Due to a rash of injuries during the first half of the season, Coach Sigi Schmid of the Seattle Sounders has been forced to demonstrate flexibility in making key position changes.

Sunday night, in a hard fought 1-1 tie against invading FC Dallas before the 25th consecutive sellout crowd of 36,091 at the Xbox pitch of Qwest Field, Seattle Sounders FC unveiled a new youth plan in the midfield area that drew much positive commentary.

A key event in triggering Schmid’s moves occurred when veteran right-winger Freddie Ljungberg strained a leg muscle in the team’s final training session prior to the Dallas game.

A team record was set when first year Colombian striker Miguel Montano became, at 19, the youngest player ever to start a game for the Sounders in league play. A key referee’s decision concerning Montano in the second half would be referenced as a turning point in the contest by both head coaches.

Michael Seamon, who graduated from Villanova University last month and was promptly signed by the Sounders, drew his first MLS start at midfield as part of the revamped starting lineup.

“It felt good out there,” Seamon enthused after the game, concerning the team’s continuity flow.

Nathan Sturgis also drew a start at midfield, while Nate Jaqua started at forward and Patrick Ianni was inserted as a defender.

Schmid noted that a major reason behind the numerous lineup switches concerned his satisfaction, with lineup changes in the team’s 2-0 win Wednesday night against the L.A. Galaxy at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila in a quarter-final round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition.

Nate Jaqua had been a major presence in Wednesday’s victory in scoring both Sounder goals. The rangy, 6-4 forward from Portland was a steadying influence Sunday as well in both attacking and repelling Dallas attacks.

With the Sounders coming in at 4-8-3 and badly in need of points, the team played at an early pace reflecting that urgency.

“Yes, we expected a lot of intensity,” Dallas Coach Schellas Hyndman reflected. “We didn’t expect them to sit back and go for a tie. They are desperate right now and need points and they came out with a lot of intensity.”

Hyndman then added, “The thing I’m learning is that you have to get your points at home. It is so hard to get them on the road. The league is very even and has great parity.”

The urgency of the Sounders’ attack in early stages resulted in a goal on two passes and a header. The assists came from Michael Seamon and James Riley respectively, with Fredy Montero converting a header in the 14th minute from a near post 10 yards out.

The score was Montero’s sixth for a team high. It was the second assist in Riley’s career and the first for Seamon of his young career.

Seattle has never lost at home after scoring first, and for a time, it looked as if the 1-0 advantage would hold up as the Sounders took it well into the second stanza.

The event that changed the complexion of the match occurred at the 56-minute mark, when Montano became involved in a fracas with Brek Shea.

The Dallas midfielder was cited with a yellow card for a foul against Montano. The Colombian was then given a red card and banished from the match by referee Kevin Stott for his retaliation.

Sounders veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller expressed incredulity after the game.

“Were you watching that World Cup game between Spain and the Netherlands today?” Keller asked the media questioners. “I mean, come on. You have to let these players play. If they had handed out red cards that way in the World Cup game today, you would have had about six players left at the end.”

It was the first red card of the season for the Sounders. The last occurred 25 matches ago on August 15, 1909, against the L.A. Galaxy.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Keller asserted further regarding the red card.  “Nobody was punched.  I even asked the ref about it after the game.”

“I was falling down,” Montano explained. “My intention was not to hit him (Shea). There is no explanation.”

Once that the Sounders were compelled to play one man short following Montano’s banishment the complexion of the game changed. Dallas began attacking more aggressively, and Seattle fell into more of a protective shell to preserve its one goal edge.

“I think that the game definitely changed at that time,” Dallas Coach Hyndman observed.

Keller was a stalwart on defense with five saves. The most spectacular one came in the 71st minute on a shot by David Ferreira, which he thwarted with a quick, reactive dive.  “Kasey made a great save on that shot,” Hyndman said.

Determined forward Ferreira was ultimately not to be denied, however, as he supplied the equalizer in the 87th minute. He took a return ball from Heath Pearce and volleyed a shot off the far post and into the back of the net.

While the visiting Coach Hyndman was pleased to earn one point, coming from a superior momentum position, Sigi Schmid was understandably disappointed over his team’s failure to garner a win and three points.

“That (the tie) was disappointing because I thought we put the right team out there,” Schmid said. “I thought we played with a lot of energy, we played well. We scored a good goal in the first half and had some other good changes. The red card had a big impact on this game. They played well and ended up scoring a great goal.

“Maybe we could have defended a little better, but who knows. I feel bad for our guys because they played with a lot of heart and desire and I thought they deserved to win tonight."

While the Sounders remain in seventh place in the Western Conference with 16 points and have not thus far defeated a divisional rival, Dallas is a team on the move.

With Sunday’s deadlock, Dallas stands at 5-2-7 and 22 points. The tie enabled Dallas to vault into a three way tie for third place in the West.

The Sounders must regroup quickly since two important games are on tap this week.  Thursday night in the nation’s capital Seattle seeks to repay D.C. United for an earlier 3-2 home defeat just before the World Cup break.

Seattle returns home next Sunday to face powerful Scottish contingent Celtic FC in a noon friendly at Qwest Field.

Kasey Keller put a philosophical note on the evening’s activities:

“I'm just glad we were able to hang on for the point because it really would have been a shame to not get anything out of this game. Yes, if we could've hung on to all three it would have been phenomenal but, in the end, it took a great strike to tie us, and I think we have a lot to build on in this game."

As for the Sounder youth plan put on display, the average age of the starting midfield group was 21. Neither veteran Dallas Coach Hyndman nor experienced goalkeeper Kasey Keller could ever recall anything like this occurring in a professional soccer match.

“To have this many good young players speaks well for Sigi Schmid’s future,” Hyndman observed.

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