Seattle Sounders Vs. Columbus Crew: Highlights, Stats And Quotes

Sometimes statistics lie. Saturday's Seattle Sounders-Columbus Crew match is a perfect example. If you just ignored that little score detail, you'd see that the Crew actually dominated the Sounders, outshooting them 19-13, holding 53 percent of possession and even outpassing the Sounders 79-76. This is one of those matches where watching the highlights gives you a much better picture.

There's absolutely no way you can watch the way this game unfolded and see anything other than a dominant Sounders performance. There was an almost embarrassing amount of space to operate on the wings, which led to no fewer than 10 quality scoring chances. It seemed like every pass they made was moving forward, and a remarkable number of those forward-looking passes connected with their intended targets. Really, this game could have easily been 8-2.

The Sounders defense wasn't exactly airtight, but it's hard to blame them as they weren't exactly pressing. Kasey Keller came up with a few quality saves, but you never got the sense the Crew were poised for a comeback.

Enjoy.

 All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

Sigi Schmid - Sounders FC Head Coach

(On the team's outing today...) "Obviously this afternoon we got off to a good start.  We were a little fortunate to on the first goal, you know, the bounce.  I know Hesmer's a quality goalkeeper; those aren't the kind of goals you expect to get against him.  Then we were able to parlay that and score more goals after that.  I thought, offensively, our combinations, our cohesion were very good at times.  They're a quality team, so they're going to have character and they're going to stand up in the second half and try and battle back, which they did.  And obviously they got a PK and they got a free kick.  With the amount of games we're playing, to be able to come out and score six goals against the East Coast leader - or the Eastern Division leader - I think is something that the team's got to be very proud of."

(On Lamar Neagle and his three goals today...) "He feels he can go back to Federal Way and they'll actually treat him well and treat him with respect [laughs].  No, I mean it was great.  He keeps working hard.  He's working on his first touch, which is something that's helping his game come along.  Like I said, the first goal he got, he got a little bit fortunate; the second goal was clinical.  It was a great volley, a great cross from...from Riley...And then the third goal, I mean he loves cutting inside and hitting that.  It was a little bit similar to the goal he got against Salt Lake.  I'm glad the linesman was well-positioned to call it, because it was obviously in.  So he's got to be a very happy young man.

(On his strategy for lineup changes with the team playing eight games in August...) "Just to stay fresh; keep our team right.  Lamar obviously didn't play in Monterey.  Fernandez played a lot of hard minutes down in Monterey, helped us, scored a great goal down there. We wanted to come back with Rosales, who also didn't play in Monterey.  So it's just a matter of squad rotation and staying fresh."

(On the depth of the squad...) "It definitely speaks well for the depth of our squad. I felt that all along, if we're healthy - and obviously we're missing a couple of key pieces that aren't healthy, but the majority now are healthy - and I felt all along that we could go 16 or 17 deep without changing our ability to play."

(On the possibility of O'Brian White's return...) "I can't say that 100% right now but the chances of him coming back right now [...] it looks more like he'll be done rather than coming back at this stage. What's more important for us is that they're able to resolve the issue on a permanent basis and that O'Brian will be able to resume his career. So when that's going to happen that's something that right now we're still in a wait-and-see."

(On Mike Fucito...) "It was good to see Mike get a goal. He made a good run. He was quicker to the ball, finished it well. He was also the guy who was standing right there to tap it in when Josh Gardner scored the own-goal. I thought he had some good moments. He's doing a better job staying in the middle of the field and when he's there he's dangerous."

(On adjusting for the absence of Julius James...) "Not all that much. We knew they were going to have to replace Julius James and we wanted to make them play out of the middle a little bit more and force the ball there. I think that Rich Balchan is a good rookie who is coming off of having been out for awhile with an injury and it's maybe took him a little bit of time to get used to the rhythm of the game."

(On the Crew's Jeff Cunningham scoring his 134^th career MLS goal...) As the penalty got called, I was sort of surprised because I saw some of their players grab the ball ahead of Jeff [Cunningham], and I'm like going 'I can't believe they're not going to give them the goal here today or give the try.' And I felt for Kasey, because I wanted Kasey to save it because you don't want to be the guy who gets that scored against. But Jeff's had a great career in this league and he's scored a lot of goals. It's great to see him get that behind him."

(On the defense's efforts today...) "I think the defense overall has done well in terms of their ability and their willingness to sacrifice their bodies.  We've blocked a lot of shots, which is something we did really well when we had a good run last year.  We did a good job of getting our body in front of shots.  And today we did a good job of that as well.  We want to eliminate the goals we take on set pieces, because they all count the same, but I think as a team we defended much better.  The second half was a little harder for us, because they went into a 3-5-2 and I was a little stubborn; I didn't entirely switch to match them.  I wanted to see a little bit of how the guys would adjust to it themselves.  Early on, we did alright with it and then we needed to adjust a little bit more, but that's something we'll talk about tomorrow."

Lamar Neagle - Sounders FC Midfielder

(On the victory...) "We haven't had a game like this where we get off to a good start in a while. It's usually the other way around, where we kind of have to dig ourselves out of a hole. So it was nice. We were kind of connecting at the beginning and just throughout the whole game we were all kind of on the same page offensively and defensively for the most part, except kind of toward the end."

(On playing at the MLS level...) "Since it's so early I've kind of worked my way up with the Sounders. The level was kind of just a little bit too fast for me in 2009 and going down really helped me out in Charleston."

(On his first goal...) "I didn't really hit it too well but I mean a shot on goal has a chance so sometimes you get those."

(On his second and third goals...) "The third one was kind of like at Salt Lake. Most of the game I was crossing my left and I wasn't cutting in and then finally he was kind of seeing that and he was cutting off the line so I cut in and had some space and hit it. On the second one, James (Riley) put in a great cross right to the back post where I was sitting. I was all alone and I just had to tap it."

(On Mauro Rosales...) "Mauro is a great player. He's a great role model. I know he can bang them in. It wasn't a question of, 'How many goals can I get today?' It was a question of winning the game."

(On scoring at CenturyLink Field ...) "Yeah, it's great. Finally scored in front of family. I had a lot of people here. I think I had 16 tickets I had to give out so there's a bunch of people waiting in the green loft."

(On if he has ever been on a team with so many scoring options...) "Not really. There's always been those one or two guys that bang in a lot of goals but this is great because who do they mark? Any given day we have people who step up and it's been like that all season with the depth that we have. We have players that can kind of rotate in and out without dropping a beat."

Mauro Rosales - Sounders FC Midfielder

(On what a game like this feels like...) "I think we were over-concentrated about this game because we knew they were a tough team. I think we did our jobs. We played very focused. We love playing at home and nobody can take the points from our home."

(On Lamar Neagle scoring three goals today...) "Yeah, I'm very happy for him. It's something he's working on every day and every training [session], trying to get his chances. Today, three goals and I'm very happy for him. I hope he can keep it up with this performance."

(On Sounders FC recent performances...) "I think one of the reasons is because Coach (Sigi Schmid) made some substitutions in a few games and they're trying to keep all the guys fresh. He gives minutes to everybody and every guy coming onto the field is trying to do his best. I think this is one of the reasons for all the points."

(On different scoring options...) "We have many options. That's why we scored this many goals. Today was six and we had about 15 more chances or something like that. When we have the chances, it's something that we have to do - try to score as many goals as we can. I think we are working very hard and we are having a good time."

Mike Fucito - Sounders FC Forward

(On scoring a goal...) "It was good. I think it's been a long time coming for me. I've been close a lot of times so to finally break the ice was great and there will be more to come."

(On scoring more goals in future...) "I think so. I think for me and the run of games that I've had - a couple good saves, a couple PK calls, a post here and there - it's just that you're doing all the right things and sometimes you need a bit of luck and things to just go your way. Hopefully I got all the bad luck out at the beginning of the year and now they'll keep coming."

Robert Warzycha - Columbus Head Coach

(On the starting out the game poorly...) "The goals we gave up today are not the best ones. We made a lot of mistakes and they punished us. I think it was fortunate for Seattle that they scored easy goals today."

(On his speech to the team at halftime...) "We changed the system a little bit and tried to stay positive and win the half."

(On his team's breakdowns during the match...) "To be honest they were moving quicker and more aggressive with the ball. Sometimes we tried to help and shift and another guy would be open. I think too many easy chances."

(On Jeff Cunningham becoming the MLS all-time goal scorer...) "That is probably the only positive thing to come from the game today. For him to get a goal and his record is a good thing. We still have eight games until the playoffs. We have to regroup and win the next game."

William Hesmer - Crew Goalkeeper

(On giving up three quick goals to start the match...) "They put us under pressure to start. I haven't seen the replays of the penalty but I was sure I saved the first one, but I have to do better on that one. From there it was just downhill."

(On making changes to stop Seattle offensive onslaught...) "They have to be little mentally tougher. You have to learn to put things behind you and believe in yourself and your ability to come back."

(On nearly coming up with a save on Seattle's first goal...) "It bounced up on the turf and came back into me. I was stuck in between pushing it wide and catching it. I didn't get enough of it. I thought initially I did. It looked like it spun inside. It is just too hard to play in a place like this to give up a goal like this."

Jeff Cunningham - Crew Forward

(On becoming the MLS all time leader scorer...)"I'm going to keep this ball for the rest of my life. This is a great feeling. Fourteen years is a long time in this league and to become the all-time scoring leader is a great honor. There have been some great players who are part of this league, and I'm just honored to be a part of their group in terms of goal production. I'm very humbled [to be among the likes of] Jamie Moreno, Brian McBride, Landon Donavon, and all those guys. The list goes on and I'm just honored to be grouped with those guys. I appreciate all the support over the years from the fans; the Columbus Crew were where I started my career. To get the opportunity to possibly finish my career here, you couldn't ask for anything better. I have been playing this game since I was three or four and to get to this point, to have this ball is a big honor and I'm very proud."