Postgame Pontifications: Signs of High Life Soccer

A 1-0 win at home that comes from a late penalty with the Sounders being narrowly out-shot by FC Dallas might not seem like a cause for excitement on its face. When the season ends the three points will be the thing that matters most. But the process is still important, and that process is starting to show some signs of what we on this site started to call “High Life Soccer” at about this time back in 2023. The 2025 vintage may have notable differences from the 2023, but the basic concepts are largely still the same and if the Sounders can get that High Life Soccer flowing as they close out the first half of the season and roll into the summer, Club World Cup and Leagues Cup, we could have something truly special on our hands.

Cristian Roldan was key to Saturday’s win, much like he has been for most of the team’s strong performances this season. Roldan’s putting together one of the best season’s of his career, already having surpassed his goal contribution total from last year (1 goal, 5 assists in 2024; 1 goal, 6 assists in 2025 according to MLS). Against Dallas he won 6 of 6 tackles, 13 of 15 duels including 3 of 3 aerial duels, and completed 7 of 8 long balls, as well as both of the dribbles he attempted. With 101 touches he was central to Seattle’s entire game, but those duels and tackles are of particular importance when it comes to High Life Soccer.

The defining attribute of High Life Soccer each time it’s cropped up in Seattle has been a suffocating press and re-press, paired with an immediate transition back into offense once the Sounders regain possession. Roldan led the game in both duels won and tackles won, but he was hardly alone in putting in that work. Enter Seattle’s starting wingers from Saturday: Pedro de la Vega and Ryan Kent. The pair finished with the 2nd and 3rd most duels won, as de la Vega won 9 of 13 and Kent won 8 of 11. De la Vega also won 2 of 2 tackles attempted, and the pair finished with an identical success rate on dribbles, both completing 3 of 4. They made life hell for Dallas’s wide players on both sides of the ball.

That performance from the wide players didn’t turn into goals – although they combined to create 4 chances and Kent also set up Georgi Minoungou for a goal that was ultimately ruled offside – but those performances are the sort that make scoring goals much easier for Seattle even if de la Vega and Kent aren’t the ones putting the ball in the back of the net themselves. As the attacking group grows more familiar with one another, the willingness to work for each other and the creativity, improvisation and combination play should only pay off more and more – particularly when Jordan Morris and Danny Musovski are able to make their returns from injury.

Saturday against Dallas wasn’t a peak performance for the Sounders. With slightly different luck one way or another it could have been a more comfortable win or a much, much more frustrating outcome, but the Sounders did what they needed to for Albert Rusnak’s goal to stand up in the end. Now they move forward to host San Diego FC with a chance for some revenge. San Diego are flying high, but if Seattle can build on the positives that came out of the win from the weekend, they’ve got what it takes to exact that revenge.