Sounders score late, beat Wizards 1-0

SEATTLE — In the span of a week, stoppage time went from being dread-inducing to delirium-producing for Seattle Sounders FC.

A week ago, Seattle gave up the lead in the final minutes of a disappointing tie in Salt Lake City. On Saturday afternoon, Sounders FC was the beneficiary of some late-game magic, winning 1-0 over the Kansas City Wizards on a 92nd-minute goal by little-used reserve Michael Fucito.

Instead of settling for a second straight tie before kicking off a two-game road trip, Seattle will leave for Dallas this week riding high after stealing a win with the clock winding down.

“Things have a funny way of equalizing themselves out,” Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “I’m just very proud. Very proud of the guys and happy that our fans could go home happy because that just makes a big, big difference in this locker room right now, having scored the winner in injury time as opposed to conceding the tying goal.”

And Seattle did almost concede the tying goal for a second straight game. Moments after Fucito put Sounders FC ahead, Kansas City caught Seattle on its heels on the ensuing kickoff, and were it not for a spectacular save by Keller, the game would have likely ended in a 1-1 tie.

“That would have been an absolute dagger,” Seattle defender James Riley said. “I don’t think anyone would have been able to sleep for a week. Fortunately Kasey comes up with a massive save.”

Keller’s save preserved the win, and it also allowed Fucito to walk off the field as a most unlikely hero. A fourth-round pick out of Harvard last season, Fucito never played in a regular season game for Seattle in 2009, and had to battle just to make the roster this season. He didn’t enter this game until the 85th minute, and had only one other appearance to his credit, a late-game substitution in the season opener.

With time winding down and Seattle awarded a throw in, Fucito managed to get wide open behind Kansas City’s defense — there is no offsides rule on throw ins — and Brad Evans quickly took the throw in and led Fucito into the Wizards’ box. Fucito ran onto the ball and fired a shot past Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen with his first touch.

As happy as Fucito was about his goal — “Pure joy. That’s the best feeling in the world, scoring a goal,” he said — his teammates seemed even more thrilled. Players like Keller and Freddie Ljungberg, established stars in the game, couldn’t stop raving about a goal scored by their seldom-used teammate.

“Extremely proud for Mikey,” Keller said. “He really came into preseason with something to prove, and he’s done a great job. It’s always nice to be rewarded for doing as well as he has. It’s a big moment for him.”

Of course all of the attention on Fucito didn’t come with out a little ribbing from his teammates as well. As Fucito sat in his locker, surrounded by reporters, midfielder Peter Vagenas joined the semicircle and interrupted with a few questions of his own, teasing Fucito, who is generously listed at 5-foot-9.

“How did they not see you?” Vagenas asked. “Were you hiding under the end line? Did they think you were a mascot who got loose on the field?”

All jokes aside, however, Seattle still had concerns that weren’t completely covered up by a last-minute win. The goal broke a home scoreless streak of 227 minutes for Seattle, and despite improvements in some areas, the team needs to get better, players and coach Sigi Schmid agreed.

“It felt good to win on a late goal,” Schmid said. “We played better than we did in Salt Lake, but still not up to standards we set for ourselves.”

Vagenas, a surprise starter for Evans, was less diplomatic assessing his team’s play.

“We were awful,” he said. “I don’t think we were very good at all to be honest… . It’s easy to walk away from here and be excited about three points, but at the end of the day if we play like that, we are not going to make the playoffs in this league.”

So it wasn’t perfect, but for Sounders FC, stoppage-time heroics certainly beat the alternative.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.