It couldn’t of been scripted any better as Mugurel Dimitru had a impressive debut by scoring two goals, including the game winner. The pair of goals helped the El Paso Patriots remained unbeaten at home after an exciting 3-1 victory over the visiting Seattle Sounders. Helping Dimitru out were Victor Mora, who added another goal in extra time. Carlos Farias and Mark Rowland both had assist while Jose Lomeli had some good opportunities to score in the first half.
The Patriots started the game playing very unorganized and with a noticeable lack of rhythm. Seattle on the other hand, came out aggressive. Then again that is expected, especially after a two week layoff. However, they did have a couple of good opportunities to score a goal early. Around the 9th minute, Jose Lomeli’s header missed the goal by about a foot. Unfournately, the disorganization resulted in an early goal. At the 11th minute, Seattle’s Viet Nguyen scored an unassisted goal after an El Paso defensive mistake. El Paso goalkeeper Jesse Llamas was caught off his line. Seattle got another chance to score eight minutes later, when Jason Farrel took a free kick about 20 yard in front of the Patriots goal. Fortunately for the Patriots, the ball hit the post before going out of bounds.
El Paso then got in on the action when in the 23rd minute Jose Lomeli beautifully crossed the ball to Mugurel Dimitru, who barely missed the goal with his header. Four minutes later, Lomeli took the ball into the area himself, then did a nice move that tricked a Seattle defender. He then took the shot only for it to be blocked by Seattle goalkeeper Preston Burpo and then hitting the post. Even though there were instances where there were a couple of hard tackles, along with a couple dives here and there, no cards were issued in the first half. At Halftime, the Seattle was leading El Paso 1-0.
Before the second half began, Seattle substituted Kei Kinoshita into the game in place of Midfielder Sean Henderson. El Paso made a pair of substitutions with Salvador Mercado entering the match in place of Luis Macias and Mark Rowland entering the match for Jose Lomeli. The second half began with the Patriots beginning to show signs of their usual rhythm. Seattle aggressiveness finally got to the referee, with a yellow card being issued to Ryan Edwards. After exchanging opportunities, Sounder Craig Tomlison entered the match in place of Peter Hattrup. The last yellow card of the match was issued when Kieran Barton knocked an El Paso player down as he was moving up the side of the field. After the card was issued, Victor Omar Mora entered the game in exchange for Michael Griego. After the substitution, Mugurel Dumitru tied the score when he controlled a pass from Carlos Farias and then booting in the tying goal in the 77th minute. Immediately after the goal, Seattle put Chad Brown into the match in place of Rees Bettinger.
El Paso’s newest star, Mugurel Dumitru, struck again in the closing minutes of the match. At the 89th minute, Dumitru headed home the game-winner. The goal set off a wild celebration among the 3,145 fans at the match. El Paso then went on to put Carlos Martinez into the game for Carlos Farias. To finish the game off, Victor Omar Mora shot home the final nail in the coffin at the 91st minute. The El Paso Patriots improve their record to 3-3-2. The Patriots‘, who hit the road for a pair of games at Minnesota and Milwaukee, next home match will be on June 27th when they host D3 Chico Rooks in the 2nd round of the US Open Cup.
Seattle Sounders 1 Viet Nguyen, 11th
El Paso Patriots 3 Mugurel Dumitru, 77th,89th
Victor Mora, 91st
El Paso Patriots
Jesse Llamas
Michael Griego (VictorMora, 77th )
Federico Juarez
Guillermo McFarlane
Jose Lomeli (Mark Rowland, halftime)
Severo Hernandez
Carlos Farias (Carlos Martinez, 90th )
Vicente Figuaroa
Esmundo Rodriguez
Muguel Dumitru
Luis Macias (Salvador Mercado,
halftime)
Seattle Sounders
Preston Brupo
Kieran Barton
Ryan Edwards
Scott Jenkins
Mike Casale
Peter Hattrup (Craig Tomlinson, 64th )
Sean Henderson (Kei Kinoshita, halftime)
Leighton O’Brien
Rees Bettinger (Chad Brown, 78th )
Jason Farell
Viet Nguyen
Cards
49th Seattle - Ryan Edwards
73rd Seattle - Kieran Barton
Attendance - 3,145
