SANDY, Utah – More than half of the Seattle Sounders' starters on Tuesday night hadn’t played 120 minutes all season, including man of the match goalkeeper Tyler Miller.
That didn't matter for Miller, who kept Real Salt Lake from finding a game-winner at home before making two diving saves in Seattle’s 4-1 shootout victory to advance to the US Open Cup quarterfinals.
Miller tallied eight saves in regulation and extra time and his two stops in the shootout were equally as important. His only previous action came in the Sounders’ other Open Cup game this year, against Kitsap Pumas.
“I mean I had to command the team in a hard fought game,” Miller said. “For 120 minutes we really put in the work and it comes down to PKs and it is kind of luck and doing your research.
“I had two saves and I can’t ask any more of the guys. They buried their PKs and we came away with the win.”
Not only did Miller make stops when he had to, he kept the Seattle backline organized and in front of the ball for 120 minutes.
“They had a team that was really concentrated on the defensive end,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said. “They worked extremely hard together, [Miller] made a number of very good saves and they got a result.”
Seattle used all 10 field players to defend consistently and it worked to keep any more goals off the board after giving up the lone tally on a penalty in the 42nd minute.
“There was a lot to deal with,” Miller said. “The heat, the altitude and I mean the whole game they really put in the work and shut down Salt Lake’s whole top line.”
Salt Lake took 30 shots in the game and only Joao Plata’s penalty kick went in. From being down a goal at half on the road to finding a goal and holding on for a shootout victory, Seattle put together a composed 120 minutes of soccer.
“The main thing is character can beat talent,” Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid said. “Talent and character can take you a long way, but if you only have talent with no character you aren’t going to go far.”
Furthermore, Seattle didn’t have its normal starting XI on display. Six of the 11 starters were draft picks in the past four years and a seventh was signed from the USL’s Sounders 2 prior to the game on a short-term deal.
The 120-minute performance continued into the shootout as Seattle didn’t miss in its four chances and Miller stopped two of RSL’s three attempts.
“This is a huge boost of confidence for the team and the fans too looking at this game,” Miller said. “I think that we’ll take this game and really run with it and it’ll show in MLS and the next round of the Open Cup.”
Seattle will hit the road to face the winner of LA and Portland in three weeks in the Open Cup quarterfinals.
