The Seattle Sounders wrapped up their regular season with a trip to face New York City FC in much the same way that they’ve made their way through this entire season up until now: by overcoming adversity and finding a way to show their quality regardless of the circumstances. After the first half was largely marred by Pedro de la Vega falling victim to the demonic entity that is the temporary turf covering the infield at Citi Field, another in a devastatingly long line of injuries for de la Vega in his time as a Sounder, to say nothing of the list of injuries to other Sounders over the course of the year.
Despite that loss and the weight of emotions surrounding it, Seattle were able to ride a pair of set-piece goals to a 2-1 victory. Jordan Morris opened the scoring with a perfect header on an Albert Rusnák free kick to notch his first goal since returning from the shoulder injury that kept him off the field for two months. It was his first goal since July, one of the kinds of goals that fans and foes repeatedly seem to convince themselves that Morris doesn’t score, despite pretty reliably scoring them throughout his career.
NYCFC made it tight with a late goal, but Jackson Ragen and Danny Leyva combined on a corner just five minutes later to retake the lead in the 87th minute. It was Ragen’s second goal of the season, both of which have come from corners during the team’s 4-game unbeaten streak to close out the regular season. For Leyva, that assist was a cherry on the top of a fantastic performance as he’s reminded people just what he can offer in Seattle’s midfield, creating 3 chances and leading both teams in touches (104) and passes attempted (88), while also hitting 8 passes into the final third and going 3/4 on long balls.
Alex Roldan stepped up once again to put in a good performance as a centerback next to Ragen during his 55 minutes on the field, João Paulo put in a second consecutive solid hour or so in which he looked much like his old self and every bit capable of lightening the load in midfield for Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas. Snyder Brunell played well beyond his 18 years during his 35 minutes, Jesus Ferreira posed constant problems for the NYCFC back line to help open up space and create opportunities for his teammates, and the list goes on and on.
The loss of de la Vega, an undeniable ceiling raiser and x-factor capable of changing a game in an instant, is painful. We still don’t know the extent of his injury, but it’s probably safe to say he won’t be on the field no matter what sort of run the Sounders go on. But perhaps that loss can serve as a galvanizing force for Seattle.
John Trupin published a piece over at Lookout Landing this morning in the lead-up to the Seattle Mariners ALCS Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays that is perfectly encapsulated in its title and final line: “Do not be careful with your hope.” It’s an idea that I find profoundly resonant. I personally carry a sort of eternal optimism born in part from the M’s 1995 season, which is one of my earliest memories of any kind and certainly my first and most lasting sports memory.
“It’s the hope that kills you,” might be a more commonly used aphorism, and it’s an idea that does carry some truth. Hope, by necessity, is a kind of vulnerability. There’s a sort of security in keeping yourself closed off, in isolation and a lack of attachment. To hope is to accept the possibility that your dreams go unfulfilled and unrealized. But I reject the defeatism and nihilism that comes with the idea that it is ever the hope that kills you. We all die eventually, all things end one way or another, and to choose not to hope is to skip forward to the end and reject the possibility of joy that comes with hope.
There’s no reason not to hope for the Mariners, because there’s still a game to play and a chance to make a first ever trip to the World Series. No result is a foregone conclusion. Likewise, this game against NYCFC was a reminder that there’s more than enough reason to believe that this Sounders team is capable of doing incredible things. They’ve already done them! Hope does not come from a debit account that carries an overdraft penalty if you’ve drawn too deeply from it. Instead, the more you hope, the more you share that hope with others, the more it grows. If you choose not to hope, maybe the good things still happen and bring with them surprise when they come. But if you hope for those good things, the joy of their arrival isn’t in any way diminished. So I say hope. Hope wildly, with reckless abandon, because you might well be right. Hope today, hope tomorrow, and keep on hoping for memories we’ll all share for as long as we live. The Sounders are more than capable of making those hopes into history.
