The Willamette Valley Firebirds and the Seattle Sounders Selects played a hard-fought, physical game at Corvallis High School on Saturday night, but in the end the Selects went home with a shootout win as they downed the Firebirds 2-1 in a US Open Cup qualifying game played in front of 100 fans on a cold, clear night in Corvallis.
The game was a fast-paced game, with both teams pushing the ball well through the midfield. Both defenses did well in shutting down the attack once they were inside the attacking third, so the play remained a fast transition, back and forth game for most of the night. The Selects broke through first in the 23rd minute when a run from the left side was crossed and could not be cleared by the Firebirds' defense. Chris Farnsworth found the loose ball and tapped it into the net to put the Selects up 1-0..
Fifteen minutes later, the Firebirds evened the score when they were awarded a penalty kick for a handball inside the box. Jason Crevar converted the penalty kick to even the score at halftime..
In the second half, the game became more physical, with hard challenges in midfield resulting in a total of three yellow cards for the Firebirds, and one for the Selects. Both teams had good chances to score in the second half, but neither team could convert. The Firebirds' best chance to score in the second half was on a free kick from 25 yards out by Joey Leonetti, which curled and dipped to the top left corner, but struck the crossbar and bounced over. .
Neither team was able to mount a serious threat to score in overtime, so the game was decided on penalty kicks. Seattle converted twice, but the Firebirds were not able to find the net during the shootout for the 2-1 final..
Game stats:
Shots: Firebirds 11 Selects 7
Fouls: Firebirds 12 Selects 15
Yellow Cards: Firebirds 3 (Leonetti, Tomlins, Eric Merten) Selects 1 (Vecs)
Saves: Firebirds 3 Selects 5.