'Piece of magic' ends Sounders' season

Seattle disappointed with exit, despite successful first season

"There's not much that separates these two teams," said Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid. "It was a hard-fought and physical game. They had some good chances and we had some good chances. In the end, a little bit of mistake in the back and Brian Ching buries a good goal."

"Everyone was just waiting for that one mistake or that one piece of magic and it came from Brian," said Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller. "It was a tremendous finish and we just couldn't get it in on the other end."

The game's only goal came in the 96th minute. Mike Chabala broke free down the right side of the Seattle defense and whipped a cross that ended up at the far post where Roger Levesque was first to the ball. Rather than play the ball out for a throw-in, Levesque seemed to try to control it, unaware that Dynamo midfielder Brian Mullan was hustling to apply pressure.

Mullan got to the second bounce and deflected the ball back to Ching whose back was to goal. But the U.S. international unleashed a sidewinding volley into the corner of the net.

"At the end of the day I need to clear that or put it out of bounds, something to get it out of the box," said a disappointed Levesque. "I would like to think that doesn't define the series, but they are celebrating and moving on. All it takes is an inch. A mental error here and a great play by Ching. We battled and fought and we did enough to win, but unfortunately that's the game of soccer."

On top of the chances created in the first leg, Sounders FC had more than their fair share of opportunities to take the lead in Sunday's second leg. Sounders forward Fredy Montero had three different chances to put his team ahead, but all three efforts were from tight angles and hit the side netting, the best coming in the 27th minute.

Seattle also could have scored twice in the first half through near own goals by the Dynamo. On the first, Steve Zakuani ripped a dangerous cross into the box, and Geoff Cameron deflected the ball towards goal. Dynamo 'keeper Pat Onstad made a terrific diving save to keep the level. On the second, Ricardo Clark had his attempt to clear a ball land off the crossbar and again was cleared by Onstad.

For the two games to be so tightly contested and there being very little separating the two teams, the playoff exit obviously left the Seattle players disappointed thinking about what could have been.

"They're a very good side, and I wish them all the best," said Freddie Ljungberg. "But today was a big brawl and the pitch didn't make it easier."

"We're disappointed too because we didn't feel like we played our best soccer," said forward Nate Jaqua, who came to Seattle from Houston in the expansion draft. "Good, hard-fought game that could have gone either way. They found a way to win in the end though."

While the bad taste from this loss might sit with Seattle's players into next year, the 2009 season for Sounders FC was clearly a success.

"It's not easy right now because we could have won this whole thing," said Keller. "We won the Open Cup, we attributed ourselves really well. The city was behind us and now we just have to take the pill of not winning this tie and now we have to go out and spend the offseason thinking about how we make it better."

Said Schmid: "This isn't '98 where the league is in its infancy and as an expansion team you aren't too far behind the curve. To win the Open Cup, have a winning record, be two points away from the Supporters' Shield, and to lose to a team that has been the dominant team in the playoffs is a proud moment for a young expansion team.

"We don't want to accept mediocrity and our goal is to win championships, so hopefully the sting for today will help us move forward into next year."

Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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