Zach Scott and Andre Schmid tallied second half goals to give the Seattle Sounders a 2-0 advantage over the Carolina Railhawks after the first round of their home and away aggregate score playoff series in Cary, North Carolina Friday night.

The home leg of the match is Sunday at Qwest Field, kickoff is 6pm and tickets are available through ticketmaster.com or at the Qwest Field box office.

Scott’s goal came just after half time and was the result of relentless pressure by the Sounders offense. Schmid came into the match with less that 15 minutes to play and bashed through the Carolina defense with a powerful individual effort to give the Sounders the two goal cushion coming back to Seattle.

The opening kick was taken in bog like conditions in the SAS Park center circle after kickoff was delayed over 30 minutes due to heavy rain and thunder storms. Water splashed wildly around the players as they tried to pick the ball out of the sloppy conditions.

Outside the center circle, the field cleared a bit, but deluges of rain continued to fall during the beginning of the match even after the delayed start.

The field conditions took their toll on Sebastien Le Toux’s finishing touch in the 11th minute when strike partner Roger Levesque picked him out at the top of the 18 yard box, but Le Toux was unable to set up a quality strike in the standing water.

The Sounders played route one football through the first twenty minutes, sending the ball repeatedly over the top for Le Toux. In the 19th minute, it was Kenji Treschuk who found himself with a running lane coming through the middle of the field and took the ball to the top of the 18 yard box before a perfectly timed sliding challenge from Frankie Sanfilippo dispossessed him and allowed the Railhawks defense to clear the danger.

The rain stopped and the field began to drain, allowing play to open up a bit more as the half wore on. Seattle took the attacking initiative but Chris Mclellan was equal to every task between the pipes for the Railhawks.

Caleb Norkus earned a yellow card five minutes before the break and slid into a late studs up challenge on Levesque.

Carolina rode the 0-0 score line into the half with a breath of relief after Seattle generated the better pressure but were unable to find a combination that would beat both the conditions and the Carolina goal keeper.

The Sounders took the opening kick for the second half in far better field conditions as the SAS Park Field made an impressive display of its drainage system after the flood conditions of the first half.

Seattle broke through just three minutes into the second half when Leighton O’Brien powered a long corner to the far post where Zach Scott rose above the Railhawks defense and sent a looping header back into the Carolina net to open the scoring for Seattle.

In the 54th minute, Seattle had Levesque out of his goal and forced him into some unsure moments that the Sounders failed to convert on. The Railhawks struggled for an answer to the Levesque and Le Toux combination as the footing improved and Seattle began to display some of the attractive play that has highlighted their season.

Carolina head coach Scott Schweitzer played an offensive card in the 70th minute when he replaced center back Norkus with more offensive minded Joey Worthen.

Worthen nearly opened the Sounders defense immediately with a nice pass through the defense, but the tireless effort of Sounders rookie Kenji Treschuk squashed the play. The addition of Worthen brought the Carolina offense to life and put Sounders keeper Eylander under pressure for the first time in his first playoff match.

Kevin Sakuda gave up a dangerous free kick in the 73rd minute and earned a yellow card for a clumsy challenge 23 yards in front of Chris Eylander’s net, but the Kupono Low effort was easily handled by the Sounders keeper.

The foul was a smudge on what was an impressive performance for Sakuda, who along with Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, shined on the right side of the field for the majority of the match.

Former Vancouver Whitecap Joel Bailey came in for Anthony Maher in the 75th minute and earned a free kick for the Railhawks with his first touch after coming on the pitch.

Greg Howes and Schmid came on to replace Levesque and Le Toux with less than 15 minutes to play as the Sounders looked to save some of their dynamic duo for the return leg at Qwest Field on Sunday.

Carolina continued to press for the equalizer forcing Eylander into a series of top quality saves at the 80 minute mark as the Railhawks grabbed the urgency and the momentum.

As Carolina poured forward, Schmid caught the Carolina defense on the counter attack, bullying through the Railhawks central defense on a 45 yard run and slotting the ball past Mclellen and into the back of the net to give the Sounders a two goal lead.

Schmid has been a welcome spark off the bench through the last four matches, tallying two goals in his last four appearances.

As the match faded towards an end, Eylander was forced into one final spectacular save from a 25 yard Kevin Jeffries effort in the 89h minute.

Both teams will arrive in Seattle tomorrow afternoon ahead of Sunday’s second leg. Fans attending the match will be subjected to several surprise giveaways courtesy of the Seattle Sounders and their partners. If the Sounders win the series, they will play the lowest remaining team in the playoffs on the weekend of September 21-23.