In the hours leading up to the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Sounders and FC Dallas, in a room filled with Seattle’s ownership group, interim coach Brian Schmetzer was asked a revealing question.
So, after you score the first goal — note the assumption baked into that premise — can you go out and get another?
Never mind the fact that the Sounders were the lower seed, or that it took a minor miracle to reach this stage of the season at all, or that their lengthy injury list includes not only Clint Dempsey and Andreas Ivanschitz but defender Roman Torres, a last-minute scratch with a hamstring injury.
Can you go out and get another?
Schmetzer, in keeping with the theme of his brief tenure, exceeded expectations and did them one better.
The Sounders scored three goals in a dizzying eight-minute stretch of the second half in Sunday night’s match, stunning top-seeded FC Dallas 3-0 in front of an astonished crowd of 37,073 at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle has one foot in the conference finals before next Sunday’s decisive leg in Frisco. FCD requires a 3-0 win next weekend just to force extra time. A single Sounders goal, and thanks to the away-goals tiebreaker, Dallas will have to net at least five to advance.
The Sounders are just the third team in league history to win the first leg of a playoff series by three goals — the others were accomplished against them, by Real Salt Lake in 2011 and Los Angeles a year later. Taken together, it all added up to the signature postseason performance of Seattle’s MLS history, all the more memorable because of how unlikely it seemed at the outset.
Significant lineup changes in the middle of a postseason are rare. Yet in the aftermath of Seattle’s unconvincing knockout-round win over Kansas City, his attacking options limited by injuries to Ivanschitz and Alvaro Fernandez, Schmetzer made the bold decision to shake up the status quo.
“It was about getting the best 11 players on the field, and trying to get them in spots where they can be effective,” Schmetzer said afterward in something close to the definition of easier said than done.
Nelson Valdez, scorer of the game’s only goal in that Sporting triumph, made his first start since August as the lone forward in Schmetzer’s amorphous 4-3-2-1 formation.
Jordan Morris was deployed on the wing, where he struggled mightily early in the season but where he thrived on Sunday night, able to stay involved in the game in a way he hadn’t in weeks. Osvaldo Alonso and Cristian Roldan were reunited as a defensive midfield partnership, with Erik Friberg pushing higher up the field than he usually does.
Valdez, who before Thursday night had gone 364 days between league goals, scored his second in four nights to break the deadlock just five minutes into the second half. His back-post header was set up by rampant left back Joevin Jones, who was credited with two assists and helped set up a third.
There were no shortage of Sounder standouts: But for the momentary scare of a cheap turnover early in the first half, 36-year-old Zach Scott deputized ably enough with Torres out with a tight hamstring. Alonso and Roldan, as has become the norm when they’re lined up beside each other, quietly dominated the midfield.
Lodeiro scored twice, the first of which was put on a platter by a strong run and pinpoint feed from Morris. By the time the Uruguayan added another to make it 3-0 in the 58th minute, CenturyLink felt more like a collective fever dream than a soccer match.
“We’ve been trying to make a point of that: When you score a goal, how do you respond?” Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei said. “Do we go into a defensive shell or do we stay on the trigger and keep on going? That worked out quite well for us today.”
Dallas certainly didn’t look like the top seed in the Western Conference on Sunday night, let alone one that has recently lifted both the U.S. Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield as regular-season MLS champions. It looked like a team still figuring out how to play in the absence of several key difference-makers in Mauro Diaz and Fabian Castillo.
Unless Dallas coach Oscar Pareja can manage to adjust on the fly in a similar fashion to what Schmetzer pulled off on Sunday night, the Sounders will be moving on.
