The Sounders have secured their spot in the Western Conference Semifinals by eliminating FC Dallas, a familiar playoff foe, in the three-game series. The winning moment came in the 36th minute with a goal from Albert Rusnák, who found the opportunity via a clean through-ball by João Paulo. People watching on Apple TV also had issues seeing the goal unfold due to a visible blunder in the game’s broadcast, showing a previous play’s replay for too long.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer sent an identical starting lineup for the first two games to finish the series with a victory. Dallas came into this fixture missing their top striker, Jesús Ferreira, due to injury, and therefore shuffled their lineup to start Jader Obrian, who also scored in the previous game, in Ferreria’s stead.
Seattle set the tone of the evening by putting Dallas under constant pressure within the first 15 minutes. Finding some promising opportunities shortly after kickoff, this was a complete contrast to the opening fifteen minutes of the game prior. Moving into the bulk of the first half, momentum began to even out between both sides as Dallas were able to establish stability through minor spells of possession. Out of the entire first half, the Sounders kept 64% of possession.
After the Sounders took the lead before halftime, the second half turned into a game of high intensity. Though the Sounders also kept the majority of momentum in their favor, registering 8 shots in the second half (16 overall) on the Dallas goal.
A potential denial of a goal-scoring opportunity surfaced at the 62nd minute, where, from a lofted through-ball, Cristian Roldan seemed to be in on goal. As Roldan was entering Dallas’ final third, he appeared to be pushed by the last defender, Nkosi Tafari. Referee Fotis Bazakos signaled Roldan to get back up, and the play went unreviewed by VAR.
Defense was Seattle’s greatest asset of the game, where Dallas got nailed with an overall 0.02 expected goal statistic. Dallas were eventually able to find their first shot of the evening in the final ten minutes, though it was not a troubling task for Frei to handle. The closing minutes involved Dallas trying to find a last-gasp equalizer, sending their goalkeeper, Matthew Paes, into the box during a freekick. Though the attempts at bringing the game to a penalty shootout were extinguished at the referee’s final whistle, the Sounders officially advanced to the Western Conference Final.
Brian Schmetzer congratulated the FC Dallas team and Head Coach Nico Estevez for a respectable 2023 season and for always fighting to keep the Round One series competitive. Schmetzer left a comment about clean sheets, saying “To me, it’s a clean sheet, and if you keep clean sheets, you’re gonna go pretty far”.
Schmetzer distinguished a number of tactical tweaks made in the game-three victory compared to the loss in Dallas. Josh Atencio, the center-defensive midfielder, was seen positioned higher up the pitch in game three, an area that Schmetzer did not seem to appreciate following the game in Dallas. Schmetzer pointed out the difference in positional mindset Atencio showed in game three: “We kept Josh and JP a little more narrow, Josh a little bit more disciplined to try and squeeze their forwards again”.
After the game, Albert Rusnák was proud of the amount of momentum the team was carrying but felt like the team deserved to get more than a one-goal victory: “I felt like we created a lot of chances, and ideally we wanted to score the second one to kind of calm it down. But, you know, it’s hard work today, and a lot of grit at the end, and defending to kind of push through and go to the next round"
The Sounders will face third-seed LAFC in the Western Conference Semifinals as a single-elimination home match on Sunday, November 26. Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m. PT. The winner of this fixture will face either Houston or Sporting Kansas City in the Western Conference Final, where that match will be played earlier, at 4:00 p.m. PT, on the same day. Hosting rights will go to either Seattle or LAFC, regardless of who advances from the other game. Every MLS Playoff Conference Semifinal team will have about two weeks to prepare for their respective fixtures, and the reason for this schedule gap is due to an international break. Two Sounders were recently called up for international duty, Josh Atencio and Nouhou, respectively, for the US Men’s Olympic Team friendlies and Cameroon’s FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
All Photos by Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
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