RENTON — Of all the questions surrounding the Seattle Sounders after they lost a shootout to Minnesota United in Game 1 of their best-of-3 playoff series, the biggest seems to have been the decision to leave Stefan Frei in goal.
That may seem a bit counter-intuitive, admittedly. While Frei didn’t make any saves, Minnesota United still went 3-for-4 and left an opening for the Sounders to get through. But Alex Roldan had his down-the-middle attempt saved, while Cristian Roldan and Danny Leyva each hit the woodwork. No team that goes 2-for-5 in a shootout expects to win.
But that hasn’t stopped many from calling for Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer to sub in Andrew Thomas if the situation arises again.
The calls aren’t without reason. Thomas is 7-1 in shootouts over his professional career, including a win earlier this year in the shootout against Club Puebla that put the Sounders into the Leagues Cup semifinals. Opposing shooters have converted less than 65% of their attempts against Thomas. Frei is now 3-5 in shootouts over his career, with opposing shooters converting about 85% of the time.
Schmetzer didn’t exactly close the door on making a change, but insisted he remains confident in Frei to get the job done.
“It’s a choice not just in the penalty shootout, it’s the entire game,” noting that Frei won the 2016 MLS Cup in a shootout and led the Sounders to two shootout wins in last year’s playoffs. “That’s the messaging.
“The next penalty kick situation, I’ll let you know. But as of right now, Stef is starting and he’s very good at his job.”
Given that Frei remains the starter, Schmetzer is skeptical bringing a player off the bench would improve the Sounders’ chances.
“There’s no guarantee that Andrew can come into the game where he’s not fully warmed up,” Schmetzer said. “He’s going to do everything in that situation to help the team win, for sure. I have no question that Andrew can come in and do the best that he can. But sometimes a goalkeeper that’s been involved in the entire game, that’s maybe a better choice.”
Two strikers?
Although it didn’t actually result in any goals, the Sounders’ two most dangerous chances came during the 20-odd minutes with Danny Musovski at striker and Jordan Morris at right wing. That did not go unnoticed by the coaching staff — and Schmetzer did say “everything’s on the table” — but he mostly stuck to his belief that dramatic fixes aren’t necessary. Sometimes it was technical shortcomings, others it was small positional adjustments.
Schmetzer pointed to two good chances off set pieces, one that saw Yeimar Gomez Andrade hit an open header high and another in which Cristian Roldan’s header was cleared off the line. He highlighted a good interchange at the top of the box that resulted in an open look for Paul Rothrock, who couldn’t keep his shot on frame. Another good interchange opened up for Cristian Roldan to hit a strong left-footed shot that was well saved.
“I thought we created enough chances,” he said. “I think we got a lot of the tactics right. It was just various things on different plays in the match.”
Ryan Kent available
After Schmetzer said that Ryan Kent would play some role in Game 1, it was somewhat surprising that the midfielder didn’t even make the gameday roster. Schmetzer said it was a last-minute decision after Kent reported some slight discomfort when sprinting at top speed and that the team opted to be cautious.
But Kent was back in full training on Thursday and is on pace to be available for Game 2.
“Since it’s a three-game set, I thought let’s make sure he’s fully confident, give him another full week of training,” Schmetzer said. “He’ll be in the squad.”
