Sounders settle for draw

SEATTLE — An emotional roller coaster ended on down note for Seattle Sounders FC.

Thanks to a wondrous strike by Vancouver forward Eric Hassli, what could have been a stunning comeback victory for Sounders FC Saturday night instead turned into a disappointing 2-2 tie again the Whitecap

“We’re sitting in the locker room like it’s a loss instead of celebrating a derby victory,” said defender James Riley. “. . . It was an unbelievable high and an unbelievable low.”

The unbelievable high for Sounders FC was created by a pair of goals three minutes apart that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the 84th minute. The low followed only moments later when Hassli tied the game with his second goal of the night.

“It’s obviously a rollercoaster,” Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said. “You go up and down a little bit.”

For much of the night, it appeared Seattle was headed for an embarrassing loss to the expansion Whitecaps, a team that has not won since its March 19 season opener. Seattle midfielder Osvaldo Alonso was whistled for a foul in the box in the first half, giving Vancouver a penalty kick that Hassli converted for a 1-0 lead.

Seattle had several chances to tie it in the first half but could not find the back of the net, but Sounders FC players came out in the second half confident they could not just salvage a tie, but earn a comeback victory.

It took a while, but Mauro Rosales got the equalizing goal for Seattle, scoring off a Tyson Wahl cross that deflected off of Vancouver’s Mouloud Akloul. Rosales’ 81st-minute goal was his first for Seattle, and minutes later Alonso gave Seattle the lead with a low strike from distance that was just past the reach of Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon.

But as crazy as Seattle’s comeback was, the game had one more twist in store for the 36,502 in attendance at Qwest Field. Alonso, who moments earlier was celebrating what looked to be the game-winning goal, misplayed a pass from Jhon Kennedy Hurtado right to Hassli. From the corner of the box, Hassli chipped the ball up to himself, turned and fired from a nearly impossible angle over Kasey Keller and into the upper corner of the net.

“The quality of the goal was magnificent, but it should have never gotten to that position on the field,” Schmid said. “We had the ball, the ball came off our guy.”

And while Hassli’s goal stood out, it was hardly the only instance of Seattle giving the ball away uncharacteristically.

“Passing was off, control was off, touch was off for everybody I think,” said midfielder Brad Evans. “Passes were being missed for everybody I think.”

Keller said all he can do in that situation is tip his cap to Hassli, who scored what could well end up being the goal of the year in Major League Soccer.

“I don’t know, I could give him that shot probably another 99 times and I don’t know if he’s going to score it, but he did today,” Keller said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to shake somebody’s hand and say, ‘Hey, that’s a hell of a goal.’”

Hassli himself had to admit that he was a little lucky.

“I closed my eyes and shot,” he said. “I had a lot of luck there.”

Luck, skill or some combination of the two, the end result was a disappointing draw for Seattle against a struggling Northwest rival.

“It’s just a bummer, you know,” Evans said. “It’s one of those that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s like it all happened within 10 minutes. So many different emotions in the last 10 minutes. It sucks, it’s disappointing.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.