Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - Kekuta Manneh single-handedly kept his team's playoff hopes alive on Wednesday, recording a hat trick as Vancouver Whitecaps FC pulled out a 4-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field.
Facing an absolute must-win situation, the visiting Whitecaps had the better of the energy early on and struck for the opener just 12 minutes in when Daigo Kobayashi collected a poor clearance from Jhon-Kennedy Hurtado and fed it into space for Manneh, who went in alone and slid it under Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning.
The 18-year-old rookie made it 2-0 for the Whitecaps three minutes before the break in much the same fashion as his first tally as Camilo ran onto a loose ball and laid it off to Manneh, who fired it under the arm of Gspurning.
Seattle brought on U.S. international Clint Dempsey in the second half hoping for an offensive spark, but it didn't matter as Manneh completed his hat trick in the 54th minute when he ran onto a through ball from Kobayashi and beat Gspurning again.
The Sounders pulled one back in the 69th minute through Mauro Rosales, but it was answered eight minutes from time when Nigel Reo-Coker netted his first MLS goal to seal the points for Vancouver.
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