MONTREAL -- Will Bruin delivered a timely goal for the Seattle Sounders to help them shake off the perception they might be suffering an MLS Cup hangover to start the season.
Bruin, who was acquired by Seattle from Houston in a Dec. 23 trade, scored in the 94th minute to give the Sounders a 2-2 draw against the Montreal Impact at Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
It was the second straight game Bruin came on as a late substitute; a week earlier he made his Sounders debut in a 2-1 loss against his former team in Houston.
"I was surprisingly tired from about eight minutes but it's all worth it when you get the goal," Bruin said. "You know, I'm just going to call it goal of the week now."
Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said Bruin did what he was brought in to do.
"He needed to chase the game, cause disturbances, win headers, win duels; he did all of that, and right place, right time," Schmetzer said. "That seems to be the storyline of his career. He seems to just bang goals in at key moments."
Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan drew praise from Schmetzer for his work in setting up the tying goal.
"That kid put his heart and soul into this game and he is a tremendous competitor, tremendous battler, and also smart," Schmetzer said. "He's got the smarts and that's why we love that kid, never stopped, never quit, and was responsible for us getting in behind so that we could get the scramble and get the goal."
Schmetzer also praised the play of Oniel Fisher, who made his Seattle debut when he came on in the 58th minute, seven minutes after Montreal took a 2-0 lead.
"The game was what we wanted to play, but we don't want to have to fight and bite and scratch and claw and have to wait until 30 seconds from the end of the match to score two goals. We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot."
Having salvaged a point in Montreal rather than having to return home with nothing to show for their first two games on the road, Roldan shook off the suggestion that the Sounders are struggling to get their season going after winning the championship.
"I don't think so," Roldan said. "Despite being down 2-0, I thought we played extremely well. I thought we took it to them in the second half, especially the last 30 minutes of the game. I think we had enough rest. For me, maybe being a little bit sluggish in the first half in our first two games, not being the sharpest, being on the road and being in different environments doesn't help. So we just have to look forward to being at home and sharpening those few mistakes that we caused."
