For the Seattle Sounders, no Obafemi Martins was no problem Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Chad Barrett made sure of that.
Playing without Martins, their star forward who was held out with what the team referred to as a tibial contusion, Seattle turned to Barrett to fill in opposite Clint Dempsey. He didn’t disappoint, netting both of Seattle’s goals in the first half and helping the Sounders cruise to a 2-0 Cascadia Cup triumph over the Whitecaps at BC Place.
It was a nice bounce-back effort for the 30-year-old striker, who had yet to get on the scoresheet for Seattle this season after scoring seven goals in MLS play and playing a key role in the Sounders’ road to the US Open Cup last year.
“It’s a massive win,” Barrett told reporters after the game. “It’s Cascadia Cup, it’s a Western Conference win, it’s an away win.
“Everything about this just rings awesome in the ears.”
Barrett’s first goal came just five minutes into the contest (WATCH IT HERE) after he managed to sneak behind Vancouver’s backline to receive a perfect through ball from Dempsey and slot his subsequent shot by Vancouver ‘keeper David Ousted.
He then doubled the lead in the 38th after volleying a long pass from Marco Pappa into the Vancouver net (WATCH IT HERE), giving the Sounders a commanding two-goal advantage that they would never relinquish.
“[Barrett] has scored goals in this league before,” Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid said. “I know he’s a good player. He scored goals for us last year. We talked about it. ‘Hey, here’s your chance. You’ve got to make use of your opportunity. Focus on the game.’ We tried to keep him in between their two center backs and look for those little gaps when they popped up and he finished both his chances really well.”
Perhaps equally encouraging for the Sounders was their play on the defensive side of the ball. After sustaining a great deal pressure from Vancouver in the minutes after Barrett’s first goal, Seattle strung together a handful of long possession sequences. The looks on goal that Vancouver did earn were largely low-percentage, offering little trouble for Sounders ‘keeper Stefan Frei who made just five saves on the afternoon.
“That was probably our best performance overall just because we were very efficient and in control offensively and defensively at all times,” Frei said. “Our possession was spot on. The way we took care of our chances was clinical. It was a pleasure to watch.”
The win moves the Sounders to 6-3-1 on the season (19pts) as they finally return home for a matchup against Sporting Kansas City next weekend following a streak of three consecutive road games.
“We’ve got a tough stretch next week,” Schmid said. “I know we’ve got three at home, but we still have three games in a week so it’s going to be a little bit of work. That means we’re going to have to rely on our whole team as well. Different people are going to pop up and play.”
Ari Liljenwall covers the Seattle Sounders for MLSsoccer.com.
