Calgary Mustangs Match Reports by Jason Kmet
August 1, 2004 -- Seattle Sounders 0 at Calgary Mustangs 3
The Calgary Mustangs put on a dominating performance on Sunday when they manhandled the Seattle Sounders 3-0 at McMahon Stadium.
The 'Stangs opened the scoring in the 12th minute. The ball found the net after Damir Jesic's shot went between the legs of Seattle defender Zach Scott and past keeper Preston Burpo. The ball may have deflected off Scott, but the result was the same: a Calgary lead. Jesic was credited with a goal.
Calgary doubled their lead in the 32nd minute when Mesut Mert scored an absolute cracker from nearly 40 yards out. Burpo had no chance to make the stop.
As injury time approached, Mustang forward Conrad Smith tried his hand at a long shot, but his 25 yarder was tipped away by Burpo who was unable to grab the well-struck ball. The Sounder keeper eventually tracked down the rebound which rolled outside the penalty area.
The Sounders started the second half with a decent chance in the 47th minute as Jonathon Bolanos made a strong attempt from 30 yards out, but the ball was over the bar. A couple of minutes later Seattle had another chance, but the ball was also knocked high.
Calgary continued to put pressure on the Sounders. In the 63rd minute, Jamie Auvigne broke on goal, but Seattle's defense recovered before the could get a shot away. He passed to Steffen Holdt, who was unable to convert. Holdt had another chance in the 71st minute, but his attempt from a bad angle was thwarted by Burpo. His third unfinished opportunity occurred in the 74th minute when Jesic crossed the ball to him in front of the net, but his side-footed volley went just wide right.
As time wound down, Seattle became more aggressive and as a result, they became susceptible to the counterattack. Just as the game entered injury time, a Mustang passed to Conrad Smith, who found Jesic running into perfect position. Smith's cross went to Jesic's foot, and his quick shot iced the match for Calgary. The final score was 3-0 for Calgary. Lutz Pfannenstiel recorded the shutout for the Mustangs.
The club's next match is on Sunday when the Portland Timbers visit Calgary.
| Lineups: |
| Calgary: Pfannenstiel, Pavicic, Peszneker, Richer, Auvigne, Mert, Holdt, Jesic, Kolomiets-Raad, Otta (Reyes 71), Smith |
| Seattle: Burpo, Jackson, Jenkins, Scott, Somoza (Smith 74), Sakuda, Kinoshita (Tomlinson 46), Bolanos, Callahan (Nguyen 46, Percell 82), Sawatsky (Melo 46), Levesque |
| Cautions: |
| Calgary: Smith (71st), Auvigne (81st) |
|
Seattle: Percell (85th) |
| Ejections: |
| Calgary: none |
| Seattle: none |
| Attendance: 1043 |
| Weather: cloudy, calm, 15 C (60 F) |
MUSTANG NOTES: Calgary captain Geert Brusselers did not play because of a league suspension for too many yellow cards. It was the first game he missed this season...The only Mustang to appear in every game is keeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, who has been in goal for every minute this season...Calgary released forward Mark Slade and defender Chris Kooy. Slade played only 99 minutes this season with no signs of making a major breakthrough with the club. Kooy played some significant minutes for the Mustangs, but had fallen down the depth chart as the result of Aaron Richer and Mike Pavicic returning from injury. Both released players are local products and will be rejoin the Calgary Callies, where they will be key players for one of the top amateur clubs in Canada...Striker Conrad Smith will be suit up for Trinidad & Tobago in two upcoming matches in August.