There's not a lot of stuff worth reliving from the Seattle Sounders' 5-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. The Sounders were caught flat-footed, looked horribly ill-prepared and generally did not play at all like a team that has designs on winning the Supporters' Shield and/or the MLS Cup.
The stats probably aren't as unkind as you'd think they'd be, but a lot of that is because the Sounders out shot the Rapids 9-3 in the second half. And it's worth noting that, unlike some of their previous meltdowns, the Sounders actually generated chances in this one. Truth be told, they were probably a bit unlucky not to score a couple more goals.
But that probably paints a rosier picture than there deserves to be. At the same time, the Sounders were a bit lucky to not give up a couple more as the Rapids hit the woodwork twice. The Sounders defense never seemed to settle and the midfield didn't do a particularly good job of creating any pressure. Osvaldo Alonso had an uncharacteristically down game, Adam Moffat still looks uncomfortable and Brad Evans had a much more quiet match than we're accustomed to seeing when he's out wide. Honestly, the only Sounders player that looked consistently dangerous was Eddie Johnson, who also scored his team-leading ninth goal.
Hopefully, the Sounders have a short memory.
Scoring Summary:
COL - Deshorn Brown (Gabriel Torres) 1'
COL - Dillon Powers (Vicente Sanchez) 10'
COL - Deshorn Brown 31'
COL - Drew Moor (Hendry Thomas, Vicente Sanchez) 41'
SEA - Eddie Johnson (Marc Burch) 63'
COL - Gabriel Torres (Martin Rivero) 90+1'
Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning, DeAndre Yedlin, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Patrick Ianni 46), Zach Scott, Marc Burch, Mauro Rosales (Dylan Remick 65), Osvaldo Alonso (Andy Rose 74), Adam Moffat, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle, Eddie Johnson.
Substitutes Not Used: Marcus Hahnemann, Alex Caskey, David Estrada, Eriq Zavaleta.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Johnson 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Johnson 4); FOULS: 14 (Scott 4); OFFSIDE: 2 (Neagle 2); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Rosales 5); SAVES: 4 (Gspurning 4).
Colorado Rapids - Clint Irwin, Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Shane O'Neill, Chris Klute, Hendry Thomas, Dillon Powers (Martin Rivero 59), Nathan Sturgis (Atiba Harris 82), Deshorn Brown (Nick LaBrocca 73), Gabriel Torres, Vicente Sanchez.
Substitutes Not Used: Matt Pickens, Edson Buddle, Jaime Castrillon, German Mera.
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Brown 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 9 (Brown, Powers 2); FOULS: 9 (Thomas 3); OFFSIDE: 1 (Torres 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Sanchez 3); SAVES: 3 (Irwin 3).
Misconduct Summary:
SEA - Zach Scott (caution) 8'
SEA - Zach Scott (ejection) 79'
Referee: David Gantar
Referee's Assistants: Philippe Briere, Corey Parker
4th Official: Baldomero Toledo
Attendance: 18,076
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Clear and 47 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
Coach and Player quotes
Sigi Schmid, Seattle Sounders FC head coach
On the loss:
At the end of the day we have to learn that that's not good enough. You can't walk on the field and assume that you're going to be in the game. You have to be in the game mentally right from the beginning of the game.
On his message to the team at halftime:
Well, the message was that we wanted to win the second half, which we did, up until they got the injury time goal from Torres. But just that we needed to show some character, to play better, to win the second half. That was our objective. And not to do anything stupid, not to pick up a red card, which obviously we didn't accomplish. And just to make smarter decisions and at the beginning of the second half, through the first 20-25 minutes, we had Eddie Johnson's goal, but we also had his header on goal and we had Evans on the left side, so a number of opportunities for us to have gotten some goals and gotten back into the game and maybe pulled back. But at the end of the day, Colorado was better than us today.
On lessons that can be drawn from the loss:
No, it's good to get your ass kicked at this time of the year, just to remind you that this is the real thing and if you don't come out completely prepared mentally and ready to give everything you have, you're going to get your ass kicked.
You didn't mention it but I'm sure that you're thinking about the next two games...
Well some of the subs we made in the second half were just to save some legs on people. Mauro Rosales was playing well but we've got two other games this week. So we've got to live to fight another day. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado as well as a center back, especially with Zach [Scott]. We already knew Zach was out for the next game because of his yellow, now he misses our next two games so we made some changes that way, tried to save a little bit of time off of Ozzie's [Osvaldo Alonso] legs as well so that was the reason for our changes in the second half.
On whether it would have made a difference to have Clint Dempsey:
Wouldn't have made a difference. We were asleep at the beginning of the game and when you're asleep at the beginning of the game you're going to pay the price. So it wouldn't have made a difference unless they were going to go back and defend for us and none of those guys are defenders.
On whether that's the worst half of soccer they've played this season
That together with the half that we played in LA.
On the performance in the second half:
The fight was still there. Mauro [Rosales] was disappointed because he wanted to win the game but it was my decision at that point. So I thought our fight was there. I thought we came out and I thought we played well in the first 20 minutes. Overall when you look at the flow of the game, I didn't think we got completely outplayed, I think we got countered on, and when you give up two set-piece goals and a goal in the first 30 seconds, you know, that's unacceptable.
Oscar Pareja, Colorado Rapids Head Coach
On statement win on national television:
First, I'm glad for the players. It's one of those nights they've deserved. It's been a year so far, and there have been many games where they wanted so badly to perform the way they did tonight in-front of the fans. That was very rewarding. I think that's the statement. It's a message to our fans, that have been very supportive, and giving that joy today, that's why the players are happy.
On what he envisioned coming into the game:
We have preached all year, and talked about trying to get a good start, and trying to be the team that sets the pace and the tone, especially here in our complex. Today was one of those nights that you always envision that you want to have. It's rewarding to see this young group perform the way they did in-front of the fans.
On Deshorn Brown's performance:
It was great for him [to get the early goal], and Deshorn needed it as well. Now he's called to the [Jamaican] National Team. I know his mom was here tonight, and he wanted, tonight, to come and give us this this joy. I spoke to him during the week, and he knew how badly we needed this result. He did excellent at training during the week. Everything came together for Deshorn [Brown] today, and we're very glad for him.
On opening goal:
It was [a set play]. It's a result of the training and the discipline that these guys are putting into the practices. I saw them train this play over and over, and I knew they were going to get it someday and today was the day. We've done it [all season]. We just tell them, "you've got to keep going, it's going to come." The last game with Edson [Buddle] and Atiba [Harris] in the first minute in the second half, I thought it was something similar.
On early pressure from opening whistle:
It was great to see our team and our players with that attitude. The fans were part of that as well. When I came out to the field and saw the atmosphere and the crowd and everything, that's what we need here in the park. This result, and the first half, it's a unified effort from the fans as well. They got into the game right away. It was magic tonight.
Deshorn Brown, Colorado Rapids forward
On scoring a goal in the first 13 seconds:
[The ball] was coming my way and I just took it, and we just started from there. We played a long ball and headed back to Torres, then he played back to me and I just ran up to it and put it in the back of the goal.
On the importance of scoring early:
That's been one of our main targets at training for the whole season and now that's one of our strengths. So we just use it as the game was about to start and found the net first. It was a huge win. No one expected [us to score that quickly] but we just came out here with the mentality of getting three points to put ourselves in a good playoff spot it's just the mentality we had and we pushed ourselves.
On how this helps his push for Rookie of the Year:
I'm just doing the job. I'm just helping the team, and I'm glad to be here for the Colorado Rapids. I work every day when I go out there. I'm just working hard and if [the award] comes my way I'll take it.
On whether they've been practicing finishing lately:
We've been doing a lot of finishing this week. He had sessions on finishing on Wednesday and Thursday. It was pretty good. I think that's where it's coming from. The guys were really motivated and I'm just happy for us tonight.
Drew Moor, Colorado Rapids defender
On the team's performance:
It's a great result. Fantastic start, scoring that early goal. We were obviously extremely pleased with the first half. I think we were disappointed with what had happened two weeks ago in Portland, which was a big game; we thought we deserved more out of that game. But this is the time of the season to start playing like this, to start executing, scoring goals, defending well. Obviously I'm extremely disappointed with not getting the shutout, but a lot to build off of going into the last three games.
On getting off to a quick start after struggling early in past games:
When you score 13 seconds into the game, that's a pretty quick start. To be honest, that kickoff is something we work on. We train on that. We don't always expect to score off that, but to get in their half, get up the field and start putting early pressure on them. I think we have started slow at times at home, and usually we use the second half to build off of, and we score goals late, but this was different tonight, this was pretty special.
On being involved in the scoring:
It's always nice to get a goal. I don't know if I knew much about it. Obviously Hendry [Thomas] was in a great spot, and I think his defender was hanging onto him so he couldn't get a clean shot and it more or less hit me and went in.
On Gabriel Torres scoring his first goal for the Rapids:
It's great. The way we all went and celebrated with him even though it was 5-1 into injury time is a sign that we know that guy has got some goals in him and we want to encourage him and be sure he keeps his head up and keeps doing that, because that's what we brought him in here to do. He's been fantastic since he's been here.
On the performance of rookies Dillon Powers and Deshorn Brown:
You can't say enough about them. It's not just Dillon and Deshorn, I still look at guys like Shane [O'Neill] and Klutie [Chris Klute], even Clint [Irwin], as first year regulars here. I look to them for inspiration and motivation because they've been absolutely fantastic.