RENTON — The busiest season in Seattle Sounders history is finally in the stretch run. The Sounders are guaranteed to at least tie their franchise record of 49 competitive matches this season, navigating a campaign that started in mid-February with Concacaf Champions Cup and will now conclude with a 16th trip to the MLS Playoffs in 17 years.
It would be impossible to endure that kind of schedule without any significant injuries, but even granting that the Sounders have dealt with seemingly more than their fair share. With one notable exception, though, the Sounders boarded the plane on Sunday about as healthy as they have been all year to the point some regular contributors likely won’t make the gameday roster.
The Sounders will even have a somewhat unexpected addition for Game 1 against Minnesota United on Monday: Ryan Kent. The winger hasn’t appeared in a match since tearing his hamstring on Aug. 6, but has looked so sharp in training over the past couple weeks that Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer felt compelled to bring him along.
“He looks really good,” Schmetzer said while wearing a massive grin. “He will be involved in the game. I’m not sure to what extent, but I’m going to talk to him one more time.”
Having Kent available for the playoffs would be a potential boon to the Sounders, who lost Pedro de la Vega for the rest of the season when he suffered a broken kneecap in the regular-season finale. During his first 20 appearances, Kent had five assists in 852 minutes. His rate of .53 assists per 90 minutes leads the Sounders.
Overall, Schmetzer said he felt good about where the Sounders were physically despite the heavy load throughout the season. He was particularly glad that he was able to rest Obed Vargas and Cristian Roldan — who have each logged more than 3,600 minutes for club and country this year — for the final weekend of the season.
Schmetzer also thinks the Sounders have a bit of a mental edge at this point in the season, given their playoff experience. This will be the Sounders’ 16th trip to the postseason in 17 seasons. In 13 of those seasons, the Sounders have advanced at least as far as the Western Conference semis. Among the other 17 teams still alive in the playoffs, no one has qualified for the playoffs more than 11 times nor made it to the conference semis more than eight times since 2009.
“They know what to expect,” Schmetzer said about his players. “We know that when things don’t go our way, momentum swings in games. You have to ride through some of those and we rely on that experience to make plays.”
Kim Kee-hee still recovering
There’s still no clear timeline on when Kim Kee-hee will be able to return from his calf injury, but the centerback did do more training on Sunday than he has since suffering the injury on Oct. 4. The Sounders are still hoping to get Kim to see a specialist at the Mayo Clinic, which has not yet happened.
Kelvin Yeboah likely available
One of the biggest questions surrounding Minnesota United has been Kelvin Yeboah’s fitness. The striker has only made one substitute appearance Sept. 13, but seems likely to start on Monday.
MD-1 #MNUFC injury update: Both Kelvin Yeboah and Morris Duggan are available for tomorrow night, according to manager Eric Ramsay, who said both have trained "somewhere near fully." "If I opted to start both of them tomorrow, both would be available," said Ramsay.
— Jon Marthaler (@jonmarthaler.com) 2025-10-26T18:15:41.754Z
