Sounders advance to USL championship

TUKWILA — Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander led the United Soccer Leagues First Division in saves and wins and finished second in shutouts, but received no all-league honor.

No first-team or second-team accolades. Nothing.

Eylander, the second-year pro out of University of Washington, made two crucial saves in penalty kicks as the Sounders turned back a gritty Puerto Rico Islanders team in a semifinal series tiebreaker Sunday night in front of 3,107 fans at Starfire Sports Complex.

Puerto Rico effectively won Game 2 of the series 1-0 with more potent offense to force two 15-minute overtime periods to decide the two-match, aggregate-goal series. The Sounders (26-8-7) won the series as a result of a 4-2 penalty-kick victory after the series was tied at three goals.

"I try to take all that league stuff and throw it away," said Eylander, who had 15 saves in the series, many of which were match-savers. "Yeah, it bothers me a little bit, but I didn't care so much about that as wanting to win the championship.

"That's what matters."

Eylander more than did his job as the Sounders advanced to make their third appearance in the USL First Division championship in four seasons. Seattle, which won league titles in 1995, 1996 and 2005, will appear in its fifth championship match in the past 14 years.

The Sounders host the final Saturday against the Atlanta Silverbacks at Starfire at 7 p.m. The Silverbacks won its series in penalty kicks after the series was tied 1.

The Sounders, who play most of their home matches at Qwest Field, improved to 7-0-1 in matches played at Starfire.

"Chris stopped two sure goals," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "Puerto Rico made it nerve-racking.

"That was a testament to how good of a goalkeeper Chris has become, but it's also a testament to how much pressure that team put on us."

Greg Howes, a substitute in the 67th minute, streaked in from the back side to bury a 10-yard shin shot after a cross on the left sideline by Roger Levesque in the 100th minute, 10 minutes into the first overtime. That gave the Sounders a 3-2 edge in the series and 1-0 lead in the extra session.

In the 117th minute — or 27th minute of OT — Victor Herrera sent a 30-yard free kick through traffic to make it 1-1 in OT and 3-3 for the series, forcing penalty kicks.

Just moments before, Seattle's Sebastien Le Toux banged a shot off the crossbar that could have clinched the win in OT.

Two Puerto Rico substitutes combined to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead in the 80th minute — and tied the series 2-2 in goals — when Alberto Delgado knocked in a point-blank shot off a right-end-line feed from Noah Delgado.

ISLANDERS 1, SOUNDERS 0

(Sounders win series with 4-2 OT in penalty kicks after tying 3-3 in two games and series OT)

Puerto Rico Islanders	0 1 0 1 — 2
Seattle Sounders	0 0 1 0 — 1

Goals — Puerto Rico: 1, Alberto Delgado (Noah Delgado), 80:00; 2, Victor Herrera (unassisted), 117:00; Seattle: 1, Greg Howes (Roger Levesque), 100:00. Penalty-kick goals — Puerto Rico (Tai Atieno, Gregory Simmonds), Seattle (Greg Howes, Leighton O'Brien, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Andre Schmid). Shots — Puerto Rico 24, Seattle 17. Saves — Puertor Rico 3 (Josh Saunders), Seattle 6 (Chris Eylander). Fouls — Puerto Rico 19, Seattle 7. Offsides — Puerto Rico 3, Seattle 2. Corner kicks — Puerto Rico 4, Seattle 2. Cautions — Puerto Rico (Willie Sims 8:00, Tai Atieno 8:00, A.Delgado 80:00), Seattle (Howes 100:00). Ejections — None. A — 3,107. Records — Seattle 26-8-7 overall.