Saturday’s Conference Semifinals was nothing short of electric and exciting, where, similar to the 2019 Western Conference Final, the Sounders eliminated MLS Cup favorites LAFC in an even closer 2-1 victory, giving their supporters an arguably worse feeling than the 2019 result. The winning goal came in extra time, with Jordan Morris beating Hugo Lloris in his near post’s top corner. The Western Conference Final will feature the Sounders traveling back to Los Angeles to play the LA Galaxy, a classic playoff rivalry that’s seen a nine-year hiatus.
“I think every single player had a good game, which is gonna help push us forward. Everyone had the right mentality. The game plan that we came in with, I think really worked,” said Jordan Morris, the winning goal-scorer, after the match.
Set to travel back to Los Angeles, the Sounders will face the LA Galaxy on Saturday, November 30th, at 7 pm PT, where the victor of that match will host MLS Cup 2024. The LA Galaxy will be coming off a thunderous 6-2 Conference Semifinal victory against Minnesota United, and there will surely be some supporters who will go into this match with at least some sense of nervousness.
Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer asked his training staff “was this better than 2019?” while comparing and contrasting traits between the two games. Schmetzer thought “that was a little too far back” considering the struggle of playing against LAFC in the recent seasons. “My initial gut reaction is this is a little better than 2019, ‘cuz 2019, look we had a really good team and Nico [Lodeiro] was in prime and Raúl was in prime.”
Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
Stefan Frei put in a shift worthy of its own medal, where he not only kept his team in the game but also kept the Sounders level to eventually capture the victory. Schmetzer, after the game, praised Frei’s role in the club and the importance of his ability to keep Seattle in games.
“It’s really nice to see all my teammates get rewarded because, damn, we worked so hard today,” said Stefan Frei after the match, talking about LAFC’s threat to goal: “We extinguished so many chances, and they’re lethal. They’re a lethal side, they have so many weapons up there, so yeah, I’m immensely proud of my teammates.”
Frei, however, has never won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, and though Frei previously said he doesn’t care too much about personal awards, Schmetzer spoke about his disagreement to the league’s decision to not recognize his goalkeeper’s excellence: “I’m going to stump for Stefan Frei. I mean how that guy hasn’t won goalkeeper of the year is a travesty. I’m going to say it, it’s a travesty and it’s a mistake, and if people don’t want to get on the bandwagon, that’s your choice. That’s your choice, but my belief, my opinion is that guy’s the best shot-stopper in the league, bar none.”
Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
The Sounders traveled to LAFC as underdogs with the results in the previous two seasons in mind. Seattle were not only the lower seed but had also lost every game against LAFC in all competitions in 2024. In fact, the Sounders had not prevailed over the Black and Gold since May 16, 2021, in a 2-0 victory. However, the stage was initially set with a similar sense to the 2019 Western Conference Final, where, of course, the Sounders pulled that famous upset under a similar head-to-head story.
Coach Schmetzer acknowledged the weight of the road playoff matchup earlier in the week, saying after a training that his squad must “play free” and use the electric form to “go down there and play how we want to play.”
Brian Schmetzer sent out a relatively strong lineup, entailing some key changes due to Rothrock and Nouhou’s unavailability. Rothrock, dealing with quad issues, was replaced by Reed Baker-Whiting, who had recently played for the US U-20 national team during the international break. Nouhou’s unavailability was due to an illness he picked up during international duty with Cameroon, and he had not yet returned to join the squad, which was replaced by Jonathan Bell.
Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
Before halftime, the Sounders had a massive opportunity off a free kick that was sent into the LAFC box. With numerous Sounders and LAFC players mixed into a player salad in the six-yard box, a shot from Bell almost crept across the LAFC goal line, but the ball was cleared as it approached the line by Maxime Chanot. Question marks for VAR to step in were made when Morris was pushed during the play, which resulted in him colliding with Lloris, though the game was only stopped for treatment. The score remained scoreless after the first half.
LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead opened the scoring five minutes into the second half, finding goal with a one-touch shot off a low cross, with Frei unable to reach his bottom-right corner in time. Yeimar arrived at Hollingshead's position quickly as he took the shot, putting on tremendous pressure and making the goal even more difficult to score. The Sounders, at this point, were now under massive pressure to find an answer to keep the season alive.
Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
A shocking own goal gave Seattle life at the 59th minute, following an Obed Vargas cross and into an unbelievable one-touch finish by LAFC defender Maxime Chanot past his own goalkeeper’s near post. Blissful confusion struck every Sounders supporter given how uncommon such a gift occurs at the top level and having an equalizing goal handed on a gold platter. The Sounders scored only once against LAFC in the 2024 regular season.
The closing minutes of the second half, still 1-1 at that point, were nothing short of electric.
As LAFC were in an interval of constantly attacking the Seattle goal, Frei pulled a championship-worthy save off a close-range header from Hollingshead , denying the goal-scorer a second. A goal against Seattle in stoppage time would have been lethal, but Frei defied the odds once again to keep the Sounders alive.
Extra time followed after this opportunity, and any questions for Seattle revolved around whether or not the team could survive an extra thirty minutes. Frei then came through for Seattle yet again by pulling off another crucial save, that time being deflected off Nathan and catching Frei to quickly shift against the momentum to make a save with his legs.
Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
After staying above water from LAFC’s constant push for a winner in the first half of extra time, Brian Schmetzer sent on the calvary where João Paulo and Raúl Ruidíaz replaced Albert Rusnak and Alex Roldan as the second half began. The winning goal followed minutes later with Jordan Morris with top-corner placement as he beat Lloris at his near post, securing the victory and ticket to the Conference Final.
Ten more minutes of a high workload shift came for the Sounders defense after Jordan Morris’ goal, and as Referee Guido Gonzales Jr. blew the final whistle, LA turned Rave Green for the night as the team came together to celebrate what was an incredibly difficult result to attain.
“Very disciplined. That’s the word I would use [to describe the team]. Everybody did their part, and I think that was key to winning the game,” said Brian Schmetzer, describing the team’s grit and performance that enabled the victory.
The Sounders will travel back to Seattle for one more week of training before heading back down to Los Angeles to face a dangerous Galaxy offense. Though the Sounders are the statistically best defensive team in the league, and the performance against LAFC reaffirmed anyone in doubt, the team will still be seen as the underdogs by the majority.
Cover Photo: Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
