Sounders beat another MLS team, 1-0

Playing their fifth match in 11 days, the Seattle Sounders looked tired.

Legs wobbled and cramped up. Minds strayed. Focus wandered.

Two shots off the cross bar could've gotten them down after 120 scoreless minutes, but the resolve remained.

In stepped tireless Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander to save the day.

Eylander made 10 saves and turned back two penalty kicks in shootout to rescue a 1-0 overtime shootout as the Sounders wore out a fresh Kansas City Wizards squad on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 95th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in front of 4,674 fans at Qwest Field.

It was just the second match at Qwest this season for the Sounders (9-3-8 overall), who reached the Open Cup semifinals for the second consecutive season. The loss eliminated the Wizards (7-6-5).

"I knew Eylander was going make one save in overtime, so to make two was unbelievable," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "I told Adrian [managing partner Adrian Hanauer] Chris deserves a raise."

Eylander, a graduate of Auburn Riverside High School and the University of Washington, posted his ninth shutout of the season. The Sounders outscored KC 6-5 in the shootout as Eylander knocked away the Wizards' second penalty kick by U.S. national team player Jimmy Conrad and the seventh-round kick by Tyson Wahl.

"This guarantees that a USL team will be in the finals, and that was the good news," Schmetzer said. "The bad news is if Charleston gets there."

After the last save, Sounder defender Zach Scott converted into the lower right corner to break a 5-5 shootout tie and send Sounders fans into a frenzy.

"My guys were tired," Schmetzer said. "We've had an extremely tough schedule. The schedule of ULS teams is worse than MLS."

The triumph sets up a semifinal showdown with United Soccer Leagues First Division leader Charleston Battery on Aug. 12 in Charleston, S.C.

The Battery traveled to FC Dallas of MLS to notch a 3-1 win Tuesday. Charleston and Seattle tied 1-1 in the season opener, and Charleston won 1-0 on July 5.

The U.S. Open championship is Aug. 26.

Seattle has won four of its last five meetings against MLS squads in the Open Cup.

The Wizards lineup featured just two full-time starters, as they left almost half of their main roster home.

Kansas City Wizards	0 0 0 0 — 0
Seattle Sounders	0 0 0 0 — 1

Goals — None. Shootout goals — KC 5 (Ryan Pore, Ryan McMahen, Roger Espinoza, Kerry Zavagnin, Mike Harrington), Sea 6 (Danny Jackson, Kenji Treschuk, Kevin Sakuda, Leighton O'Brien, Yousouff Kante, Zach Scott). Shots — KC 16, Sea 21. Saves — KC (Eric Kronberg) 4, Sea (Chris Eylander) 10. Fouls — KC 19, Sea 14. Offsides — KC 4, Sea 6. Corner kicks — KC 6, Sea 9. Cautions — KC (Lance Watson 23:00), Sea (none). Ejections — None. A — 4,674. Records — KC 7-6-5 overall; Sea 9-3-8 overall.