Sounders win, but Gregor to sit out

The Seattle Sounders moved a step closer to clinching a spot in the playoffs Friday night.

But in the process, they lost a veteran midfielder for two critical upcoming matches.

Andrew Gregor scored early, but later earned his eighth yellow card of the season — meaning a two-game suspension — as the Sounders shut out the Minnesota Thunder 1-0 in a United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division match at Qwest Field.

Seattle (10-11-4, 34 points) moved into fifth place with three matches remaining. Minnesota (7-11-5, 26 points) had its four-match win streak snapped.

Gregor received the yellow card when coach Brian Schmetzer called him off the ball to have defender Danny Jackson take a free kick in the 71st minute.

Midfielder Leighton O'Brien also faces a two-game suspension after getting a yellow card last Saturday, meaning both starting midfielders will be out Friday against Charleston and Sept. 8 at Vancouver.

"The referee made a bad decision," Gregor said of the delay-of-game call. "There's no way I'd be trying to waste time in the 69th minute [it actually was the 71st]. That's ridiculous. But we've got confidence in the rest of the team. There's 24 of us. I trust our teammates to pick us up now."

Gregor curled a 23-yard free kick into the upper right corner just out of the reach of Minnesota goalkeeper Joe Warren for a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. It was his fourth goal.

Gregor's precision left-footed free kick from the top right of the penalty area was set up when Freddy Juarez tugged on Seattle forward Maykel Galindo's jersey to earn a foul.

Schmetzer took the blame for Gregor's yellow card.

"In Andrew's defense, I'll take credit for the card," Schmetzer said. "I was micro-managing. I wanted Danny to take the kick and have the midfielders up the field.

"I feel bad for Andrew, because he's been playing well and he's a big reason we're playing well. It seems unfair to punish him for something questionable like that."

Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander made a spectacular diving save during added time in the 45th minute, turning back a left-footed Terry Alvino blast from 22 yards out en route to his sixth shutout.