Almost a perfect night for Sounders

They played wide-open, up-and-down soccer. An anything-goes kind of game. Think Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks. Or Tommy Hearns vs. Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

In the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, inside jittery, excited and expectant Qwest Field, the Sounders and big-league FC Dallas played soccer the way it should be played — daring, creative and relentless.

It was one of those wonderful nights when the game lived up to the moment. It was the kind of game that woke up the echoes from Sounders games played decades ago.

For much of the night, Seattle had the better run of play, but it squandered too many good opportunities. It couldn't finish, and in overtime, Dallas did.

Midfielder Arturo Alvarez, in the first minute of the first overtime, dribbled down the right side to the touch line, cut the ball back to the magical forward, Guatemalan international Carlos Ruiz, who slickly chipped the ball over Sounders' keeper Chris Eylander.

At crunch time, FC Dallas of Major League Soccer was just that much better than the Sounders, who lost this semifinal 2-1, a game that was so much more dramatic and entertaining than the final score suggests.

This was a special night.

At kickoff, the sun briefly broke through the Tuesday gloom. Fans in the north end zone waved Sounders banners, and flags from New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica, France and the United States were draped over the railing above the field-level suites.

This soccer-loving crowd danced and sang, gasped and cheered every run, every buildup, every save and every opportunity. It was like old times in Seattle.

Maybe it wasn't exactly Old Trafford in December, or even Memorial Stadium in 1974, but it was the most important Sounders game in more than 20 years and the crowd of 10,385 stayed into it all night, all the way through overtime.

"We felt it all week," said defender Taylor Graham. "There's been a buzz in the city. There's been a buzz in the organization. And when we got tired in the second half tonight, the fans were definitely trying to help us find some energy. The atmosphere was fantastic. It was the type of atmosphere every player wishes to play in front of."

Once again, in the egalitarian Open Cup, as they had in victories over MLS teams Chivas USA and Colorado Rapids, the Sounders, of the minor-league United Soccer Leagues, played like they belonged.

"The game was there for the taking," Graham said. "We had chances. I hit one off the bar. Roger [Levesque] had a good header where maybe he got fouled from the back. It was going to come down to one play and unfortunately it went their way."

The Sounders had enough chances to beat a third MLS team, but as well as they pushed forward, they finished every run poorly.

Still, the second half of this Cup game was a thrill ride. Both teams pushed forward in waves. The game became a slugfest. Chances poured from this game like water from a broken glass. And the crowd was up and down, like a bunch of Wac-A-Moles.

Alvarez's blast missed an open Sounders' net in the 60th minute. And three minutes later, Graham's header from a Leighton O'Brien corner kick beat Dallas keeper Dario Sala, but hit the cross bar.

Seattle's Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar danced around David Wagenfuhr, found Levesque running alone in the middle of the box, but Levesque's header was inches too high.

And, after a quiet first half, Ruiz's quality began to show. He was the best player on the field, stitching together dangerous chances that threatened to suck the air out of the stadium.

It was thrilling soccer. It had the kind of sudden-death feel key matches all over the world have. And here it was being played in Seattle.

"We take a lot of confidence from this," Graham said. "They had a player playing [Brazilian Denilson] who won a World Cup. And we have a lot of players that maybe a lot of people don't know about. But we had our chances and unfortunately for us, we didn't grab it."

Watching the game from owner Adrian Hanauer's suite was Hollywood movie producer Joe Roth, who, along with Hanauer, is expected to be the principal investor in an MLS expansion team Seattle is pursuing for 2009.

"I think Seattle deserves a top league," said midfielder O'Brien, who scored the Sounders' lone goal in the 120th minute. "If it was Europe, we would have been promoted a long time ago, and this is such a stable franchise I'm sure we would have stayed up. It would be great to see Seattle go MLS."

On a tasty Tuesday night, the city got a sense of just how good the MLS can be. The Sounders gave this soccer-savoring crowd everything. Everything, but a win.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com