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United 3, Sounders 3

Jun 18, 2009 - 6:14 AM By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (STATS) - There was no concern on Kasey Keller's part about who heard his postgame rant questioning the intentions of his teammates.

Seeing a two-goal lead disappear in the final 25 minutes Wednesday night was the ignition for the Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper.

"Extremely frustrated," Keller said, loud enough that his teammates could hear. "We scored three goals at home, could have scored 10, and we throw a game away in the 87th minute when we should have quite comfortably won this 4-1. ... There is no excuse. We rightfully got booed off the field at the end of the game. It's inexcusable."

Fredy Montero's left-footed strike gave Seattle a 3-1 lead early in the second half, but D.C. United rallied with a pair of late goals, including an own goal off the head of Seattle defender Tyrone Marshall, to salvage a 3-3 tie with the Sounders.

Seattle controlled the game offensively, peppering D.C. United keeper Josh Wicks with shots all night. Seattle put nine shots on net against United's three, yet it was the crew from the East Coast trotting off the field with a smile after pulling out the unlikely tie.

Down two goals, halftime sub Christian Gomez got United closer with his third goal of the season in the 63rd minute. Then came the shock. On a cross from Chris Pontius in the 87th minute, Marshall's attempted header of the pass went past Keller and into the Seattle net to draw United even.

Replays appeared to show the ball slightly deflecting off United forward Santino Quaranta, although Marshall said it didn't.

"The ball just hit me right on top of the head and went the other direction," Marshall said. "I didn't really have control over where the ball was going. ... We dominated the game."

It was a stunning conclusion to a match that Seattle controlled. Osvaldo Alonso scored on a 30-yard drive in the first half and Nate Jaqua bounced a shot off United defenseman Marc Burch late in the first half for an own goal to give Seattle a 2-1 lead at the break. Montero's team-leading sixth goal in the 57th minute had Seattle's eighth consecutive sellout crowd rocking, but they were left jolted by the events of the final minutes.

Instead of a second consecutive win, the Sounders were left to digest a sixth tie in their last eight matches.

"Our lack of discipline is killing us. ... You do all the hard work at 3-1 at home, you close up shop and make sure. Instead we don't have the discipline to do it," Keller said.

"The game is pretty simple," he continued. "Unfortunately we make it complicated."

Pontius gave United a 1-0 lead in the first half with his fourth goal of the season, and United has picked up points in 10 of their last 11 matches, going 4-1-6 over that stretch.

The draw was even more important for United considering who they were missing. Jaime Moreno, the league's career scoring leader, did not make the trip West after injuring his hamstring last week. He'll also miss United's game on Saturday at Colorado. United then saw Brazilian midfielder Fred be helped off the field and eventually subbed out early in the match with an injury.

"I was a little disappointed in some of the performances on our side," United coach Tom Soehn said. "We gave them a lot of opportunities. We can't afford to do that, but we fought back to get a point on the road."

Seattle had 17 total shots and Wicks was left screaming, pointing and gesturing at his defense for some help. But Wicks came up with a number of key stops from close range and finished with seven saves.

"I always think we're going to come back, even if we're down 5-0, we're going to come back," Wicks said.