Nate Jaqua scored both goals in the Seattle Sounders FC’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in the US Open Cup quarterfinals. The win not only sent Seattle to the semifinals for the second consecutive year as a MLS side (and fourth straight year under the Sounders banner), but also served as revenge against LA.
TheGalaxy had beaten Seattle 3-1 three days before in Los Angeles. Jaqua’s clutch performance earned him the Player of the Round for the quarterfinals.
The award is voted on by the staff of TheCup.us and a select panel of members of the North American Soccer Reporters (www.soccerreporters.com).
Jaqua edged Justin Braun of Chivas USA for the award, who scored a pair of goals in the Goats’ 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo. Both Braun and Jaqua will face off with their respective teams in the final four, which will be held at Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila, Wash. The game will be played September 1 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
Jaqua was gracious enough to make time to talk with Matt Gaschk of SoundersFC.com about his performance:
How important was the 2-0 win over LA for the Sounders?
Jaqua: It was big. Especially since we just played them and lost to them down there , so there was a bit of revenge there. There was also the Open Cup – we’re the defending champions and it’s something we want to defend. It was good for us and got us some motivation going forward. We’re in the semifinals now, so were one game away from the final and another chance to bring another championship back to Seattle.
You had two goals in that game, how were they set up?
They were both good service. One was bouncing around and I was able to get my head on it. The other one, Miguel Montano put a good ball in. If you make good runs and get to the right spots and we get good service, we’re going to score a lot of goals.
You were fresh off an injury at that point. How important was it for your confidence to go into a game and get a couple of goals?
It was big. I was trying to carry that over a little bit and had a bit of a setback with the injury, so now I’m just trying to get going again.
How much did that help the team in starting the run that you’re on now?
I can’t really pinpoint what it was that got us playing better and playing more as a team, but that was one step in the right direction. It’s something that we are trying to build going forward every game. We’re still not playing to our potential. I think we can still improve and get better and have everybody more on the same page and be the team we can be. I don’t think we’re there yet, but we’ve definitely made some good steps in the right direction.
How close does this team feel to the one that won the US Open Cup last year?
We’re really close. We’ve got the game at home at Starfire again and that will be a big lift. It’s fun playing out there. We’re definitely close. It’s just a matter of getting out and playing at home against Chivas. If we play the way we can and get that win we’ll be in the final again and anything can happen then.
