Sounders
Regular season ends on forgettable note

By Matt Massey
Special to The Seattle Times

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Everything came to a crashing halt for the Seattle Sounders, except their season. The season will continue despite the hangover of a poor showing in the regular-season finale.

In a forgettable finish to the regular season, the playoff-bound Sounders created few offensive chances and were shut down 3-1 by the Minnesota Thunder last night in an A-League match before a season-high 4,853 fans at Qwest Field.

The loss snapped a five-match winning streak for the Sounders (13-11-4, 43 points), but they still advanced to the postseason. Facing elimination from the playoff picture with a loss or a tie, Minnesota (13-9-6, 45 points) nailed down the No. 3 seed from the Western Conference with a decisive triumph.

"I hope it's just a bump in the road," said Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, whose team gave up a goal seven minutes into the match. "That first goal just killed us. I'll stew about this loss for a couple of days, and those guys will forget about it tomorrow.

"We just can't let in a goal like that first one and be a championship-contending team."

The Thunder built a 2-0 lead in the first 38 minutes and 3-0 in the first 52 minutes and never let Seattle back into the contest. The Sounders averted the shutout when Darren Sawatzky tallied his first goal of the season on an assist from Chad Brown in the 85th minute.

It was Sawatzky's 30th goal in four years with the Sounders (2000, 2002-04). Sawatzky will retire after this season, his 10th as a pro.

"We've got to re-focus," Sawatzky said. "The playoffs are a whole new ballgame. The level is raised."

Seattle, the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, opens the playoffs with a two-match aggregate-goal series against the conference champion and top-seeded Portland Timbers. The series begins in Portland on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at PGE Park and concludes in Seattle at Qwest Field next Sunday at 5 p.m.
 
The Sounders lost the season series to the Timbers 3-1.

Portland (17-7-3, 53 points) concludes the regular season at home against Milwaukee Wave United (12-11-4, 40 points) tonight at 5. A Milwaukee win would pull the Wave United into a fourth-place tie with Seattle at 43 points, but the Sounders own the head-to-head tiebreaker edge with 2-0-2 series edge.

Seattle secured a spot in the playoffs on Friday night without even taking the field. The Sounders were assured a top-four finish in the Western Conference and subsequent playoff berth when Milwaukee lost to Vancouver 4-0. "Friday night when Milwaukee lost, that was such a sigh of relief for us," Sawatzky said. "It was the first time in 28 games that we were able to take a deep breath. We've been fighting to get to .500 all season.

"We found a way to get in the playoffs, so now we just need to find a way to go win some games."

The Sounders will be making their 10th appearance in the postseason in 11 seasons with the A-League, missing out only in 2001 under Bernie James.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead on an 18-yard header by Godfrey Tenoff after nice a target ball from Brian Roberts in the seventh minute. Tenoff beat Sounders goalkeeper Preston Burpo to the upper-right corner of the net. It was just the third goal yielded by Burpo in the past six games.

The goal occurred when Kevin Sakuda's man, Tenoff, got free down the middle and Marco Velez didn't pick him up and then Burpo came outside the 6-yard box out of position.

"(Assistant coach) Jimmy (Gabriel), being the positive guy that he is, told the guys that this is the wake-up call for the playoffs," Schmetzer said. "You're not going to win a playoff series if you play like that. We've struggled when we've given up goals through individual mistakes."

Jeff Matteo drilled a 21-yard free-kick goal into the upper-right corner for a 2-0 Minnesota lead in the 38th minute. Melvin Tarley nailed a penalty kick in the 52nd minute to give the Thunder a 3-0 lead.

Minnesota 3, Seattle 1

Scoring: 1. MIN Tenoff (Roberts assist) 7:00; 2. MIN Matteo (UA) 38:00; 3. MIN Melvin Tarley (penalty kick) 52:00. 4. SEA Darren Sawatzky (Chad Brown assist) 85:00. Shots — Min 7, Sea 16. Saves — Min (Warren, McNellis) 2, Sea (Burpo) 2. Fouls — Min 18, Sea 21. Offsides — Min 3, Sea 1. Corner kicks — Min 5, Sea 6. Cautions — Min (Albert 73:00), Sea (Burpo 51:00). Ejections — Min (None), Sea (None). Att: 4,853