Firebirds midfielder Fred Kummernes scored four minutes into extra time to tie the score at 4 and force overtime. Then defender Eric Wooten scored with a header off a Kummernes cross five minutes into overtime to give John & Phil's Willamette Valley Firebirds a 5-4 overtime win over the previously undefeated and untied Seattle Sounders Select. This was truly a wild and memorable match for those fans who came out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

The Sounders Select entered their match with the Firebirds with a record of 9-0. The Firebirds have had a rough season, entering the match with a 2-7 record, but the Select knew they were in for a tough match, because no team has played them tougher this season than the Firebirds. On May 26, Seattle rallied to come away with a hard-fought 3-2 win. Then, last weekend in Seattle, the Firebirds held a 1-0 lead going into stoppage time, but Seattle scored to force the game to overtime, then came away with a 2-1 overtime win. On this Sunday, it was the Firebirds who scored in stoppage time to force the overtime, and this time the 'Birds walked away with the win.

After an even first 20 minutes in which neither team seriously threatened, it was Seattle who got on the scoreboard first in the 25th minute when a Billy Sleeth shot rebounded off a Firebird defender, but right to the feet of Manny Ruiz, who shot low under Firebirds goalkeeper Bryan Hill to put Seattle up 1-0. In the 33rd minute, the Firebirds evened the score at one on a similar goal, when Dimitrio Sanchez's shot was blocked by Seattle goalkeeper Chad Olsen, but the ball ricocheted into the path of forward Jason Crevar, who was running towards the left post, and he easily pushed it into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

It appeared the teams were going to go into halftime level at 1-1, but Seattle took the lead in the 40th minute when midfielder Mark Hogenhout made a good pass to Ruiz, who made a run down the left side, and beat Hill with a shot just inside the left post, and Seattle held a 2-1 lead at the half.

The pace of the match picked up in the second half, with both teams having several near misses during the first 25 minutes of the second half. In the 50th minute, a Seattle shot rattled the crossbar, but was cleared out of danger by the Firebirds defense. But at the 69 minute mark, the floodgates opened up.

The Firebirds began creating more chances after forward Scott Tedder came into the match in the 68th minute. But in the 69th minute, the Select found iron again when forward Ian Chursky's shot from 20 yards out rattled off the right post after Bryan Hill barely deflected the shot. Chursky then took almost exactly the same shot from the same spot, only this time beating Hill just inside the right post to put Seattle up 3-1. In the 75th minute, Scott Tedder played a perfect one-touch pass to Ben Roth, who used the outside of the left foot to touch it away from a charging Chad Olsen, then scored easily into an open net to pull the Firebirds one closer at 3-2.

As the game neared the end of regulation time, the Firebirds were pushing forward and opening themselves up for counterattacks. In the 84th minute, their offensive push had the opposite effect when a long ball was played from midfield by Billy Sleeth to Rob Schaper . The Seattle forward appeared to be several yards offside, but the flag stayed down, and Schaper moved across the top of the box, and beat Bryan Hill low to put Seattle up 4-2. But the Firebirds didn't take long to respond.

But the Firebirds weren't dead yet, and in the 90th minute, Scott Tedder once again made the assist that resulted in a goal, this time with a diagonal pass to his right to a charging Jason Crevar, who beat Olsen low and just inside the far post to pull the Firebirds to within 4-3 as stoppage time began.

About a minute into stoppage time, Firebirds midfielder Jack Wheeler took down Billy Sleeth with a hard foul, and a shouting and pushing incident began between the teams which stopped play for about two minutes. For the next two minutes, the Firebirds made two attacks and Seattle responded by clearing the ball long to attempt to kill time. In the 94th minute, the Firebirds made one final push forward, and after a cross could not be cleared from the box, a mad scramble took place about five yards to the Seattle goalkeeper's left, but the ball ended up on the foot of Firebird Eric Cronkrite, who tapped a pass to midfielder Fred Kummernes, who shot the ball low to the far side of the Seattle keeper, and the ball went into the side netting, just inside the left post to level the score just before time expired.

Momentum had shifted to the home side, and it only took five minutes of overtime to decide the match. A Fred Kummernes corner kick from the left side curled over the players packed into the six yard box to Firebirds defender Eric Wooten, who headed the ball high towards the far corner of the net. The shot did not appear to have enough on it to be dangerous, but the placement was perfect, and the Seattle goalkeeper and a Seattle defender seemed to interfere with one another attempting to stop the shot, and it slipped untouched mere inches below the bar and into the net for the game-winning goal.

The Firebirds' record now stands at 3-7 for the season. Seattle fell to 9-1 but still hold a 3 1/2 game lead in the Northwest Division over Yakima. Bryan Hill had eight saves for the Firebirds. Chad Olsen had six saves for Seattle.

Starters:
Firebirds: Hill, Wooten, Jensen (Cronkrite 55'), Duncan, Wheeler, Willoughby, Fitzgerald (Kummernes 45'), Gail (Tedder 69'), Roth, Crevar, Sanchez
Sounders Select: Olsen, Sleeth (Tanzer 91'), Smith (Ritchie 61'), Casale, Barros, Schaper, Farnsworth, Hogenhout, Sylvis, Ruiz (Watson 87'), Chursky

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