The Seattle Sounders FC fell 3-2 to the San Jose Earthquakes in the club's final preseason match in California.
The Sounders FC suffered their first loss of the preseason Friday night in the 2009 Central Coast Showcase at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on the campus of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Seattle got two goals from Fredy Montero, but the San Jose Earthquakes got two from Ryan Johnson and a third from Quincy Amarikwa to drop the Sounders FC 3-2.
In the seventh minute, Shea Salinas got through the Seattle defense and passed into the box to Johnson. Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller deflected his shot into the air, but not enough to keep it out of the net and San Jose took a 1-0 lead.
The Sounders FC knotted it up in the 11th minute, making one of their many runs up the right side when James Riley led Nate Jaqua on a run and Jaqua sent a cross into the box, where Montero went into a slide and flicked the ball into the net to even the score 1-1.
The Sounders FC are getting a lot of runs up the right side, getting a lot of freedom from San Jose's left side.
The Earthquakes regained the lead in the 22nd minute, when Seattle University product Cam Weaver sent a pass to Johnson deep in Seattle’s box. Johnson turned and popped a shot past Keller to take a 2-1 lead.
Johnson nearly netted a hat trick, carrying the ball to the left side before blasting a shot into the crossbar in the 31st minute.
Seattle made several runs and created opportunities, but weren’t able to even the score until Sebastien Le Toux whipped a cross from the right side, leading Montero into a dive for a header, knocking in his second goal of the game to tie the game 2-2.
“James gave me a quick ball with enough time to see Fredy and Nate. And I got the ball and was able to get forward and gave a great cross and a great ball for Fredy to get his head on it,” Le Toux said.
The 44th minute goal appeared to give Seattle momentum going into the second half, but the Earthquakes jumped out in front right away after the start of the half.
Amarikwa jumped out on a run up the right side and took a shot that Keller dove for and popped it into the air. The ball fell in the middle of the box and Amarikwa retrieved it in front of the open net and knocked it in to take a 3-2 lead in the 46th minute.
Seattle made some late-game runs, but couldn’t tie up the score, ending the California leg of training camp with a 3-2 loss, dropping their preseason record to 3-1.
“In a game when you score two goals, it’s always a good thing. I thought Fredy Montero looked sharp. I thought his understanding with Nate (Jaqua) was very good. I thought offensively it was good,” Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid said. “In the first half, we made two mistakes and conceded two goals. And then we made a mistake early in the second half and conceded a third goal. So it’s still a case of we have to get a lot better defensively. People have to make better decisions. It’s not a matter of people being in the right places, it’s making the right decisions.”
The Sounders FC return to training camp on Wednesday at Qwest Field. They will play a preseason game against University of Portland on Friday, Feb. 20, in Portland and another on Sunday, Feb. 22 against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Qwest Field. That precedes the Argentina leg of training camp, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 25, where they will play three games in preparation for the March 19 season-opener against the New York Red Bulls at Qwest Field.
