a red card for an apparent elbow in the 112th minute, and during the post-red card argument between the referee and the Seattle players, Clint Dempsey was sent off for ripping up the referee’s notebook. The Timbers would add a third goal in the final minutes to put the game away.

VIDEO: Clint Dempsey sent off

The first half gave no indication of the thrills that were in store for the 4,022 in attendance for the Fourth Round derby. None of the three officially tallied shots were on goal, with Aaron Kovar’s long shot from the left side was the lone pulse-quickening moment when it bulged the side netting from the wrong side.

Seattle made a change of jersey in the locker room, switching from their “Pitch Black” to mostly white tops, potentially to help better distinguish from the dark green of Portland as the Starfire lighting failed to keep pace with the fading sunlight.

Fortunately, the game also made a change, and fairly quickly after the resumption of play.
Rodney Wallace’s cross from the left flank looped over the Seattle defense and headed toward the far post. Just before Leo Gonzalez could get his head to the ball for a clearance attempt, Diego Valeri extended right foot high enough to poke it past keeper Troy Perkins, who was making his 2015 competitive debut.

Falling behind seemed to inspire Seattle into action, as they immediately sprung into life on the offensive end and began putting together the sincere offensive threats their possession advantage in the first half failed to deliver.

But Adam Kwarasey was ready.

Obafemi Martins charged into the area and curled a hard shot toward the far post, which was sent away by a diving effort from the Portland keeper in the 51st minute. Moments later, a cross found Kovar directly in front of goal, mere feet from his target, but, again, Kwarasey parried the threat away to safety.

The game seemed to reach a potential tipping point when Brad Evans fouled Jorge Villafana. Referee Daniel Radford, who’d already given Evans a yellow for a careless foul in the 38th minute, sent the captain off for the play, dropping Seattle to ten men.

Despite the personnel advantage, though, Portland was unable regain control of the momentum as the Sounders offered no indication they were short-handed and continued to press for the equalizer. That equalizer finally came through a corner that escaped the swiping effort of Kwarasey as ended its arc in the path of Martins, who slotted the ball cleanly past the goal line in the 79th minute.

Then the man they call “Oba!” effected yet another sea change.

Moments after Tyrone Mears replaced Gonzalez in the 84th minute as Schmid’s third and final substitution, Martins went to the ground near midfield and required attention from the medical staff. At one point, Martins attempted to stand with assistance but quickly sat back down on the turf, which brought the stretcher onto the field to get the player off and play restarted.

Without their catalyst and goalscorer, the nine-man Sounders squad found themselves being pushed back by an ambitious Portland attack and struggled to carry the 1-1 scoreline through the extended injury time beyond regulation.

While the two teams prepared for the extra soccer, it became clear that Martins was not returning to action, leaving the hosts two men down for the final thirty minutes.

Or, as it would turn out, at least two men down.

Portland started the first overtime period much the way they ended regulation, using their superior numbers to create chances, but it was ultimately another set piece that broke the deadlock. A ball delivered from a corner was cleared out of the area to where George Fochive had time and space to return it goalward. Before it could get to the goal line, Fochive’s effort was deflected, finding Wallace, who tidied up and ran to the Portland bench to celebrate in the 110th minute.

After swapping ends for the final 15 minutes, Portland continued to control play, with undermanned Seattle managing the the odd push into Timbers territory. On one such venture, Michael Azira charged into a challenge, sending Gaston Fernandez to the turf. Radford produced a red card for the play, dropping Seattle to just eight players.

That is, until Clint Dempsey snatched what appeared to be the referee’s notebook from his hand, flung it to the ground, walked immediately over to the object, picked it up, tore it into pieces and threw it into the air. For his actions, Dempsey was given consecutive yellow cards and had to be restrained by teammates as he attempted to go after Radford.

Down to six outfield players, Seattle was left with no real chance to avoid the loss, nor to stop Maximiliano Urruti’s final blow in the 116th minute on a low shot from the edge of the area that got inside the post just a bit more quickly than Perkins was able to get to the ground to stop it.

For the Sounders, it was the end of a number of streaks. In the team’s franchise history, dating back to their USL days, they had never lost at Starfire Sports Complex. Their 19-game unbeaten streak would end (18-0-1). Since joining Major League Soccer, the Sounders had never lost a home game of any kind in Open Cup play (15-0-1, 1-0 in PKs). Also, this marked the first time, since joining MLS that Seattle had been defeated by another MLS team, an unbeaten streak of 16 games (14-0-2) also snapped. And between the two rivals, this was the first time the Timbers had defeated the Sounders in US Open Cup play in a decade. The last time Portland beat Seattle in the tournament was in 2005 when they were both members of the United Soccer Leagues and the Timbers beat them in the Rose City, 2-0.

The result means there will be a new champion of the US Open Cup. Portland will take their next step in a bid to win the hardware in two weeks when Round 5 is set to begin. Their opponent will be determined on June 18 when the US Soccer Federation conducts the draw.

FULL MATCH REPLAY: PORTLAND TIMBERS AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS

2015 US Open Cup Round 3: Seattle Sounders 2 beat Portland Timbers 2 in OT to add new chapter to rivalry (video)

May 28, 2015 by Randall Hauk

Photo: Charis Wilson | Seattle Sounders 2

Seattle Sounders 2 extended their early dominance over rival Portland Timbers 2 with Pablo Rossi delivering the game winner in overtime of a 2-1 thriller to advance to the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup.

Timbers 2 got on the board first, but ten minutes after Rennico Clarke headed Portland into the lead, Andy Craven finally cashed in on one of his many shots to equalize, leading to the decisive overtime.
“We just wanted to come out there with the right mentality and set the tone for the rest of the game,” Craven said.
S2 pressed early, appearing to want to dictate terms and put T2 a bit on their heels. Seattle was able to get into interesting positions several times in the first ten minutes of the match, but lacked a finishing touch, as Portland keeper Justin Luthy was kept busy collecting shots that were never hard enough to cause him too much trouble.

A huge error in Portland’s back end gave Seattle a huge chance to make the early pressure pay. In the 8th minute, Danny O’Rourke attempted to pass across the field from the right flank, deep in his own territory. Unfortunately for O’Rourke, Vic Mansaray was the only person in the area. Mansaray quickly moved into attack and slid a nice ball forward for an on-rushing Sam Garza. Garza was able to get a shot off with plenty of heat behind it, but the ball was targeted at the chest of Luthy, who parried it away with a double fist.

After the resumption of play, it was T2’s turn to make an early push to tilt the battle in their favor, and unlike Seattle did during their early aggressive play, they created a goal from it.

Portland won a succession of corners by getting the ball deep and forcing S2 captain Damion Lowe to hurriedly shove the ball past the goal line. On the second such instance in a span of just a few minutes, Blair Gavin curled the ball in nicely from the right corner, finding Rennico Clarke, who skied above everyone to meet the cross and head it decisively past Kerawala for the 1-0 lead in the 55th.

“When we go down a goal, it’s like the energy just kicks up, and we just go to another level,” Garza said.
Seattle clearly found inspiration in finding themselves behind, launching into attack mode directly from the kickoff following the Portland goal. Mansaray was the catalyst for Seattle’s biggest chance of the match when he provided another great through-ball, this time for Craven. In what seemed like a must-score situation, the Seattle striker’s shot found only the keeper Luthy after the hour mark.

A few minutes later, Craven, perhaps frustrated by the blown chance, earned the game’s first yellow with a foul at midfield.

Craven found a more-productive outlet for his energy a few minutes after going into the book. With Mansaray again delivering a great opportunity through a well-placed ball, Craven beat the Portland back line, circled Luthy, and made no mistake in equalizing for the home side in the 65th.

Though the two sides are natural-born rivals, due to geography and the history of their two parent MLS clubs, there were few signs of animosity between the players on the pitch, nor much bloodlust from the S2 fans directed toward the T2 players.

And then Danny O’Rourke emerged as the first villain in the USL version of the Cascadian melodrama.

Upon the resumption of play after Mansaray exited the match for substitute Lorenzo Ramos in the 74th, the bearded Portland right back wrapped his arm around the neck of Craven and pulled, with the action taking place in full view of the 1,737 spectators in the S2 stands. From that point on, any touching of the ball by O’Rourke was met with a chorus of booing, the last round of which came when his substitution was announced via the stadium PA after the start of overtime.

Pablo Rossi was already the S2 hero of the US Open Cup for his game-winning goal from a direct free kick a week ago. Last week, Rossi delivered just a few minutes into the first overtime to put an S2 stamp on the extra frame. This time, Rossi waited until near the end of the first overtime to send Seattle into the next round.

After both sides exchanged interesting chances in overtime, it was Sam Garza making a great individual play to escape his mark in midfield and start a rush toward the Portland goal. Garza sent a pass along the ground into the area for Rossi, but the ball didn’t have enough steam to catch up to Rossi as the midfielder moved toward goal. Rossi adjusted to move back toward the ball, turn, and launch the game winner across the area, out of the reach of Luthy and inside the far post in the 104th.

Portland managed a few chances in the final fifteen minutes, the most-notable in the 116th which was Harrison Delbridge’s header, off a corner kick, that skirted just wide of the post.

S2 had two huge chances, with Portland conceding space in the back end as they pressed for the equalizer, but neither were converted.

REPLAY: Timbers 2 at Sounders 2

2015 US Open Cup Round 2: Seattle Sounders 2 need OT to pick up first win, 4-2 over Kitsap Pumas (video)

May 24, 2015 by Randall Hauk

“I think we had more of the play in the first half, but in the second half they had the better of the play. The first fifteen minutes of the overtime, we kind of took the game back under control.

“It was a great game.

Why write a summary when the winning coach delivers one so concisely, as Seattle Sounders 2’s Ezra Hendrickson did in the wake of his side’s 4-2 US Open Cup Second Round overtime victory over visiting Kitsap Pumas SC before an announced crowd of 1,766 at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington.

In what was Seattle’s Open Cup debut, Hendrickson brought several academy talents into the team, which featured only four players — Damion Lowe, Nick Miele, Duncan McCormick, and Victor Mansaray — from a squad elected the Friday before to down OKC Energy FC 3-1 in USL action.

Coach Cameron MacDonald had used the same side in both Saturday’s PDL season-opening 2-0 win at Lane United FC and last week’s Open Cup First-Round victory at FC Tacoma 253. MacDonald made just one change to his team Wednesday night, replacing Justin Ortinau with Rene DeZorzi.

The two sides showed similar philosophies and styles in the early going, with both Kitsap and Seattle looking to possess the ball while moving into attack aggressively. Upon loss of possession, forwards pressed aggressively, providing for a fast-moving opening scene.

Though play was largely even, Kitsap looked more a threat early, perhaps benefiting from being the side that has played together recently.

After a pair of free kicks were unable to find their target and a few more well-played balls went wanting for a better first touch, it was center back Cory Keitz receiving a throw-in from fellow defender Buba Jammeh outside the corner of the Seattle penalty area. Keitz made a nice move to get past his mark into open space to launch a shot from just outside the area, but the ball found only the side netting of Saif Kerwala’s goal.

A fairly typical collision of bodies near midfield resulted in a bit of misfortune for Duncan McCormick. The young academy player was left lying prone on the turf and was ultimately removed from the match, unable to return and visibly frustrated with his situation while relegated to spectator.

Aaron Long replaced McCormick for Sounders 2.

McCormick would later report via Twitter that he was okay and ready to move forward.

https://twitter.com/DuncanM32/status/601269556942807040

Once play resumed, Seattle appeared to find a level of comfort and began to assert themselves on the offensive end. Nathaniel Tonguvala, another youth academy player, used speed and smart passing to team with Vic Mansaray and Qudus Lawal on multiple attacks down the right flank. A takedown of the Sierra Leone youngster led to a foul in Seattle’s offensive third of the field. Pablo Rossi’s attempt from the resulting free kick was dangerous enough to give a thrill, but sailed just over the crossbar.

Seattle continued to build their possession advantage, giving the hosts a series of free kicks and set pieces, none of which resulted in on-target shots, but kept the guests too busy in defense to construct their own chances.

The threat of Tonguvala’s speed forced the Kitsap defense to concede him some space as he brought the ball up the right flank. In one such series, Tonguvala chipped a cross from outside the box for Lawal, who headed it directly to Mansaray, who had far too much space in front of the Pumas goal. Rene De Zorzi attempted to close-down on Mansaray and even knocked the big attacker to the turf with a right leg into Mansaray’s side, but not before the 18-year-old “Homegrown Player” was able to play the ball with his midsection onto his right foot, which he then used to tuck the ball under the charging Grosey for the 1:0 in the 26th minute.

Kitsap attempted to charge forward for a quick response, but efforts either petered out in the end via mis-targeted passes or before they could get going via turnovers in their own end, leading to a few more Seattle chances that went unconverted. The end result was a continuation of Sounders 2 owning the larger stretches of play, with the occasional Kitsap venture into the offensive half, almost exclusively through build-up play.

Sometimes, you have to try something a little more direct, which is how Mike Ramos ended up with the ball behind the Seattle defense, surging toward a one-on-one with Sounders goalkeeper Saif Kerawala. A late interjection of Seattle captain Damion Lowe intercepted Ramos’ path in the 40th. The Kitsap forward was impeded by an outstretched arm that did convince referee Katja Koroleva, even as Ramos tumbled to the turf at the feet of Kerawala. Instead, it was Lowe who was seen as the victim, and Seattle averted disaster in the biggest Kitsap chance of the first half.

Five minutes later Tonguvala again provided pivotal play, carrying the ball through the midfield area and chipping a nice ball forward that forced Matt Eronemo to concede two of three options for his defending efforts. Eronemo opted to shield Lawal away from the ball, rather than attempt to get to the ball himself or challenge the onrushing Rossi. As the ball rolled into the area with only Rossi and empty space surrounding it, the Seattle forward took the time to settle the ball and square himself for a can’t-miss shot to beat the charging Grosey and cruise inside the far post to double Seattle’s advantage shortly before the end of the half.

The second half opened with the sloppiest, by far, stretch of play. Instead of the controlled possession play both sides exhibited the first 45 minutes from nearly the opening whistle, both sides seemed unable to locate their flow upon resumption from the break.

Eventually, though, it was Kitsap, perhaps motivated by the two-goal deficit, who would eventually seize control of play.

Seattle shifted to more of a defensive and counterattacking posture in the early stages of the second half. The insertion of speedy and aggressive Andy Craven in the 59th for Qudus Lawal provided the hosts a threat with fresh legs to send long for direct, over-the-top chances in low-risk attempts at padding the lead.

Kitsap had little choice but to oblige, immediately pushing forward to try to get back into the match. Joe Masumiya, who had a brace for Kitsap last week, ended up with the ball and some working space just outside the area, but fired a grossly mis-targeted shot in the 60th. Kitsap quickly regained possession, leading Jammeh to send a cross into the middle for Jake Bond, whose header sailed just high.

With Seattle’s only offensive chances now coming on the counter and the odd free kick, Hendrickson made another tactical switch, removing the effective but young Tongovula in favor of the more-experienced Sam Garza in the 64th. MacDonald countered by sending forward Mike Chamberlain for midfielder Matt Eronemo.

The changes paid immediate dividends for Kitsap. A Ramos cross sailed just over the head of Hiroki Kobayash and bounced off the turf toward Chamberlain, who headed the ball back across the penalty area toward an unmarked Trevor Jensen. Jensen’s volley left Kerawala standing to watch as the ball struck the underside of the crossbar and landed beyond the goal line to halve the Seattle lead in the 66th minute.

Kitsap continued their second-half surge in search of another goal. Their share of possession led to the rewarding of a soft foul just outside the area. Masumiya’s direct attempt was on target, but was little problem for Kerawala, who calmly cradled the shot in his arms. Kitsap quickly regained possession, providing Ramos a shot from distance, which buzzed the crossbar, but was not quite close enough to inspire Kerawala to attempt to stop it.

Seattle continued to be on the defensive, turning away repeated Kitsap attacks. Eventually, it was Craven pressing the ball after Seattle clearances to midfield and leveraging his speed to make threatening runs that began to give the team with the lead a bit more breathing room in the late stages.

One such run presented a large enough threat that goal-scorer Jensen was forced to wrap his arms around Craven in the 81st as he was about to bolt into Seattle’s attacking half, certain to end up with a great scoring chance. Jensen, accordingly, saw the yellow card. Craven’s next run toward a long ball was blown dead so Seattle captain Damion Lowe, who was lying on the turf in front of his own goal, could be attended to.

The biggest Seattle chance of the late stages saw multiple green jerseys flowing into attack behind the Kitsap defense. In the 90th, Garza drew the attention of Grosey toward the right side and gently slid the ball across the goal mouth for Giuliano Frano who, incredibly, missed the unguarded goal from point-blank range, finding only the side netting.

Grosey quickly sent play in the other direction. As the ball bounded along the edge of the box, Garza headed it back toward Tosh Samkange and Lowe to be cleared. Both defenders made an attempt at the clearance, leading to an awkward and ineffective result, which went directly to a lurking Ramos outside the corner of the area. Ramos chested the ball onto his right foot for a looping volley toward the far post, just over the reach of Kerawala to sail into the back of the net.

Seattle had a pair of set-piece chances for a late decider, but the remainder of the six added minutes elapsed with the deadlock intact.

The brief break between the end of regulation and the start of extra time was enough to have a cooling effect on Kitsap’s late-game surge of dominance, as Seattle seemed to respond positively to having blown their two-goal lead in such dramatic fashion and immediately pushed for control of the added frame.

The first protracted possession since the resumption of play took place deep in Pumas territory, leading to a Rene De Zorzi foul that earned the Canadian central defender a yellow card in the 92nd minute.

Mores significantly, though, was the location of the foul, which saw the ball placed just outside the penalty arc for the free kick.

Rossi stood alone over the ball awaiting the referee’s whistle, took two short steps, and curled a shot just over the wall into the netting toward the far post, leaving Grosey unable to do much but turn for a better angle from which to watch the game-winner arrive.

Kitsap again tried to surge forward for a quick response and won a corner. Ramos delivered a decent ball into the area for substitute Mike Chamberlain, but the headed chance was pushed wide.

As both squads moved back toward the center of the field, a confrontation between opposing players quickly flashed into a shoving-match in the 98th, accented with plenty of antagonistic body language and shouting from both sides. Ultimately, Frano and Chamberlain received yellow cards for their roles in the dust up.

The speed and workrate of Craven had been a nuisance for Kitsap defenders since the moment he entered the match, but was not enough to get that decisive third goal, nor was it enough to prevent Kitsap from gambling a bit on the defensive end so they could press for the equalizer.

But, as they say, if you keep playing with fire…

With the ball in Seattle possession deep in Kitsap territory, Garza made a move down the right side of the area and looked to send a cross into the middle for Craven, who was about to bolt forward from outside the area into the thick of the quickly assembling scene. De Zorzi, with his back to the goal, saw the building threat and simply hauled Craven to the grass before he could escape the defender’s orbit.

Koroleva had little choice but to show De Zorzi his second yellow in the 102nd, dropping the trailing Kitsap Pumas to ten men.

Despite having the lead, Seattle did not opt to immediately go into protective defending of the 3-2 advantage, opting instead to press for a fourth goal to put things out of reach. An enormous opportunity to do just that seemed impossible to miss when Garza ran onto a long over-the-top pass to get into a one-on-one battle with the Pumas keeper. Grosey blocked Garza’s first shot, but did not get enough of it to control where it went, giving Garza opportunity to circle back around the deflection for a second crack, which he launched into the side netting.

Garza featured in the last big scene of the first overtime as well, serving as recipient of a throw-in that crossed nearly the entire width of the penalty area to find him just inside its corner. Garza sent a shot back across the area toward the far post, but skipped just wide.

After the exchange of ends, Seattle finally did settle into a more-defensive posture, leaving open the opportunity for counterattack strikes. Garza switched from scoring threat into traffic conductor, sending first Victor Mansaray behind the Kitsap defense down the right flank for a lovely ball. Mansaray’s cross couldn’t find a target.

Seattle quickly collected the ball from an exhausted and outmanned Kitsap and reset play again through Garza. Garza used the space given him by the Pumas to direct Craven forward and deliver service to the speedy attacker, with the result being a Craven-versus-Grosey confrontation that ended with a shot fired wide of the target.

The final ten minutes of play remained largely in the middle of the field, with the most-notable exception being a free kick won by Craven’s holding play in the Kitsap end, which drew a Cory Keitz foul. Rossi sought his third on a direct attempt, but his shot was too high (113.).

Just when it seemed as if the game was going to fade into a one-goal victory, a ball cleared toward midfield resulted in a footrace between Grosey and Craven just inside Kitsap’s defensive half of the field near the touchline.

“I saw him coming out early and took a quick look before I got the ball,” Craven said. “I saw that he was still out. I just figured that I needed to get the ball over his head. As soon as I hit the ball, I knew it was a goal.”

Craven did arc the ball over the charging keeper and darted around Grosey to jog all the way to the goal line and slide the goal in after the 120th mark leaving Koroleva to put an end to the evening before anyone could even attempt to return the ball to the center circle.

As if a victory in their Open Cup debut were not enough, Seattle will be rewarded with a home fixture when they will face natural-born rivals Portland Timbers 2, who traveled to Pontiac, Michigan for their debut, returning with an 2-0 victory.

Due to the Seattle Sounders’ MLS side hosting Colorado Wednesday night at Qwest Field, the S2-T2 battle is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Starfire Stadium.

Highlights: Kitsap Pumas at Seattle Sounders 2
Post-game interview: Ezra Hendrickson

Post-game interview: Andy Craven

2015 US Open Cup Round 1: Patino, Masumiya each score brace to push Kitsap Pumas past newcomers FC Tacoma

May 19, 2015 by Randall Hauk

From the very beginning of a rainy and cold night at Mount Tahoma Athletic Field, Kitsap Pumas SC exhibited their superiority over FC Tacoma 253 in Wednesday night’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup First Round match pitting the one-time national champion from the PDL against Tacoma’s brand-new NPSL side. The Pumas put their stamp on each half by scoring within minutes of kickoff in building a five-goal lead, before Tacoma were able to retrieve a measure of harmless glory through two late goals.

Pumas pounce early

With four previous Open Cup appearances and a PDL championship on their resume, the Kitsap Pumas entered the match as a heavy favorite against the first-year club and displayed why from the opening whistle. The action immediately shifted from the center circle to Kitsap’s offensive third of the field until a Mike Ramos cross connected with an unmarked Joe Masumiya, who utilized a wide-open goal to open the scoring.

The Pumas showed no sign of conservatism with their early lead, continuing to dominate possession and keeping the Tacoma midfield backed deep into their own half, near enough to the backline to communicate freely without needing to shout. Kitsap forced Tacoma into clearance mode while carrying the early play.

Tacoma’s Trio of Huge Chances

Under heavy attack, Tacoma was left with little to do but defend and look for a counter-attacking chance. In the 13th minute, Kiitsap nearly delivered them a huge one. A back pass to Cory Keitz bounced over the head of the central defender (or “stopper” as the SC apparently call their fullbacks) who was lingering at the center line. Tacoma’s Gareth Vaughn was instantly on the ball and breaking toward the Pumas goal, but the chance ended when Vaughn, with no support arriving, launched a hopeful shot from near the corner of the 18-yard box, troubling nobody, much less Pumas keeper Matt Grosey.

Vaughn and Keitz would connect again in the 23rd minute to create an almost-chance for Tacoma. A long ball into the area seemed to require little more than a routine clearance for Keitz, but his header found the back of fellow defender Buba Findi’s head, putting the ball again in Vaughn’s path. And, again, Vaughn opted to shoot early with less-than-dangerous results.

In the 27th minute, Tacoma goalkeeper Ryan Herman. a University of Washington product, took a free kick from 20 yards into his own half of the pitch and delivered it on the other side of the Kitsap defense, connecting with fellow former Husky Steven Wright, who couldn’t control his attempt well enough to avoid the gloves of Grosey.

Speed and Technical Skill Kill

Kitsap, having avoided conceding the equalizer through either errant pass or the long free kick, continued their relentless assault on the Tacoma goal, with offsides calls and defender Eli Seye playing a large role in keeping it a one-goal game.

But then Ramos struck again in minute 32, playing an onside Carlos Patino through for a one-on-one chance with Herman. Patino’s feint drew Herman into taking a diving stab at the ball, but Patino lightly danced around the outstretched gloves of the Tacoma keeper and slid the ball into goal from a narrow angle for the 2-0 lead.

Six minutes later, it was Patino delivering the service, though not to Ramos and through a longer ball, crossing from the left half of the midfield into the path of Misumaya who was streaking through an empty right flank toward the Tacoma area. Misumaya deftly pulled the ball down and withstood a shove from behind to drive forward and deliver the third goal past Herman, which would carry into halftime.

The Early Dagger

Nothing renders a halftime motivation speech as flaccid as does a quick goal-against in the second half. Whatever Tacoma coach Filippo Milano had told his crew in the locker room minutes before, Masumiya and Jacob Bond had the antidote. Masumiya added an assist to his two goals by curling a corner kick for Bond to meet with a well-targeted header to make it 4-0, barely two minutes after play had resumed.

As Kitsap continued to play aggressively in offense, even with the four-goal lead, Tacoma began to let their frustrations show. Minutes after the Bond goal, Pedro Millan delivered a heavy tackle near midfield to earn the match’s first yellow and the first of four Tacoma would see in the second half.

Deja Vu

Patino got his second goal of the night in the 57th minute in what was nearly a mirror image of his first on the opposite side of the pitch.

This time, it was Trevor Jensen getting the ball to the goal-scoring midfielder, who again found himself circumnavigating Herman and scoring from a tight angle as he neared the goal line to the left of the Tacoma goal.

Consolation Prizes

Whether Kitsap was tired from dominating possession and running amok, Tacoma did not allow their guests to pull back comfortably, continuing to increase the physical-nature of their play and pressing for a pair of late goals of their own.

A Steven Pirotte foul stopped play in the 73rd minute so the referee could deliver the match’s second caution. It was, in itself, not a spectacular moment. However, as the referee moved to deal with Pirotte, Tacoma defender Colin Dalrymple threw his body into that of Trevor Jensen, sending the smaller Pumas player hurtling to the turf. Dalrymple was fortunate to not be sent off for what was a needless post-whistle attack.

Having evaded detection on the play, Dalrymple lent his head to Pedro Millan’s long free kick into the Kitsap box, triggering a series of attempts that ended in Steven Wright’s goal to cut Tacoma’s deficit to four with 15 minutes remaining.

Despite the lopsided score line and the dwindling play time, however, the play of the match had yet to arrive.

After Dalrymple and Matt Shaxton collected their own yellow cards for Tacoma, Kitsap earned their sole caution for an outstretched hand that impeded a ball headed into the area. With the ball placed just outside the area, Millan, who had tested Gorley earlier from a much longer distance, confidently took charge of the set-piece and delivered a lovely curling ball just inside the far post and well enough out of Gorley’s reach to finish the scoring on the night, just two minutes from time.