Welton lifts Sounders with timely goal

Saturday, May 29, 2004

By MATTHEW GASCHK
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

As clichés go, Seattle Sounders forward Welton was a great player making a great play.

The Brazilian phenom gathered a ball in front of the Milwaukee Wave United net and buried his second goal of the season in the 90th minute to give the Sounders a 2-1 win in front of 1,375 people at rain-soaked Seahawks Stadium last night.

"If there was any question as to why he was brought here, he certainly put that to rest," said Sounders captain Jason Farrell, who scored Seattle's other goal in the 64th minute.

The Sounders controlled the ball for the majority of the first half, then a miscue led to a costly goal.

In the 14th minute, Seattle midfielder Robbie Aristodemo curled around a defender from the left sideline just inside the 18-yard line. His shot was deflected by Wave goalkeeper Jim Larkin, sending the rebound to Seattle midfielder Viet Nguyen. Nguyen's shot sailed high over the net, marking the first of many first-half chances Seattle could not convert close to the net.

Just before halftime, Milwaukee's Giuliano Oliviero snuck into an opportunistic position, unchecked 10 yards away from the goal. Oliviero took a left-to-right cross from Todd Dusoky and put it into the left corner for a 1-0 lead in the 45th minute.

"That has been the blueprint of our season so far," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "We are on the verge of scoring and we outplayed the other team. And then our one mistake has cost us."

After the Sounders missed a couple of chances early in the second half, Farrell took a clean pass from midfielder Billy Sleeth and lofted a shot from 25 yards out, crossing up Larkin and tying the score at 1.

Schmetzer was preparing for overtime when the ball bounced 12 yards in front of the Milwaukee goal. Welton waited, then struck it with his right foot into the left corner to give the Sounders the win.

"Certain guys have that ability to get their foot on it at exactly the right time. Some guys may have gotten anxious and gone too soon or too hard and they wouldn't get those results," Schmetzer said.

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