RENTON – Somewhat quietly, the Seattle Sounders set a couple of notable team records in their 4-1 win over St. Louis City on Saturday.
One of those records officially went in the books when Eduard Löwen scored in the 90+2′ minute. That goal ended what had been a 495-minute shutout streak in regular-season play that stretched back to the RSL match on Feb. 28. The Sounders’ previous record had stood since 2017, when the Sounders went 420 minutes of regular-season play without allowing a goal. (Notably, later that year they didn’t allow a goal in 627 consecutive minutes, which included 426 minutes in the playoffs.)
The other club record was actually set in the 3–1 win over UANL Tigres in Concacaf Champions Cup play and remains active. The win over St. Louis City extended the Sounders’ home unbeaten streak to 19 matches across all competitions (they are 14–0-5 in that time), which extends back to the PSG match in Club World Cup. The previous record of 17 was achieved twice in 2020–21 and 2017–18.
The Club World Cup represents a pretty significant turning point for the Sounders. Since those matches, the Sounders have gone 22-5-9 across all competitions. That equates to 2.08 points per game, which would be a 71-point pace during a 34-game season.
"We’ve got a good squad, we’ve got a good team," Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said when informed of the stats. "We’re just trying to keep guys healthy. Competition for playing time is going to continue to drive it. Last year was a similar message.
"The Club World Cup propelled us to a good second half of the year. This year, we’ve done really well out of the gate. Kudos to the players."
Next up is a team the Sounders have enjoyed quite a bit of success against, especially at home.
The Sounders will carry a 21-game unbeaten home unbeaten streak against FC Dallas into Saturday's meeting. That's the longest streak of any team against a single opponent in league history, including playoffs. The only time FC Dallas has won at Lumen Field was on May 25, 2011.
Dallas is off to a solid 3-1-4 start this year. Their 17 goals are tied for the third most in the Western Conference. Petar Musa is leading the Golden Boot race with nine goals, while Logan Farrington has four goals.
"They remind me of Tigres, not afraid to be direct, go for seconds," Schmetzer said.
Set-piece work
A significant chunk of Wednesday's training session was dedicated to corner kicks. Players were paired with a teammate and took turns attacking and defending, with one corner coming from each side before they switched assignments. Assistant coach Steven Lenhart would also act as a screener to mimic the kind of traffic defenders would normally deal with.
Schmetzer said the goal of the drill was more defensively focused. Although the Sounders have been better on set-piece defense this year, Schmetzer is still clearly frustrated that they gave up a pair of goals on corner kicks in the Tigres series.
Injury updates
Neither Paul Arriola nor Albert Rusnák participated in training on Wednesday. Schmetzer declined to specifically address the status of either player, but implied that one was more of a "pro" day while the other was part of a designed rehabilitation program.
On the positive side, centerbacks Kim Kee-hee and Ryan Sailor were both full participants in training. Neither have played this year and may face uphill battles for playing time with the emergence of Antino Lopez and the success of Alex Roldan's move to centerback, paired with the impressive play of Kalani Kossa-Rienzi at right back. They also face competition from Stuart Hawkins, the young centerback who made his first gameday roster of the season on Saturday.
