FRISCO, Texas—The Seattle Sounders went from having their postseason ticket punched to not knowing whether or not they’ll be playing in two weeks in a 10-minute span Sunday night.
Seattle conceded two late goals, in the 79th and 89th minutes, to squander a 1-0 lead and fall 2-1 to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium, all while watching Portland hold off Colorado to keep things tight in the West.
Yet even as circumstances lent themselves toward a somber demeanor, the Sounders chose a different tune.
“We’re a tough team,” said head coach Brian Schmetzer. “I’m not concerned about the team ducking their heads, dropping their shoulders, because it didn’t happen after the Portland match we lost. It’s not going to happen after this match.”
Seattle managed to do something few teams have done in Frisco this season – hold a lead for a large duration of the game.
But even after Nicolas Lodeiro caught Chris Seitz cheating toward the far post on a free kick and drilled it past him in the first half, the Sounders, Schmetzer noted, made a costly mistake he warned about throughout the week.
“I told my team we can’t give up any unnecessary free kicks in and around the 18-yard box, because [Mauro] Diaz puts in a really good ball, and they’ve got some big guys in there,” he said. “On that first there, credit to them, credit to the goal. It was a tough goal for Stefan [Frei] to handle.”
While the first goal might have taken a fortunate bounce for the hosts, the Sounders couldn’t manage to leave with even a point, allowing the go-ahead goal late to longtime MLS-veteran Carlos Ruiz.
And even though his team struck first and held the lead for much of the match, Schmetzer said there could have been plenty more, including one called back after Roman Torres ran into Seitz.
“I think we needed to keep a little more possession at times,” Schmetzer said. “Jordy [Forward Jordan Morris] got through once, but the wind kind of took the ball to the goalkeeper, where on a normal day that might have sat up for him. Overall, a couple of key moments we could have done better in.”
After seeing a playoff berth slip away, with Seattle left to fight for their playoff lives on Decision Day, Schmetzer kept returning to the word “determined,” saying they won’t simply throw in the towel.
Now, it’ll take either a win or help from San Jose and Vancouver to make sure the Sounders are playing for MLS Cup.
“The players believe,” Schmetzer said. “So we’re just going to watch the film, see what went wrong in key moments, and make sure we’re ready for RSL.”
