Five quick numbers that explain Sounders’ wild playoff loss to Portland

SEATTLE — After one of the wildest matches in MLS Cup Playoffs history, the Seattle Sounders fell to the Portland Timbers in a penalty shootout after a 4-4 aggregate score after extra time. The Sounders fought valiantly, tying the match up multiple times.

Obviously the goals are the only numbers that really matter in the end, but a few others stand out on the stat sheet that tell the story of this heartbreaking result.

51 - Timbers clearances

Compare this to the 10 clearances made by the Sounders over 120+ minutes. Portland showed up with the bus completely parked, and they almost paid for it. They finally attacked after going down 1-0 in the 68th minute, but they showed up prepared to defend for as long as necessary.

21 - Sounders total shots

Again, it was Seattle who needed to score tonight, and they never stopped pushing. The Timbers had only 11 shots over 120 minutes, only one more than the Sounders had in the second half of regular time.

43 - Sounders crosses from open play

That’s a huge number, even over 120 minutes. Even more notable was that none of the Sounders’ three goals were assisted by a cross. It’s worth saying that an excellent cross by Victor Rodriguez kicked off the sequence that led to Raul Ruidiaz’s injury time volley, but it was a poor header by Timber Sebastian Blanco that actually assisted the goal.

4 - Chances created by Nicolas Lodeiro

The Uruguayan continued to be the Sounders’ creative hub, though none of his chances directly assisted any of the team’s three goals. Lodeiro popped up all over the pitch, completing 115 total passes and dwarfing everyone else on both teams with 173 total touches.

807 - Total passes by the Sounders

This was an MLS record for most passes in a match, a very noteworthy stat that would make headlines if the Sounders had won and advanced. Even more important is that this number almost doubled the Timbers’ total passes (406).

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