Captions by Toby Dunkelberg and Steven Agen Photos by Brandon Bleek & Matt Worso
The Seattle Sounders welcomed the Vancouver Whitecaps for the first Cascadia derby of the 2016 season on Saturday night in front of 40,012 at CenturyLink Field.
Early on Seattle dictated the game. Vancouver held the pressure well and exploited counterattacks with Christian Bolaños in particular looking dangerous going up the right side.
The makeup of the game changed entirely in the 9th minute. Bolaños once again slipped behind Seattle’s back line. Joevin Jones, caught on the wrong side of the Costa Rican, looked to have clipped the attacker’s heel. Replays showed the call to be questionable, but Pedro Morales calmly buried the PK to put Vancouver up 1-0.
Seattle pressed on and continued to have more of the game, searching for an equalizer. They came close a couple of times but it was mostly miscues such as the one in the 20th minute, when Ivanschitz’s perfect service was offset by a silly foul from Zach Scott on David Ousted.
The first half ended without much fanfare. Vancouver defended comfortably while the Sounders struggled to generate chances in the run of play. The refereeing of Mark Geiger continued to come under heavy criticism from the home crowd after he started to tighten the game up around the half hour mark.
Sounders entered the second half with renewed energy. They pinned the Whitecaps deeper and deeper inside their defensive third, with Alonso and Roldan set deeper in midfield to keep Vancouver from breaking out.
Alonso’s tenacity resulted in a dangerous free kick on the edge of the 18 yard box, one of several he won in similar fashion on the night. Both Dempsey and Ivanschitz lined up to take, and it appeared to set up well for a right footed strike. However, it was the Austrian who brilliantly curled left footed around Vancouver’s poorly placed wall to earn Seattle the equalizer on 52 minutes.
The home side continued to possess more of the ball after the goal, but Whitecaps defended comfortably. Sounders saw their best chances on the break and with balls over the top.
Both such scenarios coincided in the 63rd minute when Dempsey picked up the ball on the counter. Jordan Morris perfectly split the two center backs with a well-timed run, but Dempsey’s through ball pulled him wide left of goal. Prompted with an opportunity to finish with his weaker foot, the rookie instead cut onto his right and placed his shot directly at David Ousted’s chest.
Gradually Vancouver came back into the game, with a combination of Blas Perez and Pedro Morales driving them forward.
In the 73rd minute, Perez got in behind the Sounder back line and earned a blatant penalty when Chad Marshall tried to slide tackle the ball away through the Panamanian’s legs. Pedro Morales once again buried the penalty, putting the Whitecaps up 2-1.
Sounders generated their best chance at 2-2 in the 80th minute when Joevin Jones’ cut back found Dempsey wide open in the center of the box. In an odd twist of fate, Dempsey missed just wide of the bottom right corner. One of the highest paid players in the league, Dempsey still hasn’t found his form in MLS yet this year.
Whitecaps threatened once more near the end of the game, with Rivero nearly sealing the points. Seattle never seriously contended for a draw after Dempsey’s shocking miss. The Vancouver away contingent left ecstatic, and Sigi Schmid was left to ponder his side’s 0-3 start.
