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Sounders blanked in loss

August 15, 2008 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


TUKWILA -- Hoping to generate some momentum in a late-season push toward a better playoff position, the Seattle Sounders struggled even to generate some offense for most of Friday night.

No such problems for the Puerto Rico Islanders.

The Islanders, who came into Starfire Sports Complex tied with Vancouver for the lead in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, went out in sole possession of the top spot after blowing out the Sounders, 3-0.

"Going into the game, there was no sense we were going to allow that to happen," defender and captain Danny Jackson said. "Give credit to Puerto Rico for taking advantage of their chances."

While the surging Islanders (12-6-4, 40 points) -- who were in last place near the end of June -- are now alone on the top rung, the Sounders (8-8-8, 32 points) remained stuck in fourth place after losing their second league game in a row to close out a rough week.

Seattle dropped a 3-1 decision at Minnesota last Sunday, then came up short at Charleston on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, 4-3 in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 tie through regulation and 30 minutes of overtime.

"I think the team had a big letdown after Tuesday," coach Brian Schmetzer said. "As strong a team as we are and being a veteran team, it still takes something out of us. I knew it was going to be difficult (tonight) to puff our chests out and have a good performance. ... (The Islanders) had a ton more energy and spark in their forwards."

The Sounders have played more games (24) than anyone else in the league, and now have just six games and 18 potential points remaining to move up the table. All of those games will be at home however, beginning with next Wednesday's showdown against rival Vancouver at 7 p.m. Last Sunday's contest at Minnesota was their road finale for the regular season.

"They're all human, and they're all going to have bad games," Schmetzer said. "The issue I would have is we've already had a couple bad games, and we can't afford to have any more."

Aside from some scattered Seattle opportunities, Puerto Rico, which is 10-2-1 since June 27 to climb from last place to first, clearly had the run of play in front of 3,266 fans. By game's end, the Islanders had just a 12-11 advantage in shots, but most of the Sounders' tries came after Puerto Rico already had a 2-0 lead. The Islanders also took five corner kicks to just one for Seattle.

The Islanders got on the board midway through the 38th minute. Noah Delgado, playing just beyond the top of the box to the left of the restraining arc, unleashed a spinning shot that sizzled along the ground and got past goalkeeper Chris Eylander, ending in the back left corner of the net. It was Delgado's first goal of the year.

"Their first goal was synonymous with the way we played," Jackson said. "We didn't step up to the ball soon enough. Before that, we had decent control of the game, and we should have capitalized on that."

Edson Elcock then got his first of the year to make it 2-0 at 58:24. The Sounders gave the ball away in their own end, with Kendall Jagdeosingh gaining control for Puerto Rico. Jagdeosingh got it to Elcock, who drilled it from the top right corner of the box into the back left corner.

Just six minutes later, Elcock put the game out of reach for the Sounders to come back. Playing again near the top right corner of the box, he juked his way around Sounders defender Zach Scott, getting wide open for a shot that sailed into the upper right corner at 64:18.

The Sounders did get a handful of tries. Sebastien Le Toux launched one off his shoetop that sailed over the top early in the second half. Two more shots later in the half flew just wide of the left post. But Islanders goalkeeper Michael Behonik was called upon for just three saves.

QUICK KICKS -- Zach Scott picked up a yellow card just 54 seconds into the second half. That was eighth of the season, meaning an automatic two-game suspension. Scott will be able to play in Wednesday's game at Starfire against the Vancouver Whitecaps, but will be sidelined for subsequent home games against Carolina on Aug. 24 and Miami on Sept. 6. ... Seattle and Puerto Rico split their three-game season series, 1-1-1. The teams tied 1-1 in Bayomon, Puerto Rico on May 30, and Seattle scored a 2-1 victory on Aug. 1. ... The Sounders are 3-2-4 at home this season and 12-3-4 overall at Starfire since 2005. ... Forward Roger Levesque played his first game at home since May 18. He missed two months of action with a high ankle sprain.

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