Pumas Show Well But Sounders Move On

Tuesday night, in front of 3,811 fans from all over the Puget Sound region, the Seattle Sounders FC extended their streak of eleven straight un-beaten games in the U.S. Open Cup.  They accomplished this against a very good Kitsap Pumas side that didn’t look intimidated by the giants one bit.

Mike Fucito scored twice to help the Sounders advance to the quarterfinals where they will meet the Los Angeles Galaxy on either July 12^th or 13^th.  Once again Seattle will host as the home side, and once again the match will be played on the Starfire pitch. 

Zach Scott adorned the armband for the Sounders and his brother Daniel was in the starting XI for the Pumas.  Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid decided once again to not take any opponent lightly, at the same time taking this competition very seriously.  In fact, Sigi and his entourage even visited Bremerton Memorial Stadium days before the USOC tilt to compile a thorough scouting report on Kitsap and their star goal keeper.  You can see full lineups below, but in short the Pumas trotted out most of their regulars, and the Sounders had a patchwork lineup of regulars, boys from the 18, reserves, and rookies.  Both lineups not only looked, but played very solid.

Throughout the entire match I was very impressed with the play of the Pumas.  Sounders 2^nd round draft pick, Brian Meredith was between the posts for the Pumas, in form, and active all night.  He made a series of saves in the second half that very much gave his teammates a chance and kept his team in the game.  All of that makes me very excited to see him succeed since he battled for a roster spot to backup Kasey Keller and Terry Boss this past preseason.

The team from Bremerton had size, showed pace, and at times was able to counter and put the Sounders on their heels.  Brian Burke showed off his wheels in the first half and proved that guys in the PDL can out run MLS defenders.   Just ask Taylor Graham.  Without help defense from Leo Gonzales, Burke would’ve been in to test Terry Boss for sure.  The younger Scott brother, Daniel, displayed toughness on defense against one of the best in the MLS.  Osvaldo Alonso had a first half try when he seemed to take matters into his own hands.  The Cuban sensation was creating for himself, and if not for Daniel Scott’s strength and determination, Alonso could’ve been on the score sheet early.

In the 39^th minute the home side broke through.  Nate Jaqua played a cross down off his head beautifully, when Fucito got into space and executed a creative sliding volley that found the back of the net.  Quite a goal and what style to open up the scoring for the Sounders. 

Moments later, Zach Scott got up on a corner kick and fired a strong header that forced a superb save from Meredith.  The Kitsap club didn’t go quietly into half though when Burke had a great chance at goal, but his shot was just wide.  The team from across the Sound was really putting up a great fight.

The second half started with the Sounders controlling possession and Kitsap fighting to create any chances they could muster. 

In the 59^th minute Fucito had a display of great individual skill, and scored his second of the night.  The bulldog forward took the ball into the box and wouldn’t give it up until he beat his defender then the keeper before firing into his brace.  Not long after, the man of the match would be replaced by Jeff Parke to a standing ovation.  When walking to the bench, Mike reached his hand out to celebrate with his manager, but Sigi was focused on the game and missed the exchange.  Fucito insisted on being recognized and kept his hand extended until Sigi responded.  It was a bit of a comedic moment to cap his night.

The Pumas would cut their deficit in half in the 71^st minute when Robby Christner found his captain at the end of a cross for a goal.  Former USL Sounder, Nik Besagno was the goal scorer and gave his club and the traveling fans a reason to hope.  When Besagno’s ball crossed the line the Pumas supporters erupted and made it sound like everyone from the peninsula was in attendance.  Seeing the support for their team was quite inspirational.

Brian Meredith would make a handful of spectacular saves to keep Kitsap within one.  The keeper himself was playing inspired and looks like he deserves a shot at the next level.  His effort was non-stop and he seemed determined to stop everything that came his way.  The Sounders created quite a few chances to close out the game, but Meredith was up for the task on all of them.  I will travel to Bremerton Memorial Stadium to witness such a display in the future so long as he’s on that roster.

The Sounders provided quite a bit of sound postgame, and it can be seen and heard here from SoundersFC.com.  You can also read Joshua Mayers full transcription of the postgame quotes here.  Mr. Mayers is a terrific journalist for the Seattle Times and has an extremely in depth Sounders FC blog that I read on a daily basis.

Score Sheet:

Sounders FC – Mike Fucito (Nate Jaqua) 39’ – Mike Fucito 62’ (unassisted)
Pumas – Nikolas Besagno (Robert Christner) 71’

Discipline:

Sounders FC – None

Pumas – Taylor Hyde (caution; reckless) 43’; Daniel Scott (caution; reckless) 80’

Men on the Pitch:

Sounders FC – Terry Boss, Zach Scott, Leo Gonzalez, Taylor Graham, Michael Tetteh, David Estrada (Pat Noonan 54’), Osvaldo Alonso, Mike Seamon (Servando Carrasco 85’), Miguel Montano, Mike Fucito (Jeff Parke 68’), Nate Jaqua
Pumas – Bryan Meredith, Stephen Mohn, Taylor Hyde, Dan Scott, Mark Lee, Matt Friesen (David Gray 84’), Nikolas Besagno, Elliott Fauske, Cameron Hepple (Tye Perdido 83’), Robert Christner, Bryan Burke (Warlen Silva 69’)

Attendance:  3,811

Academy News:  Sounders Academy U-16’s have qualified for the USSDA National Finals in Milwaukee, WI.  They finished their group stage in Frisco, TX undefeated at 3-0-0.  Matt Gaschk of SoundersFC.com has the report here.