Mauro Rosales Injury Update: Sounders Await Results Of MRI

Sometime this afternoon, the Seattle Sounders should find out whether or not Mauro Rosales will be available for some or part of their Western Conference semifinal against Real Salt Lake. Their right midfielder was, of course, hurt early in Saturday's match against Chivas USA. It was his first start since spraining his MCL on Sept. 17 and just his second competitive appearance.

Prior to the MRI, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid seemed at least somewhat optimistic about Rosales' status.

"We’ll just have to see once the doctor looks at it and see how it is," Schmid said. "I think he was surprised a little bit about how much he was able to do today."

The Sounders are clearly hoping to have Rosales for as much of their playoff run as possible. With Rosales in the starting lineup, the Sounders are 12-3-6 and outscoring their opponents 37-23. While they are 7-4-3 with a +4 goal difference in matches Rosales did not start, they clearly lack of the same kind of fluidity and dynamism when he's not on the field.

A best-case scenario would probably involve Rosales coming off the bench for Saturday's road match at Rio Tinto Stadium and then possibly being good for 60 or so minutes for the return leg on Nov. 2. Asking anymore than that of Rosales, who has played about 30 minutes in the last month-plus seems a little unrealistic.

The good news for the Sounders is that they won at Rio Tinto in May without getting a single minute from Rosales. Interestingly enough, that was also the only game the Sounders won all year with neither Rosales nor Fredy Montero in the starting lineup. Montero did enter the game in the 70th minute, and was on the field for both of the Sounders goals, but the team managed to play RSL to 0-0 without him. 

This time around, the Sounders will at least have Montero, who also happens to be playing as well as he ever has in his MLS career. Montero has scored 11 all-competition goals in his past 11 games and has registered a goal or an assist in his past eight MLS games, a stretch in which he has compiled six goals and four assists. In the 10 games leading up to the last meeting with RSL, Montero had just two goals and two assists.