Goalkeeper James Ward never imagined eight months ago that he would be facing an English Premier League club.

But the former Seattle Pacific University player, now a backup for the Seattle Sounders, saw his first action of the season last night and made what he thought was a dramatic save.

A late linesman's call gave Liam Lawrence a goal in the 81st minute as the Sunderland AFC Black Cats, a top-level team from England, subdued the Sounders 1-0 in the exhibition in front of 8,502 fans at Qwest Field.

Ward thought he had prevented a goal on a tough save in a tough situation.

"I got a fingernail to it," said Ward, 22. "I don't know if it [the ball] moved much after that. I don't think it went in, because it was already bouncing away when I looked up."

Replays appeared to show that the entire ball went over the goal line by inches.

Ward got his left hand on Lawrence's left-footed shot from about 15 yards, and the ball caromed off the bottom of the crossbar toward the right post. Referees initially didn't make a call, but the linesman eventually signaled that it was a goal. "He got a lot of pace behind it," Ward said of Lawrence's shot. "He hit it well."

The winning goal for Lawrence, who entered the game in the 61st minute, came on a pass from Dean Whitehead.

The crowd was the second-largest since the Sounders started playing at Qwest Field. A crowd of 25,515 attended the stadium's first event, on July 28, 2002, when the Sounders beat Vancouver 4-1.

Just three weeks before the April 30 season opener, Ward wasn't sure professional soccer was in his future. He didn't know for sure until Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer called him about becoming a backup goalkeeper for the United Soccer League First Division team.

"After the college season, I had five or six months off and I didn't think I was going to play," Ward said. "That was my first practice in a while when I joined the Sounders, so I just went for it.

"I've been making the trips but not playing. It's been flying, watching, flying, watching, so it was kind of tough coming into that situation."

The two teams played to a scoreless first half. Seattle applied pressure early and outshot the English club 9-5 before the two teams settled into more defensive modes in the final 15 minutes.

Ward started the second half and didn't look like someone who hadn't seen a minute all season.

"I've got to test him to see what he can do," Schmetzer said.

Seattle outshot Sunderland, 14-12. Ward made a pair of second-half saves after coming in for starter Preston Burpo.

The Sounders (10-5-6) dodged a Sunderland goal in the 72nd minute when defender Scott Jenkins headed a shot off the bottom of the crossbar from Black Cats defender Nyron Nosworthy.

"They had a lot of possessions, but we had plenty of opportunities," Schmetzer said.

It marked the first time in the Sounders' modern era that they had faced an English Premier League team. The Sounders last took on a top-level British team in 1982. Seattle, then in the North American Soccer League, downed Manchester United 3-0.

Last night was the sixth time the Sounders have faced a top English team in the franchise's 22-year existence.

Sounders game summary

BLACK CATS 1, SOUNDERS 0

Sunderland AFC	0 1 — 1
Seattle Sounders	0 0 — 0

Goals — Sun: 1, Liam Lawrence (Dean Whitehead) 81:00. Shots — Sun 12, Sea 14. Saves — Sun (Kelvin Davis) 5, Sea (Burpo, Ward) 2. Fouls — Sun 21, Sea 14. Offsides — Sun 0, Sea 2. Corner kicks — Sun 12, Sea 5. Cautions — Sun (Stephen Wright 53:00), Sea (O'Brien 6:00). Att — 8,502.