“Unselfish” Will making a habit of Bruining Houston

In a rout of his former club, Will Bruin was again active as the Seattle Sounders ran the Houston Dynamo off the pitch, 4-1. Bruin finished with a goal and a dummy that left Houston baffled as Seattle ended the Dynamo’s playoff hopes.

“For me personally it was good to get back on the score sheet,” Bruin said. “My minutes are limited now so I need to make the most of them. I think I did that tonight.

“I have scored goals every year in this league. As the league brings in higher quality players, a lot of them are attackers so I kind of have to evolve my game. I think I’ve done that throughout the years. Whenever I get my opportunities, I’m just going to do my job and try and score goals.”

On the whole, Bruin finished with 22 touches and completed 9 of 15 passes — not a bad rate of return for a 6’2” target striker. His best bit of skill on the night, though, was reserved for the feint he pulled to set up Victor Rodriguez in the 64th minute.

“I thought I heard (Rodriguez) yell,” Bruin said, smiling. “Don’t know what he said, but I thought it was him. I’m glad it was him and not a centerback, but I was glad he finished it off. I thought about doing the same thing as the first goal, but I didn’t, I just trusted my instincts.”

Head coach Brian Schmetzer said it was the kind of play he’d come to expect from Bruin, even if the forward has not typically been known for his finesse.

“He’s seen a lot of minutes in MLS,” Schmetzer said. “He’s been around for a while. He has some of those experiences in games. Some of that stuff comes intuitively. You’re in position, you know what’s behind you. You know there’s a guy who’s in a position that’s better than you, so you’re unselfish. That’s part of who Will is.”

Bruin now has four goals in his last four starts against Houston. After his goal, Bruin let out a roar before jumping into a bear hug with Nicolas Lodeiro.

Schmetzer, though, doesn’t think Bruin has any special agenda against the Dynamo.

“That story-line might be a little old,” Schmetzer said. “Will has some roots there, but Will does it because he likes to score goals. I don’t think he cares if its Houston or not. He wants to score.”

Despite Schmetzer’s comments, Bruin’s habit of finding the net against his former club came as a great relief in the absence of dynamic scoring threat Raul Ruidiaz.

Now having pummeled the Dynamo 9-1 across their last three meetings with the club, Bruin says the return leg in Houston on Oct. 21 will pose a threat to Seattle as they attempt to gear up for the playoffs.

“They’re a good team,” Bruin said. “They’re missing (Romell Quioto and Alberth Elis), two of their more explosive players. They’re a different team with them in the lineup and I’m sure they’ll be back when we’re down there. I’m sure they’ll remember this and that they’ll make it a tough game on us. We’ve just got to worry about Orlando first.”