By Ricky Varwig
On Wednesday night the Sounders U 23’s U.S. Open Cup run came to a halt as they suffered defeat to the Kitsap Pumas by a score of 1-0.
Turnovers, and a lack of offense, was the story of the first half for both teams, with most of the Sounders possession being held in their own defensive third. Kitsap started to show there in-season form shortly before the interval, however it mounted to nothing. Having the better looks in the first half, the pumas went into the break the happier of the two sides.
After the break both teams started to search for the opening goal though it was Kitsap that had the better looks early on. Once the Pumas started to tire, the Sounders began to show their potential. The Pumas looked beat multiple times, but timely defending got the job done. Around the 76th minute the Sounders began to tire and Kitsap started to take advantage. Around the 80 minute mark the Pumas won a series of corner kicks. One of these kicks fell to a Pumas player that took a shot off of the post, that fell to another, who’s shot was blocked. There were at least two more shots in that sequence.
The Sounders tried to break out and for about 5 minutes they did. Around the 87th minute, Kitsap started to break the Sounders’ spirits, winning four corners in a row. In the 90th minute one of the corners found it’s way in; a rebound off of a blocked shot had Sounders U 23’s keeper, Paul Christensen wrong footed. In stoppage time the Sounders U 23’s tried and failed to get an equalizer. The Pumas effectively killed off the match by winning a late corner.
The Sounders U 23’s next game is at home vs Crossfire in a Premier Development League match. The match will be played at Sunset Stadium in Sumner, with kickoff at 2:00 pm.
The victorious Kitsap side is off to face the USL juggernaut and 3rd round favorites, Sacramento Republic FC, next Wednesday May 25th.
