Fight Night

By: Anne | May 26th, 2007

It was cold, slightly raining, and when the Seattle Sounders scored only 10 seconds into the match- it looked like we were in for a long, tough night.

But despite losing 2-1 to Seattle, the California Victory looked remarkably improved, and at times, controlled quite a bit of the action.

Of particular note was standout Hugo Castillas. At 5″5 Castillas has not always seemed suited to the defender position he usually plays in. But tonight he was up front, and really showed off his skills. Time after time he made incredible quick runs up the sides, skillfully passing. He frequently made it back into a defensive position, and had several good clearances, but this may have worn him out, as he was not as effective during the second half.

Ricardo Sanchez turned in another good first half performance, with several quality free kicks and corners. But every time he takes a set piece, it highlights one of the Vic’s biggest problems: headers and finishing. Several times there were acurately placed free kicks, corners, or even passes, but the Vic’s don’t seem to be in the right position to get the ball in and don’t seem able to head them in either.

The first half ended in a scuffle, as a Seattle player seemed to shove a Vic’s player over a free kick given to Seattle. Within milli-seconds almost the entire Seattle team was in the referee’s face, but the ref seemed to be able to get the game back on track.

The beginning of the second half saw a flurry of activity, both good and bad. Vic’s midfielder Raul Palomares was ejected after getting a second yellow card- this time for a sloppy tackle. Seconds later, though, the Victory were award a penalty after a player went down in the box. Josh Hansen quickly converted it, and came over to celebrate with the 1906 Supporters.

The Vic’s then looked as though they had renewed energy, and the game picked up pace. But at the 54 minute another scuffle broke out, and a Seattle player (#7)was sent straight off….except he didn’t want to go. Finally one of the security guards had to come out onto the field and escort him off!

But just when it looked like the Vic’s might be able to break their 3 game losing streak, Seattle capitalized on a poor goalkeeper error and scored in the 70th minute.

It’s good to see that the Vic’s look much improved, and perhaps will fare better against Charlston on Wed.