Sounders
Sounders win on Sakuda's rare goal

By Matt Massey
Special to the Times

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Midfielder Kevin Sakuda hadn't seen the field all season for the Seattle Sounders.

So when Sakuda started for the first time last night against the Edmonton Aviators, it was a bit of a surprise. When he scored a goal — just his second in less than two seasons with Seattle — it was a bit of a shocker.

Sakuda's 21-yard blast into the left corner of the net from straightaway in the 38th minute lifted the Sounders to a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Aviators in last night's A-League match in front of 1,951 fans at Qwest Field.

The Sounders evened their A-League record at 7-7-2 and hiked their points to 23. They remain in fourth place in the Western Conference. Edmonton (2-5-6, 12 points) remained in sixth of seven Western Conference teams.

"I wasn't sure I would get in the game or not," Sakuda said. "But coming up we've got three games in five days, so some guys needed some rest. I knew I needed to take advantage of any minutes I got."

The more defensive-minded Sakuda, who played 21 matches last season, scored his goal on a sizzling line-drive shot after taking a short pass from recent signee Jonathan Bolaños, who collected his third assist in five games with the team.

The rare start for Sakuda came after midfielders Sean Henderson (sore hamstring) and Chad Brown (deep knee bruise) needed a night off. Another midfielder Billy Sleeth is out for another three weeks with stress fracture in his left foot.

"We've had some guys the first half of the season who have been waiting for their chance," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "Sean Henderson was dinged up. Then Chad Brown kind of throws me for a little bit of a loop with his bad bruise. But they both gave me their honest assessment of whether they should play."

Sounders captain Jason Farrell was hit with his second yellow card of the match in the 80th minute to earn an automatic ejection and a subsequent suspension from tomorrow's match in Vancouver against the Whitecaps. Farrell got his first yellow in the 17th minute.
 
Seattle played a man down for just four minutes before Edmonton's Jaime Lopresti earned a straight red card and ejection in the 84th minute. Farrell's ejection triggered a sequence of three yellow cards and two ejections over the final 20 minutes.

The combination of Farrell and Henderson has kept Sakuda off the field.

"It's been a little bit of a frustrating year," Sakuda said. "It's tough. I just keep working hard in practice to stay as fit as possible and that's difficult not playing in games."

Sounders defender Danny Jackson picked up a yellow-card caution in the 50th minute, earning a one-match suspension by reaching the 21-point threshold for disciplinary action. That most likely means Jackson must sit out the July 17 home game against Portland.

Sounders Women 2, Edmonton Women 1

Tina Frimpong scored the game-winning goal to break a 1-1 tie in the 87th minute in her first action of the season in last night's W-League match.

Frimpong, a senior-to-be at UW, tapped a rebound shot into the right corner from point-blank range after entering as a substitute at halftime.

The Sounders Women (9-2-1) won their third consecutive match to stay atop the Western Conference standings with 28 points. Edmonton fell to 5-5-2.