A Hole Too Deep

Tonight the Sounders mustered everything the could against Real Salt Lake, but ultimately just could not dig themselves out of the hole that they dug themselves into with their poor performance in the first leg of the Western Conference Semi-Final.

The series was certainly a tale of two halves, RSL dominating in the first one and Sounders calling all of the shots in the second. Almost every advantageous stat favored the Sounders, most notably 26 total shots compared to RSL's paltry 4, 9 shots on goal to RSL's 1, and 61% possession. As already obvious, the Sounders absolutely dominated. RSL's defense, however, while notably missing both Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers were able to withstand the pressure and fend off any attempts on goal until mid-way into the second half.

The Sounders finally broke through in the fifty fourth minute thanks to a penalty kick drawn by Mike Fucito as he was fending off three RSL defenders and fighting for the ball in the box. Osvaldo Alonso stepped up to the spot and hammered the ball down the center of the goal, right underneath Nick Rimando. Then, just five minutes later in the sixty first minute the Sounders cut the defect down to just one goal, Fredy Montero slipping a cross over to a wide open Lamar Neagle who slid the shot in across the face of goal past Rimando.

The Sounders continued to press RSL for a third and series-tying goal, but just couldn't finish any more of their opportunities. As anyone could have predicted, the Sounders just could not make up for their lackluster performance in the first leg.