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Jaqua, Montero lead Seattle attack
Nate Jaqua and Fredy Montero combined on all three goals as the Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
Jaqua had two goals and an assist and Montero logged a goal and two assists in sending Colorado to its third loss of the season. The defeat snapped the Rapids’ eight-game unbeaten streak.
Montero put the Sounders on the board first during a corner kick. Freddie Ljungberg sent a corner kick straight to Jaqua, who headed the ball between Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens and Jordan Harvey at the back post. Jaqua’s header might have been stoppable, but Montero was lurking right in that space. He squatted down to head Jaqua’s ball between the two Rapids.
In the 48th minute, Jaqua tapped the ball to Montero, who held the ball at the semi-circle at the top of the Rapids’ penalty area. Montero toed the ball back to Jaqua, and Jaqua beat Pickens low to the goalkeeper’s right.
The third goal came on a quick turnaround and sealed the deal for the Sounders.
After a big Rapids flurry in the Sounders’ penalty area, Seattle broke down the field. Ljungberg started up the left flank then switched fields to Sebastien Le Toux on the right. Le Toux dribbled forward, cut inside and pushed a ball left to Montero, who tapped left to Jaqua, who fired past Pickens.
The Rapids had been close to cutting Seattle’s lead to one goal on the other end … then they trailed 3-0 in a matter of seconds.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Jaqua. He scored twice and did the hard work on the first goal, winning the initial header. Montero would be a close second, and Ljungberg would be a close third. There were many solid performances for the team in green on Sunday: goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi, Patrick Ianni. The list goes on.
MY VOTES FOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK: I voted for Jaqua for first place and Montero for second. If the North American Soccer Reporters wanted a third, I’d have chosen Ljungberg. They were that good on Sunday.
PK QUESTION: Omar Cummings, who has been fabulous in June, hit the post on a penalty kick in the 35th minute. Keller guessed correctly and dove to his left, but Cummings pushed it so far outside that Keller didn’t need to save it. In April, Conor Casey missed a penalty kick in a 1-0 loss at Houston. The next time the Rapids got a PK, in a 3-2 victory against the Red Bulls, Mehdi Ballouchy buried it. So why wasn’t Ballouchy taking this one? Scoring at this juncture may have changed the complexion of the match, but it’s hard to believe it would’ve changed the outcome. Sunday was the Sounders’ day.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The Rapids remained in fourth place in the Western Conference at 21 points. Third-place Seattle, which has played two more games than Colorado, has 25 points.
BUSY SCHEDULE: The match was the Rapids’ third in eight days. The team beat D.C. last Saturday and tied Dallas on Wednesday. Up next: Chicago on July 4 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
GOLD CUP CALL-UPS: The game featured two recent midfield invitees to the U.S. national team: Seattle’s Brad Evans and Colorado’s Colin Clark.
PRONUNCIATION ANTICS: The Sounders’ TV crew of Kevin Calabro and Ty Keough called Ugo Ihemelu by the following pronunciations: EE-huh-MAY-lu, EE-huh-MU-lu, EE-huh-MEL-oo.
THE GOLDEN SCARF: The Sounders, as is their tradition before the game, present a golden scarf to a member of the community. “We wanted to start a tradition in light of the fact that the Seahawks have the 12th Man flag, which is phenomenal,” Gary Wright says on the Sounders’ Web site. Wright is the team’s senior vice president of business operations. “We wanted to do something to honor members of our community who are either part of the soccer scene or have done remarkable things for society in Seattle.” But on Sunday, the scarf went to University of Washington men’s basketball coach Lorenzo Romar. I’d bet $5 that half of the soccer fans at Qwest Field on Sunday were wondering why the Sounders were paying tribute to a college basketball team. I’m holding my breath until the Huskies present the Golden Tank Top to Sigi Schmid.
RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Harvey, Gibbs, Palguta, Ihemelu, Clark, Ballouchy, Mastroeni, LaBrocca, Cummings, Noonan.
SOUNDERS STARTERS: Keller, Wahl, Marshall, Hurtado, Riley, Nyassi, Alonso, Evans, Ljungberg, Jaqua, Montero.
ATTENDANCE RECORD: The expansion Sounders set an attendance record at Qwest field on Sunday: 32,526. The team drew 32,523 in its opener.
And you’d lose it. The overlap between Sounders fandom and Huskies fandom is large.
ok, here’s my point:
if the rapids were going to present a golden scarf each game, i’d be offended if they gave it to a representative of the broncos, rockies or nuggets. if somebody from CU or one of the other colleges in the state was awarded the scarf, i’d hope it was for something related to soccer. othewise, i’d like to see it given to “members of our community who are either part of the soccer scene or have done remarkable things for society,” which is what the sounders claim is the intent. the huskies coach probably has received enough recognition around seattle that the sounders could do more good by honoring a regular joe, not a paycheck-drawing member of the local athletic community whose shelf is probably full of trophies anyway.
Oh, I agree that it has nothing to do with soccer. The first few scarves went to obscure businesspeople who had a hand in the establishment of the franchise. They got polite claps, but nobody really cared. The previous one went to the local WNBA franchise and this one to Romar. Also, I believe Holmgren got one? I think they decided that establishing the Sounders in the local sports community is a better use of the scarf. Certainly the crowd gets more up for it.
it’s a neat idea, but i’d much rather see the fan two rows down from me wearing it in the stands.
oh, sidereal: i like your avatar, you dirty, rotten scoundrel.
Tough game for the Colorado Rapids.
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