VANCOUVER, B.C. — Paul Arriola’s career has taken quite a few unexpected twists and turns, but it’s starting to look like it is back on track.
Following what felt like the start of his redemptive arc with the Seattle Sounders — scoring two goals in his first six appearances — Arriola had been slammed back to earth when he suffered the second ACL tear of his career. Instead of reviving a career that had started to sputter during his two previous seasons with FC Dallas, Arriola was forced to spend most of the next year just recovering.
Perhaps not front of mind at the time, his injury also came in what felt like a humbling loss to Cruz Azul in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. A season that started with so much promise for both Arriola and the Sounders suddenly felt listless.
The Sounders, of course, eventually found their footing enough to win their first trophy in three years, getting a measure of revenge on Cruz Azul along the way to the Leagues Cup title.
Arriola’s story needed a little longer to develop. His next start came exactly one year and one day after that ACL injury, coincidentally in CCC Round of 16 play and also against one of the top teams in North America.
It’s hard to imagine it going any better.
Arriola scored two goals to power the Sounders to a commanding 3-0 road win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday, setting them up nicely for next week’s return leg that will be played in Spokane.
“Coach said he just wants me to make plays,” Arriola said after the match. “Offensively, defensively that’s all I try to do.
“It’s not always going to be pretty, not always going to be the beautiful goal that you remember. It’s the ones like these that mean the most; that kind of sum up my career, pushing hard, being in the right spot at the right time.”
The match did not start quite as ceremoniously for Arriola, but there were hints of what was to come. In the 14th minute, Jesús Ferreira made a hard run down the right sideline and spotted Arriola making a mirroring run toward goal. Ferreira’s pass was a little light, but Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon slipped, allowing Arriola an open look from about eight yards out. Arriola’s first touch wasn’t particularly good, though, and Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka was able to come off his line and make the save.
Just before halftime, Arriola got another golden chance. This time, Ferreira jumped on a poor backpass from a Whitecaps defender, drove toward goal to draw out Takaoka and cut it back to Arriola, who first-timed it from about 12 yards into an empty net.
“I didn’t even think he had seen me,” said Arriola, who has now connected with Ferreira for 18 goals across nearly 6,000 minutes for club and country. “I was thinking he was going to shoot, but I was there just in case and if it came, I was ready.”
Arriola’s second goal was born of almost pure grit. On what started off a seemingly innocuous free kick from their own end, Osaze De Rosario played Kalani Kossa-Rienzi into space on the right wing. From the opposite wing, Arriola drove straight at goal to make himself available. Kossa-Rienzi didn’t have a great shooting angle, so he elected to just put the ball into a spot that would force the defense to react. Although Whitecaps defender Édier Ocampo got there first, his touch deflected first off Takaoka and then off Arriola and into the net.
“It bounces three different ways and ends up off my knee as I’m trying to jump out of the way,” Arriola said. “But they all count the same.”
Given what he’s gone through over the past few years, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Arriola was one the last players cut ahead of the 2022 World Cup and was a key player during the United States’ qualifying campaign. He finished that season with 10 goals and five assists for Dallas, while further establishing himself as one of the top two-way wingers in MLS.
Over the next two seasons, he had just seven goals and six assists combined and no longer figured into Dallas’ plans. His arrival in Seattle was supposed to be his chance at starting over. It may have come, but not how he expected.
In the process of rehabilitating, Arriola also started to do work with the American Cancer Society, which seems to have helped him put his own frustrations into perspective. This year, he’s wearing a shirt under his jersey that reads “FxxK cancer” and will eventually be filled with names on behalf of loved ones who have donated to his cause. After scoring his first goal, Arriola lifted his jersey to show it off.
“It’s a way to use my platform for something greater,” he said. “Sports are a small piece of what life really is and what people do and what they’re fighting every day. I just want to help raise awareness and remind people that they’re wanted, that they’re not alone and that cancer doesn’t discriminate.”
Throughout all of this, Arriola has remained engaged with his teammates, participating in team activities and being a regular presence at training.
The effort has been noticed.
“He’s been extremely dedicated to his rehab and still very dedicated to the team,” Sounders midfielder Paul Rothrock said. “For me personally, there’s been a number of moments before games, when he hasn’t been in the picture, and he’s coming up and saying something encouraging and nice to me before the game.
“You remember those moments.”
Safe to say, Arriola will remember this one, too.
