The Seattle Sounders hope to build on their U.S. Open Cup championship when they return to MLS play.
U.S. Open Cup Final
Freddy Montero and Roger Levesque scored to lead Seattle to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United in the Open Cup final Wednesday night, giving the expansion Sounders their first trophy.
Seattle came in winless in its last three MLS games and is in third place in the Western Conference.
"The team needs to win big games to start believing they can win big games," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "This is the first step in that process."
Montero smashed in a rebound in the 67th minute and Levesque scored in the 85th as Seattle joined Chicago (1998) as the only teams to win the Open Cup in their inaugural season.
Clyde Simms scored for D.C. in the 89th minute.
The win was especially satisfying for the Sounders, who felt slighted after the United won the right to host the final from the U.S. Soccer Federation.
A media war of words between Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer and United president Kevin Payne followed that decision, and the 17,329 who came to RFK Stadium more than doubled the attendance for D.C.'s Open Cup-winning victory over second-division Charleston (S.C.) last year.
