TUCSON, Ariz. - Marcus Hahnemann kept a shutout as Seattle Sounders FC remained unbeaten in preseason play with a scoreless draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Kino Sports Complex.
The Timbers nearly scored the late game-winner in the 90th minute when a ball bounced over the head of an onrushing Hahnemann, but Frederic Piquionne's shot into an open net was stopped by a sliding Jalil Anibaba.
Hahnemann made several key saves to preserve the shutout, including back-to-back stops in the 42nd minute. First, Gaston Fernandez snapped a header on goal from six yards out that Hahnemann saved. Moments later, Hahnemann jumped off his line to smother the ball on a breakaway by Fernandez.
Hahnemann made another difficult stop in the 72nd minute when Michael Nanchoff's free kick found Taylor Peay in the box, but Hahnemann saved Peay's close-range header.
Seattle had two dangerous scoring opportunities in the opening 25 minutes of the match. In the 11th minute, DeAndre Yedlin cut across his defender on the right flank and sent a cross to Obafemi Martins in front of goal, but his header sailed wide of the far post.
In the 23rd minute, Tristan Bowen recovered the ball and raced up the right flank, where he sent a cross to the far post. Lamar Neagle whipped a header on goal that was deflected out by a Portland defender.
Seattle had a flurry of chances in the final 10 minutes of the match, including a shot from Eriq Zavaleta that was blocked.
In the 80th minute, Michael Azira made a run up the middle of the pitch, found Aaron Kovar on the left flank, who slipped it to David Estrada in the box. Portland goalkeeper Andrew Weber jumped off his line to smother the ball before Estrada could take a shot.
Seattle will play its fourth match of the 2014 preseason on Sunday morning against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. PT at Kino Sports Complex and will be broadcast live on MLSsoccer.com and SoundersFC.com.
Scoring Summary
None.
Seattle Sounders FC: Marcus Hahnemann, DeAndre Yedlin (Michael Azira 71'), Chad Marshall
(Jalil Anibaba 76'), Djimi Traore (Tared Morad 60'), Dylan Remick (Aaron Kovar 60'), Tristan Bowen (Miguel Gonzalez 60'), Osvaldo Alonso (Alex Caskey 60'), Brad Evans (Fabio Pereira 60'), Lamar Neagle (Dzenan Catic 60'), Kenny Cooper (Eriz Zavaleta 60'), Obafemi Martins (David Estrada 60').
Substitutes Not Used: John McCarthy, Damion Lowe.
Portland Timbers: Donovan Ricketts (Andrew Weber, 60), Jack Jewsbury (Taylor Peay, 60), Norberto Paparatto (Futty Danso, 60), Pa Modou Kah (Rauwshan McKenzie, 60), Michael Harrington (Alvas Powell, 30), Will Johnson (Ben Zemanski, 60; Aaron Long, 87), Kalif Alhassan (Schillo Tshuma, 30), Diego Chara (George Fochive, 60), Darlington Nagbe (Michael Nanchoff, 60), Maximiliano Urruti (Frederic Piquionne, 60), Gastón Fernández (Jorge Villafaña, 60).
Misconduct Summary:
POR - Pa Modou Kah (caution) 26'
SEA - Tristan Bowen (caution) 30'
SEA - DeAndre Yedlin (caution) 41'
POR - Alvas Powell (caution) 49'
POR - Mamadou Danso (caution) 81'
