Seattle Sounders FC opened up the 2013 season with a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact on Saturday night. Davy Arnaud scored the game’s lone goal in front of 38,998 on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.
In the 35th minute, Felipe Martins played ahead to Arnaud at the top of the box and the 32-year-old chipped Michael Gspurning for the first goal of the season.
Despite not scoring, the Rave Green pressured the goal all night, outshooting Montreal 15-9. They nearly equalized in the 66th minute when Eddie Johnson one-timed a pass to Brad Evans who blasted a low shot from 20 yards out that hit the post. In the 81st minute, Alex Caskey back-heeled a ball to Johnson inside the six-yard box, but the striker’s shot hit the crossbar.
Homegrown player DeAndre Yedlin started at right back for Seattle, becoming the second-youngest player to ever start for the club (19 years, seven months, 21 days). The Seattle-native made a crucial stop in the 50th minute when he blocked a Marco Di Vaio shot in the goalmouth with Gspurning on the ground after a collision.
In the 64th minute, Gspurning made a big stop when he pawed an Arnaud point-blank header header off the crossbar.
The loss marks just the second for Sounders FC in a season opener after falling, 1-0, to the LA Galaxy in 2011. The club is 3-2-0 all time in the first game of the MLS season, and tonight’s crowd of 38,998 is the largest ever for the club in a season opener.
Andy Rose was forced to leave in the game in the 62nd minute due to a left elbow contusion.
Sounders FC returns to action Wednesday when they travel to Monterrey, Mexico, for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals agasint Tigres UANL. The second leg will be the following Tuesday, March 12, in Seattle.
