For anyone who saw it live, the final minute of the Seattle Sounders’ 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes was surely memorable. As it turned out, the Sounders didn’t need Raúl Ruidíaz’s goal to secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but no one knew that for sure at the time.
The crowd’s explosion of joy was about as loud as any at CenturyLink Field, and there was even a considerable amount of audible cheering in the press box (normally a big no-no).
LevyFilms captured it all wonderfully. The sequence above starts with Shea Salinas badly overthrowing his target and allowing the Sounders to take possession after Nicolás Lodeiro is able to keep Anibal Godoy from winning a 50/50 ball. Osvaldo Alonso quickly pushes it forward to Victor Rodriguez, who dribbles into space before finding Nicolás Lodeiro. His one-touch pass to Ruidíaz is hit first-time and easily beats the San Jose goalkeeper.
That sets off a massive celebration, with players mobbing a now shirtless Ruidíaz. Perhaps the best part of this is that Ruidíaz appears to have completely lost track of where his shirt went, relying on Jordy Delem to hand it to him.
It definitely wasn’t how the Sounders surely planned to head into the postseason, but you have to imagine it provides a significant emotional lift.