The Seattle Sounders lost at home for the first time this season, falling 3-2 to Minnesota United on Sunday afternoon. Following a scoreless first half, a flurry of four goals in the span of seven minutes between the 51st and 58th minutes left Seattle trailing 3-1. An 83rd own goal brought the Sounders some hope, but nothing came from it despite putting pressure on the Minnesota goal.
Although both sides had chances during the first 45 minutes, neither team really created a clear-cut opportunity to score. Tani Oluwaseyi’s early look in the 9th minute when Julian Gressel sent in a cross that he headed off the bar was Minnesota’s first and probably best look of the half. Paul Rothrock was on the end of Seattle’s best look at goal, but as he ran in at the back post to meet a cross from Jackson Ragen in an advanced position he got underneath it to the point that his attempt went straight up in the air.
Seattle and Minnesota traded looks to start the second half, but Minnesota were the first to land a blow in the 51st minute. The Loons carved up Seattle and Robin Lod showed off some skill to create space for himself and play a ball in towards the penalty spot where Oluwaseyi’s run wasn’t tracked and he easily finished to take the lead. Just moments later Minnesota were causing problems in Seattle’s penalty area again. Joaquin Pereyra made a great run and played a ball for Bongokuhle Hlongwane who was crashed into by Jon Bell inside the box to draw a penalty. Lod stepped up to the spot and put his penalty just beyond Frei’s grasp to double the lead in the 54th minute.
The Sounders got an immediate response after Minnesota’s second goal courtesy of Pedro de la Vega and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. Obed Vargas played a great ball over the top for de la Vega who ran down the wing and past a defender before cutting the ball back to the six-yard box where Kossa-Rienzi was making a diagonal run from the right channel to punch it home and close the deficit to one goal.
That one-goal gap didn’t last long. Minnesota found their third goal in the 58th minute when Stefan Frei made a poor save on a shot from Pereyra that gave up a rebound right in front of him where Oluwaseyi beat Nouhou to the ball to tap it in and make it 3-1 for Minnesota.
Seattle made all five changes over three windows following Minnesota’s third goal, and one of them paid off in a goal when Georgi Minoungou forced an own goal with a dangerous cross from the right in the 83rd minute. Defender Nicolas Romero attempted to block the cross out for a corner, but instead turned the ball into the bottom corner to shrink the gap back to a single goal. The Sounders tried to find an equalizer, but despite possession and pressure they failed to register a shot over the rest of regulation and 7 minutes of stoppage time.
This result ends Seattle’s home unbeaten streak to start the season at 7 games, bringing them to 5-1-2 at Lumen Field and drops them to 5th in the West. It also marked Minnesota’s first result in Seattle since entering the league in 2017.
Key moments
9 - Crossbar! Minnesota’s first real threat comes on a cross from Gressel to the head of Oluwaseyi, whose effort hits the crossbar and bounces back out.
12 - Corner! De la Vega gets the ball on the right wing and slips a ball through for Vargas, but his low cross from the end line is blocked out for a corner.
21 - Chance! Seattle work the ball quickly into the attacking half and Rusnák gets it at his feet at the top of the box before chipping a ball in for Musovski who wins a header but puts it wide.
36 - Chance! Ragen sends in a dime from the right wing that reaches Rothrock at the back post, but Rothrock gets under it and skies his shot.
43 - Chance! Bell does well to pick up the ball ahead of Oluwaseyi, but his attempted pass to Nouhou gets picked off by Pereyra who puts his shot wide.
44 - Save! Gressel pulls up from the top of the box, but Frei dives to his right to catch the shot!
HT - Sub. Julian Gressel exits the game, replaced by Bongokuhle Hlongwane for Minnesota.
47 - Chance! Musovski with another header with his back to goal as he connects on a cross from Roldan, but his attempt is over the bar.
49 - Bike! Oluwaseyi goes up for a bicycle kick and connects, but he puts his shot wide of goal.
51 - Goal, Minnesota. Oluwaseyi provides the final touch after Lod shows some skill on the right side and cuts it back towards the penalty spot. 1-0 Minnesota
53 - Penalty. Bell crashes into Hlongwane in the box and Minnesota have a chance to double their lead in short order.
54 - Goal, Minnesota. Lod punches the PK to Frei’s left and into the back corner to double the lead. 2-0 Minnesota
55 - GOAL! De la Vega flies down the wing and cuts the ball back towards the penalty spot from the end line. Kossa-Rienzi arrives with a late run and slots the ball down the middle to pull one back. 2-1 Minnesota
Kalani scores his second of the season 👏
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-06-01T23:29:55.945Z
58 - Goal, Minnesota. Frei saves a shot from Pereyra, but the rebound falls for Oluwaseyi who gets to it before Nouhou and regains the two-goal lead. 3-1 Minnesota
59 - Subs. Jackson Ragen, Paul Rothrock and Pedro de la Vega exit and are replaced by Stuart Hawkins, Ryan Kent and Georgi Minoungou for the Sounders.
69 - Sub. Minnesota swap Owen Gene out for Joseph Rosales.
70 - Chance! Hawkins jumps up to meet a Rusnák free kick, but he can’t put the header on target.
70 - Sub. Minnesota bring on Kelvin Yeboah and take off Anthony Markanich.
75 - Sub. Nouhou comes out and Reed Baker-Whiting takes his place for Seattle.
78 - Chance! Musovski does really well to pick up a soft pass from KKR and drive at the back line before back heeling a pass to Minoungou whose shot blazes just wide.
80 - Sub. Osaze De Rosario enters the game and Obed Vargas comes off for the Sounders.
83 - GOAL! Georgi Minoungou hits a low cross into the box and Nicolas Romero sends it into his own goal to close the gap to one. 3-2 Minnesota
Got one back 👊
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-06-01T23:53:57.332Z
89 - Sub. Joaquin Pereyra leaves the game and Morris Duggan comes in for Minnesota.
Quick thoughts
Putting players in position to succeed: Jackson Ragen made his return from injury with a start today, but the Sounders didn’t see the kind of benefit that most would have expected from his inclusion. Part of that is certainly a product of the fact that Ragen hadn’t played a game since April 12 against FC Dallas. But with Yeimar unavailable Ragen lined up on the right with Jon Bell to his left, and when Seattle moved to 3 at the back in possession, Bell ended up central with Nouhou on the left and Ragen on the right. As Seattle looked to create overloads Ragen pushed high on the right wing and created some danger with good crosses, but also created a giveaway that resulted in Minnesota’s penalty. The arrangement meant that Ragen was less able to serve as the quarterback that so often helps to generate Seattle’s attack and drive their possession, and it also forced Cristian Roldan to drop in alongside the CBs to help facilitate possession and likewise made him less effective in creating attacks with long-range passing as he was farther from the opposing back line. Those guys being further removed made it harder to find the wingers in space and create real problems in the box.
A matter of momentum: With the Club World Cup fast approaching the Sounders had a chance to hit their break in the regular season and start the CWC on a hot streak. A road draw against the Portland Timbers and a pair of gutsy 1-0 wins at home ahead of the Minnesota match left them with a chance to climb even higher in the table and establish themselves as one of the West’s top teams. The loss leaves them with just a road trip to face the Vancouver Whitecaps who will either be riding a Concacaf Champions Cup title or looking to rebound from a loss to Cruz Azul before they start their CWC campaign. It puts more pressure on the Cascadia Cup meeting, as well as on the possible return from injury for Jordan Morris and a return to form for the squad before they test themselves against some of the world’s best including the UCL champions, Paris Saint-Germain.
Nurturing Stuart Hawkins: Player development is always a tricky thing. It’s not a linear path, every individual has their own arc and the learning curve for each position is different. The physical demands for a center back are different than for any other position, and those demands are part of why the Sounders have been so slow to integrate Stuart Hawkins into the first team. Having signed in 2023, Hawkins made his first MLS appearance this season and in his 31 minutes (plus stoppage) today he stepped into an MLS match for the third time. The growth from game to game hasn’t exactly been exponential, but after looking a little shaky in his emergency appearance against San Diego FC, Hawkins looked much more settled when he came on against Minnesota. Brian Schmetzer has been careful not to overhype the 18-year-old, but did specifically call out that he was better in the air already. Hawkins is still a ways out from being a key part of Seattle’s defense, but with each passing performance he looks more like a useful piece in the immediate term, especially as the injury list continues to be filled with CBs who would otherwise be ahead of him.
Notable quote
Brian Schmetzer on the second half: “What broke down was we showed them clearly who Minnesota is, what they are. They’re a team that plays ... on counter attacks, and we fell into their trap. ... credit to them, but it was on us, poor defending in that moment. Were we able to create enough in that first half? No."
Player spotlight
Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored his second goal of the season to breath a bit of life into the Sounders, but his performance was much more than that as he completed 63/68 passes, won 3/4 tackles, and 8/16 duels.
