The Story of the 2005 Seattle Sounders

The story of the 2005 Seattle Sounders is one of those "think locally, act globally" kind of deals. The Sounders and their fans were only thinking locally when the club took the pitch on a rainy April night in Bothell for the first pre-season match of the 2005 campaign. Eight months later thoughts would turn global as a group of Sounders headed to Tanzania, Africa, for a 3-match exhibition tour against First Division Tanzanian sides. This is the story of what happened in between Bothell, WA ...and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Before the first pre-season match in Bothell the Seattle Sounders had already given fans a glimpse of the future. In January of 2005 Leighton O'brien returned to the Seattle area and purchased a home with his family. Leighton then held an impromptu charity match to benefit the Special Olympics. On an amazingly warm January night at Starfire Sports Complex Sounders fans were treated to a contest that saw "Navy" beat "White" 3-1.

January 2005: Supporters welcome back O'Brien.

Leighton would provide much off the pitch drama for Sounders fans before later supplying match night drama. Speculation began almost immediately that O'Brien, still Sounders property, would bolt to MLS (Major League Soccer). Leighton made the roster of expansion club Real Salt Lake and began the 2005 season in Utah rather than Seattle. He was loaned back to the Sounders a few times before rejoining Seattle permanently in August. It was then that the drama switched to the pitch. Would Leighton take over as the midfield captain and lead the Sounders to a more potent, organized middle attack?

It seemed pretty clear to supporters that the 2005 Seattle Sounders would have a bunch of new players. The 2004 league runners-up had lost Jason Farrell and Darren Sawatzky to retirement. Others had also gone. So there was more than the usual interest in the open tryouts the club held in February and March of 2005. From those tryouts and follow-up rookie week the Sounders added Jake Besgano, Gabe Sturm, Josh Hansen, James Ward, Brent Whitfield and Brett Wiesner. Seattle had earlier signed MLS prospect and University of Washington star CJ Klaas.

February also saw the first "Emerald City Supporters" get-together with the club. Read more about the development of the Sounders supporters group on a special page for the 2005 supporters season.

It rained the night of April 2 as the Sounders took the pitch for the first time in Bothell. The match was unremarkable except to note that Seattle lost to the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-1. It began a pre-season that was out of character for recent Seattle clubs. The Sounders would not have a winning record in training. However the new guys got lots of playing time.

Sounders stretch before 2005 pre-season opener in Bothell.

Sounders fans were treated to a visit by the Under 21 US Men's national team as pre-season wound to a close. The U-21's spanked Seattle 4-1 at Husky Soccer Field. Brent Whitfield scored the lone Seattle goal. In that match Seattle lost returning midfielder Andrew Gregor for 7 weeks with a broken foot. With the regular season opener fast approaching hopes for a return to the league final were low. The roster was full of possibility...but also full of the unknown. When centerback and team captain Danny Jackson went down for the season with another ACL injury it looked like 2005 might be a rebuilding season. Forward Craig Tomlinson was also lost for the year due to injury. The Sounders acted quickly to replace Jackson, bringing in a guy who had trained with Danny when he was trying out with the Kansas City Wizards of MLS. Taylor Graham hoped he could fill Jackson's shoes in the Sounders defense.

The regular season of 2005 opened just like 2004 had---with a 2-1 loss to rival Portland Timbers (video link). The match drew over 6,000 fans at Qwest Field----and would be the Sounders only USL-1 loss at home all season. May featured a homestand that was characterized by bad weather, small crowds and defensive play. After  the 1-2 loss to the Timbers the Sounders drew Vancouver 0-0, hosted Real Salt Lake and won 1-0, beat Charleston 1-0, drew Atlanta 0-0 in a monsoon, and edged Virginia Beach 1-0 (video link). Rookies were leading the way on offense. Brent Whitfield had the winner against the Battery and Gabe Sturm provided the pass for Roger Levesque's winner against the Mariners.

Quietly the Sounders were building an impressive streak of days without a loss. A weekend in Virginia at the start of June provided a 0-2 win at Richmond and a 1-2 win at Virginia Beach. When the Sounders closed June out with a 1-0 win over the Rochester Rhinos and two more draws with the Vancouver Whitecaps they had stretched their unbeaten days total to over two months. The streak would end at 63 days without a loss when Seattle went down 3-1 in Montreal on July 3rd.

George holds the Black Cats-Sounders banner he made.

The season had been planned around "surviving" July. Seattle had 10 matches scheduled in the month. Another was added after the Sounders eliminated the Salinas Valley Samba in the US Open Cup and moved on to play Portland. Seattle played the Timbers July 8th at Starfire in a nationally televised match. The contest would later be voted by fans as the "most entertaining match of the year." Seattle doubled up the Timbers that night 4-2 before a raucus sell-out crowd. The Sounders then lost their US Open Cup match in Portland 2-0 on July 12th to be dismissed from the Cup. The club hosted English Premiership side Sunderland AFC at Qwest Field on July 20th. The match ended 0-1 Sunderland on a disputed goal that may or may not have crossed the goal line on a sharp bounce. When Seattle faced the Toronto Lynx at month's end (video link) they enjoyed a rare scoring explosion at Qwest Field. The 3-0 pounding was the first time all season that the Sounders had scored more than one goal in a match there. It would be the last time Seattle would taste victory...until September!

Think Globally: Maykel Galindo takes the "bus" to Sounderville.

Photo by George Holland.

August was a brutal month for the Sounders. They blew several chances to wrap up a playoff spot and higher seed in the USL-1 table. The Sounders led three separate matches only to succumb to drawing goals each time. The 0-4-1 mark for the month left most feeling like the club was headed in the wrong direction as the playoffs approached. Meanwhile a sub story of great human interest was developing. When Seattle hosted the 2005 Gold Cup a Cuban forward named Maykel Galindo had defected by getting on to a Metro bus. The Sounders "adopted" Galindo, setting him up with housing and letting him train with the team. They filed papers with the league and worked with immigration in an effort to make him eligible for the end of the season.

Finally the Sounders clinched a playoff spot when they ended a 38-day winless streak with a 1-2 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks (video link) in the southern city on September 4th. A few days later Maykel Galindo was pronounced eligible and the Cuban made his debut at Qwest Field before over 5,000 fans as the Sounders beat the defending champion Montreal Impact 1-0 to finish the regular season with only 6 losses and an 11-11-6 record. It was good enough for 4th place in the table...and a first-round playoff rematch against arch rival Portland.

Act Locally: Emerald City Supporters wear blue vs. PDX in playoffs.

George Holland Photo.

Portland had nothing but revenge on their minds after their glorious top of the table run in 2004 had been slapped down by the Sounders 3-2 aggregate playoff victory. The Timbers were on a red-hot roll coming into the 2-leg series. It made no difference to Roger Levesque, though. He was hotter, scoring all three goals as Seattle swept past the Portland side 3-0 on aggregate after 0-1 and 2-0  (video links) victories. This left the Sounders a giant task if they were to return to the finals again in 2005: get past the team that beat them 2-0 in the previous championship...the Montreal Impact.

Match one of the Seattle-Montreal series was a cracker. The Sounders led 2-0 until very late. Then the packed house at Starfire were stunned as Charles Gbeke scored in the 86th and again in the 88th minute to level the match 2-2 (video link). All seemed lost for Seattle as the clubs headed across the continent for the final leg in Montreal. Brent Whitfield's goal on an assist from Gabe Sturm put Seattle up 1-0 in Montreal in  the 59th minute. It was 1-1 after (guess who) Gbeke scored for the Impact in minute 72. Fortune shone on the Sounders this go-round in Montreal when Roger Levesque's blast (video link) was slightly redirected and hit the top center of the net past a stunned Greg Sutton. It was 1-2 Seattle in the 90th minute. Seattle hung on 4-3 on aggregate to bring the USL-1 Final to the Northwest for the first time since 1996.

Sounder Broadcaster Thom Beuning wrote an excellent review of the 2005 season from opening kickoff through the series with Montreal. Read it here!

Over 8,000 fans watched the 2005 USL-1 Final at Qwest Field.

Maykel Galindo and Roger Levesque were proving to be a dynamic combination at forward for Seattle. Opponents paid the price when they double-teamed Galindo leaving Roger open. In the USL-1 Final the Sounders faced the Richmond Kickers. It was Galindo who kept Seattle hopes alive with a goal in the 72nd minute to draw the Sounders level 1-1. Sasha Gores had given the Kickers a 1-0 edge with a cracker of a goal mid first-half. The match eventually went to penalty kicks (video link) with both sides being just a kick away from claiming the trophy. It would be Scott Jenkins who scored the winning PK and Preston Burpo who would be voted match MVP as the Sounders won their 3rd league title. Emerald City Supporters and players celebrated well into the next morning.

The Sounders won several individual awards in 2005. Taylor Graham was voted league Defender of the Year. He and Preston Burpo made all-league teams (Graham-1st, Burpo-2nd). Coach Brian Schmetzer blended together a group of rookies, returning veterans and international talent into a winning combination. On October 16th the club were invited to the Seahawks game to see their 2005 USL-1 Champions banner raised at Qwest Field. Emerald City Supporters awarded several honors as did the league throughout the season.

Sounders and on-loaners at Tanzania National Stadium. Club photo.

Preston Burpo, Craig Tomlison, Shawn Purcell. Club photo.

Jake Sagare, Geordie Lyall, Craig Tomlinson, Aaron Heinzen. Club photo.

In November of 2005 a group of Sounders toured the country of Tanzania in eastern Africa. It was a final chance for the Sounders to think locally then act globally. The tour would end with a 4-day safari. It would have to be quite an adventure to top the 10 months which came before.

---David Falk