Whitecaps down Sounders, 2-1, thanks to Montero
Late Friday WHITECAPS 2, SOUNDERS 1
WHAT HAPPENED: Fredy. Oh Fredy.
Fredy Montero, the Sounders’ all-time leader in goals, scored twice on Friday to lead the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 2-1 victory over Seattle at BC Place in Vancouver, B.C.
Montero, in his first season back in the MLS after a four-year stint with Seattle that ended in 2012, had his first goal in the 65th minute to opening the scoring and then added another in the 80th to make it 2-0.
The Sounders pushed the action late, closing to a goal in the 89th minute when substitute Will Bruin scored.
THE TAKEAWAY: The Sounders offense remains missing in action. In four of the team’s six games this season they’ve scored one goal or less. Not coincidentally, the team’s record in that span is 0-2-2.
In the first half, the Sounders owned possession (58 percent) but managed to be outshot by Vancouver, 6-4. Their best chance at a goal was on Clint Dempsey’s 40-yard strike when Dempsey tried to take advantage of Whitecaps goalie David Ousted straying off his line. The ball, though, hit the crossbar.
Dempsey almost netted an equalizer in stoppage time, but Kendall Waston cleared the ball to preserve Vancouver’s victory.
It was a frustrating night considering the Sounders recorded 15 shots on goal (including six by Dempsey) and nine corner kicks.
Forward Jordan Morris played the entire game but did not record a shot.
ADDED TIME: The Sounders are now 1-2-3 on the season and in eighth place in the Western Conference with six points.
Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso became the 65th player in MLS history to play 20,000 career regular season minutes. He’s the 10th player to do it with the same team to begin his career.
Bruin has two goals now and is tied with Dempsey and Nicolas Lodeiro for the team lead.
QUOTES TO NOTE: “Super happy to score two goals in these kinds of matches. It’s always a dream for a forward.” — Montero
“All the possession in the world doesn’t do you any good unless you can score. Having said that … we had the ball there. Credit Ousted, credit their defense, credit them getting a timely goal to kind of throw us off. ” — Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer
INJURY REPORT: Sounders center back Roman Torres did not play because of a hamstring injury. Brad Evans (calf) was not in the 18.
NEXT GAME: April 23, at LA Galaxy, 1 p.m. (ESPN).
Staff report
This story was originally published April 15, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Whitecaps down Sounders, 2-1, thanks to Montero."