Union looks striking in its new digs with win in PPL Park opener

AS IF THE GRAND OPENING of PPL Park weren't enough to enrapture a sellout crowd, the brand of soccer the Union displayed proved that perhaps all this team really needed was a home of its own.

Controlling the tempo, possession and overall pace of the game, it was fitting the Union ended the affair with a much-needed, 3-1 win on a scorching afternoon yesterday in front of 18,755 fans who took in the inaugural game in Chester.

For the third time this season, forward Danny Mwanga was in the right place at the perfect time, this time as a counterattack down the right flank found the rookie. He pounced on a rare Kasey Keller rebound off his own shot. The third-goal clincher squelched the memory of a first-half goal from Seattle forward Pat Noonan just minutes before the end of the half.

"It's a very great honor for me, being one of the first guys to score at PPL Park," said Mwanga, who has four goals this season, second on the team. "I am excited, too, that all the hard work is really starting to pay off."

Led by grit and a perhaps a sprinkling of artistry, a foul on Union forward Alejandro Moreno by Tyrone Marshall allowed for a penalty kick in the 55th minute that surefooted forward Sebastien Le Toux buried top corner of the right post. That puts Le Toux at six goals on the season in addition to the distinction of scoring the Union's first-ever goal, its first home goal - in a hat-trick performance against D.C. United earlier this season at Lincoln Financial Field - and the first in the second of two home openers. Le Toux also assisted on Fred's go-ahead goal in the 79th minute.

"[Seattle] is my old team, I have a lot of friends there, but I really wanted to beat them this time," said Le Toux.

It was an all-around inspiring performance from the Union that puts it one step closer to climbing out of the Eastern Conference dregs. The Union is 3-7-1 but still unbeaten at home (2-0-1).

The areas that needed tweaking looked resoundingly better. Defensively, Cristian Arrieta, Jordan Harvey, Shea Salinas and captain Danny Califf frustrated a usually dangerous Seattle attack led by forwards Freddie Ljungberg and Fredy Montero. Union goalkeeper Chris Seitz, criticized for his lack of awareness, put on a career showing, boasting just one save but without question his best of the season in a 79th-minute stymie of a Montero penalty kick to keep the game level, 1-1.

"It took me a little while to get my feet underneath me, but I like to think that in the last couple of weeks I have been playing all right and trying to keep us in games," said Seitz, who noted watching an unprecedented amount of game tape - primarily on himself. "There are always little things you can go back and work on, and for me watching a lot of film has really helped me improve my efforts."

It was an effort that, once again, found many Union players doing a rendition of the "Lambeau Leap" postgame into the outstretched arms of its raucous fan club, the Sons of Ben, which sang without abandon and even managed to provide a bit of World Cup flair with the sound of vuvuzelas, made popular by the festivities in South Africa.

"I can honestly say that today was one of the best days of my life," said Ben Price, a newly minted Sons of Ben supporter, vuvuzela in tow. "This place is absolutely gorgeous and to get a win on top of that against Seattle - you couldn't have asked for a better dream start."

A dream from which fans like Price hope to never wake.