Fredy Montero netted a goal in his third straight game, as the Seattle Sounders fought to a 1-1 draw against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon.

New York took a 1-0 lead late in the first half with assistance from the Sounders defense.

In the 40th minute, Seattle defender Tyrone Marshall attempted to clear the ball, but instead drove it into his teammate, Patrick Ianni. The ball deflected behind both men and found New York's leading goal scorer, Juan Pablo Angel, eagerly waiting for its arrival.

Angel quickly controlled the ball and dribbled around Seattle goalie Kasey Keller for an unassisted goal.

Marshall's errant clearance added to an already frustrating week for the Sounders defender.

On Wednesday, Marshall fell victim to an own goal in the 87th minute, costing the Sounders a victory against D.C. United. Marshall deflected an opponent's cross past Kasey Keller and into his own net to tie the game at 3-3 with only three minutes remaining.

Seattle did not wait long to answer, however, as Fredy Montero created a goal of his own in the waning moments of the first half.

As time neared an end in the first half, Seattle cleared the ball towards New York's end line.

Red Bulls defender Jeremy Hall collected the ball deep in New York territory and attempted to dribble past Montero, who stole the ball away, dashed towards the New York goal, and fired a rocket over the head of Red Bulls goalie Danny Cepero into the back of the net.

There are a number of question marks surrounding how Montero's equalizer was scored. Most notably, the actions of referee and Red Bulls defender Jeremy Hall can be called into question.

First and foremost, one has to wonder why the game was still being played.

The referee announced two minutes of stoppage play for the end of the first half.

For those unfamiliar with stoppage time, it is an amount of time designated by the referee which is added onto the clock at the end of each half. There is no specific time to end the game. Instead, the referee lets the stoppage time play out, and when it has expired they will blow the play dead when the ball is in a neutral portion of the field.

In this instance, the ball was cleared to center field (the most common time to end a half of play) when the stoppage clock showed 2:01. Instead of whistling the play dead, however, the referee allowed play to continue.

The ball was cleared into New York territory at 2:09, where Hall turned it over to Fredy Montero. Consequently, Montero punched the ball into the net when the stoppage clock read 2:21.

In all fairness, this goal should have never happened. 99% of referees will blow the play dead on a clearance to center field any time near the point of stoppage.

The second question concerning Montero's goal is, "Why didn't Jeremy Hall just let the ball roll out of bounds?"

Instead of letting the ball roll out of bounds for a goal kick, which probably would have ended the half, Hall controlled the ball and tried to dribble past Fredy Montero. We know how that ended...

In the 77th minute, Seattle defender Tyson Wahl faced a situation similar to Hall's. Wahl ran down a ball that was rolling towards the end line with an opponent in pursuit. Instead of playing the ball, however, Wahl played it safe and let the ball roll out of bounds for a goal kick.

Had Jeremy Hall done the same thing at the end of the first half, Seattle might not have scored the equalizer and New York could have earned a victory.

The second half featured plenty of offense but no scoring. Both teams had several chances to take the lead, but a combination of missed opportunities and excellent saves kept the score locked at 1-1.

Here are some notes and observations from Saturday's action.

Seattle Sounders MF Freddy Ljungberg Gets the Day Off

This game was the Sounders' third in eight days. Because of the number of games played, there have been some off days granted to several star players (e.g. Steve Zakuani coming off the bench Wednesday against D.C. United).

Ljungberg received the day off Saturday to rest a sore hamstring. Osvaldo Alonso played well in Ljungberg's stead, seemingly getting the touches that Ljungberg usually receives, but as a whole Ljungberg's playmaking abilities were sorely missed.

Sebastien Le Toux is a Hustler

Seattle midfielder Sebastien Le Toux contributed in a number of ways on Saturday.

With Freddy Ljungberg getting the day off, Le Toux took the majority of Seattle set pieces. Most notably, he took every cornerkick won by Seattle. Le Toux provided excellent service on a number of these set pieces, but unfortunately Seattle was unable to finish any of them.

The Post Was Twice as Nice for Fredy Montero

Fredy Montero was all over the field on Saturday.

He created a number of scoring threats, which is always good to see from your marquee goal scorer, and also played himself into several opportunities.

In the 33rd minute, Sebastien Le Toux struck a beautiful corner kick which found Montero at the 6 yard box. Montero headed the ball firmly on goal but it deflected off the cross bar and the ball was cleared.

In the 85th minute Montero dribbled through three defenders at the top of the box and squeaked a shot past New York goalie Danny Cepero. The ball rolled to the left post and bounced back into play, where it was cleared away.

Had either of these shots found goal the Sounders might have escaped New York with a victory.

A lot of should have, could have, and would have went into Saturday's game.

Comment with what you think were significant factors in the game.

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