Seattle Sounders Drop Another: New York Red Bulls Take Their Opener

The Seattle Sounders played a tough 90 minutes in Red Bulls Stadium on Friday, but again could not finish well and dropped game two to the New York Red Bulls 1-0.

Seattle played strong and created many opportunities in the first half, keeping Red Bulls keeper Greg Sutton busy and chasing. The highlight of the first half though came courtesy of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who got called for a take-down in the box, giving Red Bulls' superstar Thierry Henry a PK in the eighth minute.  Henry went to his left and Kasey Keller chose correctly and sent Henry's kick packing, keeping the Sounders in the game at 0-0.

The pressure on Sutton continued for the rest of the period, forcing him to make five saves before the teams broke for halftime at 0-0. The Sounders came out quickly again in the second half, but fate would change quickly and the Sounders would find themselves playing from behind.

Fredy Montero lost possession in an attack and Teemu Tainio sent a long ball to up and coming star Juan Agudelo, who battled off Leo Gonzalez before poking the shot past Keller for the goal and a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute. This was Agudelo's first MLS goal and at age 18, he looks to be a promising forward for the Red Bulls and the U.S. National team.

Seattle had a final opportunity in stoppage time when Montero was fed a decent pass from just-signed Mauro Rosales. He took a blazing shot that was initially stopped by Sutton but dribbled right back to the foot of Lamar Neagle, who sent the ball over the cross bar into the cheap seats.

Rosales made his Sounders debut in the 68th minute replacing Alvaro Fernandez, who was having a good game when pulled. We also saw Servando Carrasco make his team debut. Carrasco acquitted himself well but seemed to get a bit tired late in the game and was replaced by Neagle in the 79th.

The Sounders have the chance to put their first points on the board again on Friday when they host the Houston Dynamo at Qwest Field.