[U.S. OPEN CUP] For one half, Cal FC held its own with MLS's Seattle Sounders.

But the amateur club's dream of beating the three-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup defending champions in the round of 16 quickly ended in the second half as a penalty converted by Osvaldo Alonso after only five minutes.

Four more goals followed -- including a golazo by Alonso -- in the next 20 minutes and Eric Wynalda's Cal FC was eliminated, 5-0.

Fredy Montero also had two goals for the Sounders, who maintained their perfect record in the Open Cup and drew chants of "This ain't Portland" from their supporters in the crowd of 3,894 fans at Starfire Sports Stadium in reference to MLS rival Portland, which lost to Cal FC, 1-0.

English rookie Andy Rose added the other goal -- the first of three goals in four minutes -- but the rout did not take away from the sense of accomplishment by Cal FC.

"All in all, I think," said Wynalda, "if you really look at the goals we set for ourselves, we did exceed a lot of people's expectations. I was sitting in there with the guys and they still have their sense of humor. I think they recognize what happened tonight. If you look at the game itself, we really didn't take a very defensive posture. Seattle's a fantastic soccer team. I mean they've got fantastic players and we saw their quality tonight. I think the first goal really was a punch in the gut, you know, because it was a penalty kick again. It felt like we were re-living Portland again, but [Osvaldo] Alonso didn't make a mistake. When we had to make the switch to try to get more forwards on the field, it opened up and they showed their quality."

Unlike  against the Timbers in Portland, where Kris Boyd missed his penalty, Cal FC did not get a break against the Sounders.
 
"I think tonight if you look at the way that we addressed the game, we knew that Seattle just has more quality than Portland," added Wynalda. "There were times where we were really able to play but we couldn't get numbers forward. There was never a time that I really felt like we could really get in behind them."

Wynalda acknowledged his players ran out of gas in the end.

"Well, I mean fitness is a big issue with us," he said. " look at it and we've played eight games and trained five times. We really haven't been able to assimilate an environment that would be conducive to being fit. So you've got to commend these guys on that and I think you're right. It was just a matter of time. They wore us down."

Wynalda wouldn't comment on what's next for Cal FC.

"I can't even answer that," he said. "As far as Cal FC, we've been together for a month. That's what you get after a month. We can be very proud of that. I think some of these guys will explore the options and the interest. I think they've proven they can play and hopefully they'll get a chance to play at a better address."