Burpo gets ninth shutout for Sounders

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Burpo gets ninth shutout for Sounders
Gregor scores twice as Sounders blitz Lynx 3-0

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

In eight seasons with the Sounders, goalkeeper Preston Burpo has collected 389 saves and played 7,798 minutes -- both franchise records -- and went into last night's game against the Toronto Lynx with a 0.81 goal-assist average.

Burpo, 35, got his league-best ninth shutout in a 3-0 Seattle victory at Qwest Field, adding another highlight in a career making him the Sounders' answer to Edgar Martinez.

The win put the Sounders (9-3-6) in a three-way tie for second in the United Soccer Leagues First Division.

"I didn't have that much to do with it," Burpo insisted. "The guys in front of me are really the guys who held it together."

In the 10th minute, Andrew Gregor scored Seattle's first goal on a free kick that deflected off the hands of Lynx goalkeeper Theo Zagar into the top right corner.

Seven minutes later, Gregor, who missed the first 12 games with a broken right foot, set up forward Roger Levesque, who sent a header to the bottom right corner from the penalty spot.

It marked the first time this season that the Sounders had scored more than once in a match at Qwest Field.

Midfielder C.J. Klaas was in front of the goal in the 33rd minute, charging in the 18-yard box when he was blocked by Toronto's Abraham Francois. To Francois' protest, the Sounders were given a spot kick that Gregor left-footed to Zagar's right for a 3-0 lead.

"The keeper usually gets frozen and that's what he did," Gregor said. "He couldn't push off his toes as well and it was pretty easy to put it in the corner."

With less than two minutes remaining in the first half, Francois fired from 16 yards out, but his shot cleared the Sounders goal.

Toronto (3-11-5) finished the first half with eight fouls and couldn't convert six shots on Burpo, who leads the USL First Division with 82 saves.

Seattle finished with 18 shots to Toronto's nine and had two saves.

"Before the game, we said the first 15 to 20 minutes were going to be the most crucial part of the game," Lynx coach Hubert Busby Jr. said.

"As the game went on we got more control of the ball, but the damage had already been done."

Tomorrow, the Sounders travel to Vancouver to face the fourth-place Whitecaps (8-3-6) with striker Jason Jordan, who leads the league with 11 goals and 25 points.

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