Le Toux paces Sounders' rout

Published on March 29, 2008 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


(TUKWILA, WA) -- Sebastian Le Toux is picking up right where he left off for the Seattle Sounders.

Le Toux, who led the Sounders in scoring last season with 10 goals and two assists, had two of the former and one of the latter on Saturday afternoon as Seattle notched its first exhibition victory of the season, 4-0 against Gonzaga University at Starfire Sports Complex.

Le Toux subbed in at the start of the second half, which began with the Sounders up 1-0 on a 24th-minute goal by Josh Gardner.

Le Toux nearly had two near-misses midway through the half -- a shot from 12 yards straight in front that was saved by Bulldogs goalkeeper Anderw Hickman, and another one from just inside the penalty area on the left-wing side that also was saved by Hickman.

But Le Toux then factored into two goals in less than two minutes. Early in the 78th minute, Le Toux found Brooks Damon, another second-half sub, streaking down the attacking right side. Le Toux got the ball to him, Hickman took it to the top right corner of the box and let loose with a shot that flew past Hickman into the back left corner.

Then in the 80th minute, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar tried a shot from inside the box on the right side. It was deflected, and the loose ball went toward the top of the 6-yard box, where Andre Schmid tapped it to Le Toux in traffic, and Le Toux put it into the net.

Le Toux made it 4-0 late in the 89th minute when he ran onto a pass from Alcaraz-Cueller, caught up with it midway through the box, beat Hickman to it, and blasted it into a wide-open net.

Gardner, who signed with the Sounders last Tuesday and was the last member of the 2007 USL title-winning starting 11 to re-up for another season, drilled a 30-yard shot from the left wing side early in the 24th minute.

A Major League Soccer veteran with the Los Angeles Galaxy before joining the Sounders, Gardner had one goal and three assists in league play last summer, plus a goal and two assists in U.S. Open Cup play.

The Sounders are now 1-1 in exhibition play, having dropped a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Whitecaps in last Saturday's exhibition opener. They return to action this afternoon at 3:30 against the Hispanic All-Stars at Pop Keeney Field in Bothell.

Seattle has two more back-to-back exhibition weekends -- April 5 and 6, then April 12 and 13 -- before opening USL First Division play on April 19 at Charleston.

The first three games of the regular season are on the road (at Charleston, April 26 at Portland, and May 2 at Atlanta) before the Sounders play their home opener on May 10 against Portland at Qwest Field. That will be Seattle's only game at Qwest this season before the rest of the home schedule shifts to Starfire.

The Sounders enjoyed the run of play for most of Saturday's match against Gonzaga, which went 9-7-4 last fall and advanced to the NCAA Division 1 tournament, dropping a 1-0 road decision to Southern Methodist in the first round.

Although it was early in the 24th minute when Gardner put Seattle on the board, he nearly had a goal at the outset of the 23rd minute. His corner kick from the right-wing side floated toward the far post and was inches away from curling directly into the net before a Bulldogs defender, standing on the line, headed it away.

The scoring play started when defender Danny Jackson, playing just over midfield on the attacking right side, sent a long crossfield pass to Gardner on the left. Gardner dribbled in a few steps, then launched a shot that beat Gonzaga goalkeeper Scott Barnam to the inside of the left post.

The Sounders nearly scored again twice during the next two minutes. Zack Scott stole the ball on the left side, got it to Brent Whitfield just inside the penalty area, and Whitfield passed out to Leighton O'Brien at the top of the arc. His shot saved by Barnam.

Just 35 seconds later, Whitfield had the ball just outside the right post. He sent a shallow shot across the goalmouth that was kicked off the line.

Barnam saved an on-target header by Scott midway through the 35th minute, then denied Whitfield again at the start of the 37th.

Information on season tickets, other ticket packages and individual game tickets is available by contacting the Sounders at (206) 622-3415, or by going online to www.seattlesounders.net.

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USL First Division Stories from March 29, 2008


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