The atmosphere at Lumen Field last Saturday was electric as the Seattle Sounders squared off against their Cascadia rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps. Seattle trailed early in the second half after a midfield mistake allowed a quick strike from the away team. However, in a display of grit and determination, the Sounders clawed their way back into the game with two quick goals and a lead for the home team. Unfortunately, another mistake late meant that Vancouver was able to tie the match and hold on to the 2-2 result, resilient to Seattle’s late offensive push. The comeback surge was a positive takeaway, but the overall performance was a mixed bag. Inconsistency plagued the Sounders throughout the 90 minutes, as they had both periods of fluid, attacking football, and stretches of disjointed play and uncharacteristic errors. These mistakes in crucial moments prevented Seattle from fully capitalizing on their momentum and securing all three points.
Serious pursuits: The positive play was there – the movement in unison as Seattle sent waves of pressure and showed how dominant they can be. The vision is still alive.
Foolish games: The low points were there too, as minor errors or mistakes were pounced on and punished. For long stretches, these opponents looked like two very good, yet offensively futile, teams.
Goalkeeper
Stefan Frei – 5 | Community – 5.8
Frei returned to the starting lineup and looked solid, but also gave up two goals. He didn’t have a lot of action other than those moments, outside of a first half scramble. He ended with three saves.
Serious pursuits: A 97th minute save held on to a point for Seattle, ensuring that Vancouver would not steal late points from the Sounders, like other teams have.
Foolish games: In the 45th minute, Stefan was first too tentative to come out, and then too aggressive when potentially fouling Vancouver inside his six-yard box. This ugly play was lucky not to be cited.
Defense
Nouhou – 6 | Community – 6.0
Nouhou did his job defensively, showing up and leading the team with four interceptions and adding six clearances. He also won the most duels in the match and was a strong connector, ending with 12 defensive contributions.
Serious pursuits: An excellent 60th minute step up to earn the ball on a great read prevented a switch attempt and got Seattle back on the front foot.
Foolish games: Of course this guy got a yellow at halftime for squirting someone with water. What an absolute child.
Jackson Ragen – 7 | Community – 6.5
Ragen led the back line, highlighted by his usual stellar passing of 87 percent. These passes were a combination of long, line breaking ones and short/controlled ones, and he moved fluidly to the right side when Yeimar subbed. He had seven clearances and scored an essential goal.
Serious pursuits: Ragen opened the scoring with an excellent header on a set piece, bringing Seattle level and giving the team a way back into the match immediately after conceding.
Foolish games: As good as his goal was off a corner kick, his defense on the second Vancouver goal was equally bad. He was slow to react to his man, beaten to the ball, and the game was tied.
Yeimar – 5 | Community – 5.5 (off 18’ for Kee-hee)
Yeimar started at his usual centerback position and unfortunately came up lame after a defensive action in the first fifteen minutes. He tried moving on it, but it was clear he needed to be Seattle’s second early sub of the night, as the wear and tear of the season is catching up to them.
Serious pursuits: Yeimar looked strong while on the field and he matched up well with what Vancouver attempted in his limited time on the field. His pace (which eventually hurt him) was in full display as he dispossessed opponents multiple times.
Foolish games: A complete rock on defense, losing Yeimar for any amount of time is likely to be a massive blow to Seattle’s chances of success in the playoffs. Hopefully he is back soon.
Alex Roldan – 5 | Community – 5.5 (off 11’ for Kossa-Rienzi)
Just 10 minutes into the match, Alex came up lame and had to be subbed. This was demoralizing, as he had already earned six touches and looked to be a key part of both Seattle’s defensive and possession goals against Vancouver’s system.
Serious pursuits: Seattle had taken pressure well in the first 10 minutes before the injury, consistently using Alex as an outlet. They looked able to deny Vancouver’s pressing opportunities.
Foolish games: Getting hurt that early was just rough, changing the backline tactics and removing Roldan’s calm control from the back.
Defensive Midfield
Cristian Roldan – 6 | Community – 6.4
Cristian started in the middle and did a little of everything. He had two shots on goal, 65 touches, two won headers, three fouls earned (that were called) and countless glue plays all over the field.
Serious pursuits: Instantly looking for Jordan Morris over the top in the 3rd minute signaled that Cristian hasn’t forgotten that connection, and it earned Seattle an early advantage. He nearly scored in the 71st minute on a header.
Foolish games: In the 93rd minute, Cristian’s goal-bound game-winner was parried by the keeper. The kind of ball that tends to deflect into the Sounders’ goal didn’t find its way into the net for a winning tally at the other end.
Snyder Brunell – 5 | Community – 5.2 (off 82’ for Minoungou)
Starting in place of Obed Vargas, who was with his national team, Snyder for the most part looked solid. His control in the middle played off Cristian well, and he was very clean with his passes. His 96 percent completion rate led the team.
Serious pursuits: An excellent 22nd minute turn in traffic forced Vancouver to foul, and it showed some exciting upside. That kind of confidence and control in tight spaces is a great skill for playing in the middle.
Foolish games: Unfortunately, this confidence manifested itself a bit too much. When Brunell lost possession centrally in the 52nd minute, Vancouver opened the scoring four touches later.
Attacking Midfield
Paul Rothrock – 5 | Community – 6.0
With 80 percent passing and only 35 touches, Paul wasn’t a huge factor in the match. A single shot was fairly easily saved, and much of his play was relentless running. He lacked some crucial connectivity and seemed slow to link with Morris, often occupying the same space.
Serious pursuits: Paul had an up-and-down match, but with some excellent highs. A redirected header in the 30th minute was the best chance of the first half, and a beautiful run and pass in the 56th minute found Jesús Ferreira in the box, who set up Albert Rusnák.
Foolish games: An unnecessary 40th minute yellow card forced Rothrock to play less physically, leading to dribbling out of bounds moments later to avoid fighting through the ball while on a yellow.
Albert Rusnák – 7 (MOTM) | Community – 7.0 (MOTM)
Albert did his thing in the middle, connecting with players and finding gaps to exploit what the defense provided. With four key passes including an assist, he was the clear creator, and his intelligent follow-up movement earned him his 11th goal.
Serious pursuits: All the biggest plays revolved around Rusnák. First he found Rothrock’s head in the 30th minute for the best chance of the first half. Then he dialed up Ragen for an assist on a set piece. Moments later he followed up the play and finished a loose ball to give Seattle a lead.
Foolish games: Although he had the corner assist, his service from dead balls was erratic, with multiple opportunities in the 50th minute being horrible.
Jesús Ferreira – 6 | Community – 6.1 (off 82’ for De Rosario)
Jesús instantly showed his chemistry in the position and looked poised for a strong match that got somewhat derailed when the subs happened behind him. He still had a good match finding spots to be impactful, but his 67 percent passing showed a struggle to connect ideas to execution.
Serious pursuits: Jesús nearly combined with Morris twice early, with vertical looks in the 8th and 28th putting Jordan into space, showing a great understanding of his teammate’s movement. A lovely touch in the 56th minute to get around a defender in the box and then redirect the ball across gave Seattle a lead.
Foolish games: He did the little things right, but in 82 minutes on the field he only had 33 touches, struggling to find the ball in spaces where he could act as a secondary playmaker.
Striker
Jordan Morris – 5 | Community – 5.1 (off 46’ for Musovski)
Morris earned a start for the first time in a while, and he looked eager to show off his size and pace, immediately attacking Vancouver and pressing. His angles were good but not always in sync with teammates, and he was subbed at halftime after only 13 touches and a dismal 25 percent passing clip, unable to find the spaces teammates were moving to, and vice versa.
Serious pursuits: Immediately impactful, Morris forced a 3rd minute obstruction call. He was in behind to get on the end of a Cristian Roldan pass, and the defender earned a yellow stopping him.
Foolish games: In his half of play, Morris made important connections and runs, but he wasn’t on the same page as many teammates, like when Rothrock took a 30th minute cross off his head for a shot attempt.
Substitutes
Kalani Kossa-Rienzi – 5 | Community – 5.2 (on 11’ for A. Roldan)
Forced into an early arrival, it took a while for Kalani to settle in before his defense started to shine. His 71 percent passing was just okay, and he didn’t often directly attack the goal, but he made up for it with consistent support on the ball (46 touches) and a willingness to do the defensive work necessary to deny Vancouver many of their attempts the other way.
Serious pursuits: In the 66th minute, KKR had some of the best 1-v-1 defense of the evening, showing great feet and physicality to win the ball and deny a big chance for the Whitecaps.
Foolish games: Kalani struggled defensively, with Vancouver picking on his side after his arrival. After being badly beaten in the 21st and 44st, he adjusted well. A big chance in the 89th minute went wanting.
Kim Kee-hee – 6 | Community – 5.6 (on 18’ for Yeimar)
Another person forced on quickly, Kim Kee-hee entered in the first twenty minutes and immediately meshed well with the players around him. His short passing was excellent in this match, but his 77 percent completion rate was marred by a number of longer pass attempts that went awry. He had multiple crucial aerial challenges for Seattle.
Serious pursuits: Nice ball control in the 59th minute won a throw-in for Seattle. In the 89th minute, with Vancouver springing a 3-v-1, it was the singular Kim who denied them all with great defense.
Foolish games: A number of misaligned clearances put Seattle under pressure, but the biggest issue was connection with Ragen. When Vancouver got in quick transition (such as their first goal), they were able to exploit the disconnection between these two.
Danny Musovski – 5 | Community – 5.4 (on 46’ for Morris)
The Moose arrived at halftime and wasn’t very loose. Although he went 11/14 passing, his zero shots and zero key passes showed his lack of impact. Usually a quality poacher, Musovski didn’t find the moments to impact the match.
Serious pursuits: A lot of what Musovski did was off the ball, being an option that wasn’t used a lot. An example was on the second Sounders goal, where his near-post run occupied two players and the goalie, leaving the backside open for Rusnák’s finish.
Foolish games: Danny played one half of a match and didn’t make many notable plays. He seemed to be forcing things and couldn’t take advantage of the twin towers combination late in the game.
Georgi Minoungou – 5 | Community – 5.8 (on 82’ for Brunell)
Minoungou arrived after the 80th minute and the Seattle game plan seemed simple: find Georgi and get out of the way. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make magic in his short time on the field, with only eight touches.
Serious pursuits: It was a shame that his goal-bound shot in a scramble in the 93rd minute was saved off the line. This was a big chance from a great spot.
Foolish games: With no successful dribbles or chances, this match was a struggle for Georgi who is usually so good at taking opponents on 1-v-1.
Osaze De Rosario – 5 | Community – 4.9 (on 82’ for Ferreira)
ODR joined the match to give Seattle another big body to bang around and get on the end of service from set pieces or the width. Unfortunately, the Sounders failed to create any of those opportunities.
Serious pursuits: This was a chance for Seattle to play two forwards, trying for connection off each other and set piece aerial dominance. That can have a positive impact in the playoffs when defensive battles occur more frequently.
Foolish games: With only two touches and one of two passes completed, Osaze was a non-factor in this one.
Referee
Malik Badawi – 3 | Community – 3.0
This referee started out great and then went steadily downhill, and the game turned contentious as a result. He called 17 fouls on Vancouver and 10 on Seattle, showing which team was more physical. The two yellow cards to Seattle were warranted, but only a single yellow, coming in the first five minutes, to Vancouver was a disappointment.
Serious pursuits: The early obstruction call and subsequent yellow to Mathías Laborda was a great call that was nearly DOGSO.
Foolish games: The killer call in this match was one that didn’t get called. Twice. Laborda made two yellow card worthy fouls, the kind you don’t think twice about because they are always yellows. Neither was given as a yellow, however, likely due to that aforementioned card he received in the 3rd minute. This was a failure to officiate the game on the field; instead, the state of the match and a desire to keep the teams at full strength impacted Badawi’s decision making, and Seattle was unduly punished.
Vancouver Whitecaps MOTM
Fairly even splits means these Whitecaps were equally good, or at least equally frustrating to face. Yohei Takaoka finished with three saves, including the aforementioned goal-bound would-be winner in the 93rd minute. Elsewhere, Brian White subbed on and scored, Müller assisted, Berhalter assisted, and Labroda stayed on the field. That’s good team effort on the way to a road draw!
Upcoming: With the Cascadia Cup lost, Seattle plays for pride against their biggest rival this weekend.
