Washington (AP) — Freddy Montero and Roger Levesque scored to lead
Seattle to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United in the U.S. Open Cup final
Wednesday night, giving the expansion Sounders their first trophy.
Montero
smashed in a rebound in the 67th minute and Levesque scored in the 85th
as Seattle joined Chicago (1998) as the only teams to win the Open Cup
in their inaugural season.
Clyde Simms scored for D.C. in the 89th minute.
The
win was especially satisfying for the Sounders, who felt slighted after
the United won the right to host the final from the U.S. Soccer
Federation.
A media war of words between Seattle general manager
Adrian Hanauer and United president Kevin Payne followed that decision,
and the 17,329 who came to RFK Stadium more than doubled the attendance
for D.C.'s Open Cup-winning victory over second-division Charleston
(S.C.) last year.
Before the trophy presentation, the Sounders
trotted to the stadium's northwest corner and applauded approximately
100 green-clad fans in the upper deck who made the trip from the
Pacific Northwest.
Montero thundered the ball into a gaping net
to put Seattle up 1-0 after Freddie Ljungberg reached Steve Zakuani's
cross, only to be denied by a diving Josh Wicks.
Wicks lunged but
couldn't beat Montero. The D.C. goalkeeper was then ejected in the
aftermath of the goal for apparently stepping on Montero, who was
sprawled on the ground after scoring.
As United struggled to cope
a man down, Levesque made it 2-0 when he tapped into an empty net after
Sebastien Le Toux's cross beat substitute goalkeeper Milos Kocic.
Simms
also scored into an empty net after reaching a deflected free kick.
United pressured through five minutes of stoppage time, but could do no
more than force a clearing punch from Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller
with a late corner kick.
The U.S. Open Cup, which began in 1914, is open to all levels of professional and amateur teams associated with the USSF.