Seattle has completely turned their season around. They can look back to a few inspirational matches in the US Open Cup that helped to invigorate the team. Early this week, the Sounders played a nearly full-strength lineup away against Sacramento Republic FC and came out with a hard fought 2-1 victory. After cruising in the first half, they conceded early in the second and had a number of nervy minutes before closing it out. Showing their now trademark 2024 resilience, however, the Sounders persevered, and while the final score was close, it could easily have been a larger scoreline in favor of the away team.
SSFC stock forecast: Holding.
(For these ratings I’ll focus on a number for each player, brief comments, and some player stock advice.*)
Goalkeeper
Andrew Thomas – 5
After a rough start that saw Thomas nearly concede off an early error, he righted the ship and was solid the rest of the match. His distribution remains a major barrier between him and MLS time.
ATOM stock forecast: Barely bearish.
Defense
Nouhou – 6
Nouhou was his usual strong defensive self, and he accentuated his evening with some excellent passes; the best one was opening up Reed Baker-Whiting in the first half en route to a goal. His combination with Reed on the left looks to be a potent defense/offense mix, and the two complemented each other well. A few poor decisions and some culpability on Sacramento’s goal kept this from being a higher score.
HOU stock forecast: Paying dividends.
Jon Bell – 5
Bell has become a veteran of the Open Cup, and he again turned in a performance that likely keeps him in mind for MLS minutes. He rarely puts a foot wrong, and while he can struggle with positioning in coordination with his back line, he consistently finds strong physical play and smooth connection.
JBL stock forecast: Invest for the long term.
Yeimar – 6
Yeimar did a little bit of everything. He had the second most xG in the match due to some stellar set-piece headers that hopefully means goals coming soon. Defensively, he did exactly what you would expect, combining with Bell to hold the middle strong for the entire match.
YGA stock forecast: Consistent returns.
Cristian Roldan – 7 (MOTM)
The amount that Cristian Roldan does from the right back position is getting ridiculous. He defends, he connects in transition, he overlaps the right, he supports overloads in the middle, he makes a difference. All of this combines well with his ability to transition into two or three other positions mid-game as personnel change around him.
CR7 stock forecast: SuperStonk.
Defensive Midfield
João Paulo– 6 (off 62’ for Alex Roldan)
JP started, maybe for the first time, in an Open Cup match. He was his usual dependable self, mixing it up centrally and combining forward. He completed the most passes on the team in only 62 minutes. A fulcrum for possession, he worked hard centrally to limit Sac to just 2 shots on target.
JPM stock forecast: Blue chip.
Josh Atencio – 7 (off 90’ for Musovski)
Remember Josh Atencio? He showed up in a big way, charging into the attack, finding the ball and smashing it home after only 16 minutes. His goal set the tone for the match, putting Seattle on the front foot and removing any upset potential from the start of the game. He saw out the rest of the match cleanly.
JSH stock forecast: Sleeper buy.
Attacking Midfield
Reed Baker-Whiting – 7 (off 81’ for Vargas)
Starting in front of Nouhou and again being a dynamic attacking force, Reed is taking his chance to show what he can do in an advanced attacking position and running with it. His dynamic passing created multiple chances and one incredible pass was an assist on the Morris goal.
RBW stock forecast: NSYNC’s biggest hit.
Albert Rusnák – 6 (off 89’ for Ragen)
Rusnák did a little bit of everything, with a key pass and a strong connection rate in the middle, but only a single shot from a lot of possession meant he wasn’t able to replicate his hot MLS form. His ironman endurance meant he was still going strong when he left moments from the end.
SNK stock forecast: Consistent returns.
Paul Rothrock – 5 (off 63’ for Ruidíaz)
A subdued outing from Rothrock was his second in a row without contributing a lot. He was fine (completed all his passes) but didn’t have a lot of impact, outside of some poor defending in combination with Nouhou which allowed the goal against. The left side was the dominant attacking side in this one.
RCK stock forecast: Short sell.
Forward
Jordan Morris – 7
Morris only had nine passes in 90 minutes, which is a frighteningly small usage rate, but once again he ignored that lack of personal possession and maximized the times he did touch the ball. Running into a tremendous RBW feed in the 31st minute, he doubled the lead and scored the game-winner on a calm run around the keeper and smooth left-footed finish into the open net. He is scoring in every way imaginable and doing it while not hogging the ball.
JMO stock forecast: High yield.
Substitutes
Alex Roldan – 5 (on 62‘ for JP)
Alex came in on the right, moving the formation around and pushing Morris in front of him and his brother Cristian inside. His energy and connection with others was solid, and while not as dynamic as the efforts of his brother, he’s been much improved recently.
ARD stock forecast: Rallying.
Raúl Ruidíaz – 5 (on 63‘ for Rothrock)
Raúl came on and, similar to his 2024 campaign on the whole, was feast or famine on the offensive end. A tremendous header forced a big save with a chance to ice the match. Multiple other shots with little chance of scoring were also forced.
RUI stock forecast: Limited options.
Obed Vargas – 5 (on 81’ for RBW)
Came in late to eat up minutes and space in the center. Completed his passes and helped see out the win.
OBV stock forecast: Going long.
Jackson Ragen – 5 (on 89’ for Rusnák)
Came in for more defense late. Didn't have to do much.
JXN stock forecast: Rising.
Danny Musovski – 5 (on 90’ for Atencio)
Came in for more defense late. Didn't have to do much.
MOOS stock forecast: Trending down.
Referee
Ted Unkel – 4
This started out as a fine refereeing job but as the game wore on, players got more tired and physical, and this referee got worse. No calls, physical play ignored, and a general “ref to the scoreboard” mentality saw this match degrade completely as the end neared. Not sure if Sacramento or Unkel were more disappointed they didn’t equalize.
UNK stock forecast: Hard sell.
This is the furthest Seattle has advanced in the US Open Cup in years, and now they have a chance to win it all. It's a big test, but LFG.
USOC stock forecast: Holding.
Meanwhile, in MLS play, tired legs this weekend likely means a lot of squad rotation.
MLS stock forecast: Volatile.
*Stock recommendations presented above are solely those of the analyst. They do not represent the opinions of Sounder at Heart on whether to buy, sell or hold shares of a particular stock.
All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into individual stocks before making a purchase decision. In addition, investors are advised that past stock performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation.
