EDMONTON, June 3, 2004 - The Edmonton Aviators lost for the second time this season, going down 1-0 to the Seattle Sounders in their third game in 7 days. Seattle, coming off a loss to the Calgary Mustangs, came out stronger to start the game, were rewarded with an early goal and held on for the lead.
The Sounders began in a 4-4-2 formation while the Aviators employed a flexible 3-4-3, with Campi in goal, Devlin, Salinas and de Silva in Defense, Titus, Vignjevic in midfield, with Fraser and Chin on the wings and the attacking combination of Lemire, Sibiya and Akok.
As the game started, a sluggish Edmonton side set the tone for the evening by squandering early possession, making weak passes and looking as if they weren't expecting the Sounders to show up. As Edmonton were dispossessed at the 3rd minute, Titus was heard yelling at Akok "Simple, Freddy". One minute later, Campi made a bad pass upfield that Seattle intercepted but luckily unleashed a weak shot that the Edmonton keeper did not have trouble with.
After a spell of bad passing by both teams, the Aviators were awarded two free kicks in quick succession that put them within range, but as luck would have it, did not threaten. Then at the 7th minute, Fraser made a run along the right wing, cut into the middle and shot the ball straight at a Sounders defender who took it just above the mommy-daddy button.
The Sounders quickly composed themselves though and began controlling the flow of play, earning a free kick at the 12 minute mark just outside the Edmonton box. Campi was able to parry the ball away from danger and wasn't even bothered with the corner kick that followed. The early Seattle pressure would pay off however as Welton Melo headed the ball towards goal and into the net at the 16th minute to give him his third goal of the season.
The Aviators came alive at the 23rd minute, when some good pressing play got the official crowd of 3107 making some noise which seemed to encourage the home side. Unfortunately, a subsequent freekick and corner kick resulted in nothing. At the 33rd minute though, Lemire had the best chance of the first half as he came in streaking from the left wing, into the box, but unluckily shot it at Soundeers keeper, Preston Burpo.
Edmonton continued to press and Vignjevic, Sibiya and Fraser combined with some pretty passing to create a chance, while Sibiya, dribbling well, had a good angled shot deflected. A poor corner did not produce results and the Aviators went into the dressing room a goal down at halftime. Coach Ongaro took advantage of the break to sub Sipho Sibiya with former Drillers alumnus Chris Handsor.
Seattle once again came out with more edge and were it not for the quick thinking and reflexes of Campi, a 2 - 0 lead would have existed from one of two quick fire, point blank shots. To the delight of the home crowd, the Aviators regrouped and at the 53rd minute, attacked in style, with two crosses in the Sounders box as well as a Lemire shot that bounced off the post and a follow-up shot from Akok that went over the bar. It was deja vu two minutes later as Akok once again sent a juicy rebound over the bar.
At the 57th minute, new Turkish signing, sweeper Ibrahim Mollaibrahimagaoglu came on to replace Chris Devlin. Soon after, in between a barrage of Aviator offensive pressure, Sounders defender Marco Velez made it into Referee Miguel Navarro's little black book of bad boys.
More missed chances followed for Edmonton as the second half evolved to which Seattle responded by bringing in fresher legs. Robbie Aristodemo came on for Chad Brown at the 66th minute and goal scorer Welton Melo was replaced by Kyle Smith in the 74th minute. In the 75th though, Danny Jackson was booked for diving as he fell in the Aviators box running for a ball and untouched by a mile.
The last 15 minutes produced a flurry of Aviator chances that were not converted, and other than the interruption of Seattle subbing out Sean-Michael Callahan for Kevin Sakuda at the 81st minute and Edmonton subbing out Sean Fraser for Desmond Tachie, Edmonton pretty much controlled the possession battle.
Sounders keeper Preston Burpo was an easy standout making 11 saves on the night, while Campi kept the Aviators in the game making some timely saves and Gordon Chin once again ran around most of the game although not as fast as on the Minnesota game of May 30th. The Aviators were clearly disappointed with the game and the incomplete attacking chances they created. Forward Chris Handsor summed up the team's frustration by saying "at this point, we haven't won a game so everything is a missed opportunity."
With the next game not coming for a week, the Aviators will have a chance to rest before facing the Portland Timbers.
Sergio Teixeira
