From the Goal Line

There were a lot of firsts in and around Qwest Field this past Sunday.
For the first time in recent years Seattle participated in the grand finale of America’s professional soccer. In honor of the newly beloved Sounders, Seattle fans didn’t disappoint, welcoming with open arms celebrities of the world’s game.
While Sounders fans and soccer lover alike packed the stands to cheer for two teams with almost nothing connecting them to the Pacific Northwest, it also became a game of firsts, as well as an underdog champion.
Sitting upstairs watching the field and stands fill up before the match began, I was impressed with not only the dedication of fans rooting for both LA and Salt Lake, but also the amount of Sounders green I saw. Obviously, this is a sport with fans that refuse to quit.

To be perfectly honest the first half of the game, despite all the pageantry and build up earlier in the week, was a bit dull. Sure, David Beckham ran around the field and took a few corners, but Landon Donovan, heralded as one of America’s best soccer players, hardly touched the ball in the first 40 minutes.
Three days earlier both Donovan and Beckham said during their press conference they wanted it to be an exciting game for the fans. It took a while for that to happen, but then once the tide changed, the pressure was obviously on, finally giving those fans in the stands what Beckham and Donovan had hoped for.
Early on it looked as if Real Salt Lake was going to be facing a big deficit against the LA Galaxy after Javier Morales, one of the RSL’s big playmakers, went down following a scuffle on the field. He came off the field in the 22nd minute of the game, due to what was later called a left knee sprain.
Whether it was because Morales was out, or the timing was right or perhaps more likely a combination of all of the above, LA got their chance in the 41st minute of the Cup match after Beckham scurried down field, found Donovan in the middle who then passed to LA forward Mike Magee to take the 1-0 lead.
The halftime break continued the monotony of the game, despite the uptick after LA’s goal, with the Sounder’s Freddie Montero facing off against an unknown opponent in Guitar Hero, attempting to get the crowd excited about their rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. While they both obviously practiced their guitar skills, it was no NFL halftime show.
Thankfully the teams quickly reassembled on the pitch for their second half warm-ups. For as boring as the first half may have been, despite the fact that both teams were playing some excellent soccer, the second half was like watching an entirely different game. Just a few minutes into the deciding half LA goalie Donovan Ricketts slid toward Salt Lake’s Robbie Findley who was looking for a shot on goal at the same time an LA defender also came sliding into the box, where all three collided. Findley and the LA defender came away quickly, but Ricketts stayed down, as the medics rushed onto the field for the second time during the game. After what was announced later as a seven minute delay of game time, Ricketts reestablished his position between the goal posts, but it didn’t last for long. Minutes later, after the teams started trading fouls, Ricketts left the game, the first time in MLS Cup history a goalie has come out of the game. Later, in the press box, we were told he was suffering from a right hand contusion. Basically the back of his hand was so swollen he had to come out to get medical attention and LA sent in his backup Josh Saunders of Grant’s Pass, Ore. to fill the void.
Shortly before Ricketts leaving the game Salt Lake tied the score, after Findley found a hole and knocked the ball in for a 1-1 tie. Then, with Ricketts out, things were looking a little less likely for LA. The game headed into a 30 minute overtime period, and after the score remained tied headed into penalty kicks.
The LA team, who won MLS Cup’s in 2002 and 2005, has played in five Cup finals and each time has gone into an overtime situation. In total the MLS Cup has seen six OT’s in it’s history, making LA one team which arguably needs to learn to finish on the field.
After the overtime the game headed into the penalty kick portion of the match to decide the winner of this year’s Cup. The only other time the championship of American soccer was decided in this fashion was the 2006 Cup where Houston outlasted New England for the title.
The firsts of the ‘09 Cup continued in the PK portion of the evening when Donovan missed his shot, not that it was blocked, just flat out shot the ball over the top of the goal. It was the first time during competition he’d just plain missed the goal.
In the end Real Salt Lake came in as underdogs, but left Qwest Field with the Tiffany&Co. trophy in hand. What started as just another soccer game, with international players and some hype, ended in an exciting, down-to-the-wire event and it’s hard to imagine the MLS saying no to another playoff visit to Seattle in the future.