Cal FC had quite the Cinderella story going in the US Open cup, but after defeating the Portland Timbers last round the Sounders knew they had to be taken seriously.

Any team amateur or pro can qualify for the US Open cup. Cal FC is an amateur team put together and coached by Wynalda and Nick Webster. The team is a bunch of ‘not quite good enough’s’ and ‘haven’t had my shot yet’s’. They have played very few organized matches as a team, but managed to qualify for the US open cup and make an impressive run until the sounders put a stop to that last night.

It does put a smile on my face that an amateur team knocked of the Portland Timbers.

Here are the highlights.

Real Salt Lake is a team the Sounders need to beat.  It is great that we have a lot of wins but if we cannot beat the best then we have no shot of getting past the first round in the playoffs.

The sounders need to dig down and figure out ways to win the tough matches.

Click to enlarge the pictures.

Pics from Rick Morrison.

This the best start in franchise history and enough to have them comfortably atop the western division. Now if you look at the western standings right now we will be in 3rd place, but we have played 3 less games than Real Salt Lake and 2 less games than San Jose. Through 8 games we have put up the most points in the entire MLS.

Our defense has been strong and our offense, although slow to score on Saturday, have been producing many chances to score goals. Once a few of those unlucky cross bar shots start falling we will see our goal numbers increase.

Mauro Rosales found the back of the net on Saturday for his first goal of the season. We also got to see Andy Rose and Alex Caskey get the start. Two rookies who looked very good this weekend. Both Rose and Caskey were so close to scoring goals, and Rose showed some grit and aggressive play out on the pitch. I loved it.

The Sounders continue with their next match Wednesday night away at FC Dallas.  Can they continue their winning ways?

Here are a few pictures of the action thanks to Rick Morrison.

Last night the Sounders put the hurt on the LA Galaxy.  Our offense is finally starting to come together like the defense has been all season.

Eddie Johnson put the Sounders on the board first with a header that skipped right under the LA keeper.  Eddies 2nd goal in 2 games.

Fredy Montero had so many great opportunities that he was bound to find the back of the net.  And when he finally scored in the 2nd half he did it with some FLAIR!!!  I’m going to go ahead and say this goal will win MLS goal of the YEAR when it is all said and done.

See for yourself.  This shot is amazing.

The win comes just 3 days after the Sounders defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1.

With a 5-1-1 record the Sounders are looking mighty good!

  

[click on image to enlarge - visit Rick Morrison Photography for more great shots!]

Zach Scott gave the sounders the victory yesterday against the Colorado Rapids.

The header was a thing of beauty.  Early on in the game Scott had a similar opportunity and Kasey Keller said something to the tune of ‘If he gets another chance like that it’ll go in the back of the net.’. And sure enough he got that chance off of a Alex Caskey corner and sealed the deal.

The Sounders did look better, but the offense still is not clicking on all cylinders.  Its a good thing the defense is holding otherwise we would not be a team with 3 wins.

It is great to see Eddie Johnson out there.  I have a feeling once he gets settled in he will start making a huge difference.  Give him this bye week to rest up and the following game vs the Chicago Fire he’ll find the back of the net.

The disdain for Brian Mullan was clear and loud.

This was the fist time Brian Mullan has returned to CLink field after his atrocious tackle on Steve Zakuani.  Zakuani said during the week that there are no ill feelings toward the guy who broke his leg and has caused him to miss an entire season of his MLS career and possibly even more.

But that didn’t stop the fans from letting Mullan know how we fealt.

Every time the guy touched the ball he was scolded with boos and hiss’s.  Mullan almost had a goal, but it was called back for off sides.  My how he would have loved in the midst of the boos, but it was the Sounders and the fans who got the last laugh.

The boys in rave picked up their 3 win of the season with a 1-0 victory.

Halftime.

(yawn…)

The last 15 minutes:

Some actual action happened in the last 15 minutes of this game, before that is was sloppy play by both sides. The ‘long ball’ was in full force in this game. This game was tremendously boring on both sides of the ball.

DC United had the better chances early, but the Sounders are the ones who played the full 90 and were almost rewarded with a win on a few chance near the end of the game. In stoppage time Marc Burch, who came from DC United, had a chance to head the ball in the back of the net off a keeper deflection and hit the top left corner of the post. Would have made for quite a story as he was let go by DC United and only subbed in the game in the 90th minute.

It was nice to see Eddie Johnson back out on the pitch in his laced up pink boots. Hopefully he can provide the spark this team needs to get back to the Sounders we know and love.

Even with a boring game and sloppy play a point on the road is always good. I know we started slow last year, and this year we already have 2 wins in the bag, but the level of play has to rise if the Sounders are going to be a force in the league this year.

He made a huge stride on Sunday when he played a full 45 minutes vs Gonzaga in a reserves game.

Here is the complete story from Sounders FC:

On Sunday, the Sounders midfielder played against live competition for the first time since fracturing his tibia and fibula.

Steve Zakuani made a dramatic step in his long-awaited return to the pitch when he played in a training game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Starfire on Sunday.

He was scheduled to play 20 minutes in the game that featured mostly reserves who didn’t play in Seattle’s 1-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, but in all the excitement he wound up playing a full 45 minutes as the Sounders topped the Bulldogs 4-0.

“That was the agreement, but we kind of forgot.  Nobody said anything, so I just kept playing,” Zakuani smiled after the match.  “That was my first game against actually competition since Colorado a year ago.  It was a good step forward.  Now I want to see how I can build on it.”

Zakuani admitted to being apprehensive in his first ten minutes.  Coincidentally, he was tackled for the first time in the match at about the ten-minute mark.  Three minutes later, he rifled a right-footed shot from the top of the box, but his shot skipped just wide of the far post.

“I ended up having 20-25 really good minutes.  Now I’ll see what’s missing,” he said.  “I think I’m really pushing toward those final stages.  I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time and I’m just happy.”

While he took a giant step toward getting back into MLS action, Zakuani isn’t expecting that return to happen in the coming weeks.

“I’m under no illusions of the level that it is to be able to get back there,” he said.  “This is good, but I’m still going to keep it in perspective and be realistic that I still have a long way to go in terms of being ready to play an actual game.  This is a good step forward.”

Although it was his first time playing against an opponent that wasn’t wearing a Sounders jersey, it wasn’t the first time he’d been tackled – or done the tackling, for that matter.  So a tenth minute tackle just outside the attacking box didn’t slow him in the least.

“I’ve been getting it in training anyway.  I’m not really worried about that,” he said.  “The thing that I’m more concerned with is making sure my touch is good and my positional awareness.  I still know how to play.  I still have the same brain I had before.  It’s just a matter of letting my body to catch up to where my mind is and I think it’s starting to do that.  I think this was the perfect game to try and come and play.”

The 24-year-old midfielder will now await word from the Sounders coaching staff on the next step in his return from a fractured tibia and fibula suffered in a tackle by Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan on April 22, 2011.  In addition to the fracture and nerve damage, Zakuani also had to have a second surgery to relieve swelling in his leg from compartment syndrome – a condition that can lead to amputation if not treated immediately.

Led by fitness coach Dave Tenney, the Sounders technical staff will examine the readouts from all the data collected during the match and assess the next step.

“It was good for him to get out there and play against opposition,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid said.  “It was a big step psychologically and a big step physically.”

It may take a few days for the coaches to sift through the data and determine their plan of action moving forward, but minutes after coming off the field, Zakuani already knew what his immediate plans were.

“Go home and sleep,” he said, flashing his million-dollar grin.

And he will sleep well.  After all, it won’t be long until that grin will adorn his face at CenturyLink Field again.

We hope for his return to Xbox Pitch sooner rather than later.

How much love loss is possible within a 2 week time frame? I’ll tell you one thing… soccer brings such a drastic range of emotions. In their season opener vs Toronto FC it looked like the boys could do no wrong. In the first 75 minutes of tonight’s match they could do no right. They looked AWFUL. No possession, they couldn’t win the 50/50 balls and for goodness sake could one of you make a good quality clear on defense?

They turned up the heat in the last 20 minutes or so, but that is expected when your opponent is simply trying to hold on to the victory and putting 10 men permanently behind the ball.

Let me ask you something… Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone on the front line that played with some aggression? Even though I wanted to jump through my screen and rip all his ugly hair out Steven Lenhart played like a beast tonight. Our front line is passive, which is their style and that is fine, but the way Lenhart played tonight was the difference maker in why the Earthquake won the match.

Even though, in my opinion, the pk that was given was a terrible call it was Lenhart that drew the whistle. He seemed to be everywhere when the ball came into the Earthquake 3rd and aggressive. I am a big Fredy fan, but we need someone up top that has the ability to be that aggressive and get under the skin of the opposing teams defense (and Fans).

Now to the disgusting foul that was called in the box. I HATE when matches are decided by the refs, and this match was. Even though I do not think the Sounders would have deserved a W with their play tonight the match should have ended in a draw. The penalty that led to the Earthquake goal was given away from the ball and made on a challenge that would not have been called in open play. It actually looked like Lenhart flopped, but still managed to get the call even though the ball was 20 yards away.

I’m fired up about this match tonight. On one hand we did not play well, on the other hand we played just well enough to earn a draw, but got ‘Seahawked’ by the ref.

And will someone tell Sammy Ochoa that he should probably start getting back in shape for the season before like a week ago. The dude looked SSSLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW. Maybe he pounded a top pot doughnut before coming in the match… I don’t know.

But not this season. The boys are back and they have come back with a vengeance. It has been a STRONG 2-0 start to the season. David Estrada has been lights out. Starting the season with a Hat Trick vs Toronto FC, then adding another goal against the Dynamo last Friday.

They have looked sharp on offense and absolutely fantastic on defense. I have a feeling this could be THE YEAR!

Even with the injuries to Eddie Johnson and Mauro Rosales who are two difference makers on the field the Sounders look great.

And I even love our main man Kasey Keller running color for the new voice of the Sounders Ross Fletcher. They make quite a good team. Although it was nice to hear Arlo on Friday night.

I know I’ve got this blog off to a slow start this year, but I am getting a few things in line and may be bringing in another writer to help get the word out and spread some Sounders Love.

GO SOUNDERS!

I’ve been a little too busy to keep the site fully up to date in the off season (its a one man show around these parts) but now that 2012 official play kicks off tonight with a CONCACAF match vs Mexico’s Santos Laguna it is back to business.

I have extremely high hopes for the Sounders in 2012 CONCACAF, MLS and does anyone here 4peat for the US Open Cup!

I put a poll on the website that asked, “Is the Playoff Monkey on our back Official?” – 67% of you said Yeah there is a playoff monkey on our back (20 out of 30 votes). Well this is the year we shake off the Monkey and bring home the hardware that has evaded us.

Until that point we have a lot of bidness to take care of, and that starts tonight with CONCACAF!

We’ll talk soon.