As Albert Rusnák stood over a free kick from about 25 yards out, he felt a different level of nerves. The MLS veteran has taken countless free kicks during his career, but this may have been the first time he felt like not putting the ball in the net would be a failure.
That’s because the man in goal was Sean Zawadzki, who had started the game at centerback and had strapped on the goalkeeper gloves in live action for the first time in his career only a few moments earlier.
Given that the Columbus Crew were the league’s best defense, had only given up nine goals in their previous 12 league home games and had only lost two of their previous 38 matches across all competitions at Lower.com Field, Rusnák was also quite aware that this might be the Sounders’ best chance to take the lead.
“You have to score,” Rusnák said in the postgame press conference. “It wasn’t fair on him [Zawadzki] to go in goal. But it was the only solution they had. The thought process was get some pace on ball and aim toward post.”
That’s exactly what Rusnák did.
Whether a more experienced goalkeeper would have set up the wall any better is hard to say for sure, but Rusnák was able to whip his shot around it and just inside the far post to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead just before halftime.
After mostly conceding possession to the Crew in the first half, the Sounders exerted considerably more control in the second when they had a man advantage. But they didn’t feel any real sense of relief until Jordan Morris put away Paul Rothrock’s cross in the 60th minute.
Rusnák would then add two more goals to complete his first MLS hat trick and the rout.
Even before the Crew were forced to play 45 minutes with a field player in goal, they were short-handed. The main reason Zawadzki was pressed into action was the Crew’s top two goalkeepers were on international duty, along with four other teammates. Another potential outfield starter, Malte Almundsen, was suspended for yellow-card accumulation.
But the Sounders weren’t exactly full-strength either, as they were missing four likely starters of their own to injury or international duty.
Asked if he felt the nature of the opposition took anything away from the achievement, Morris began shaking his head before the question was even finished.
“When it was 11v11 we were playing well,” Morris said. “We were both missing guys. They are really well coached with a lot of quality. We had the better chances, I had a big chance I missed. We can take a lot away from that, we earned the red card and managed the game well from there. We came out with the right mentality and intensity. We had a really good game and can take confidence from that after a tough loss. It was massive to get three points.”
To Morris’ point, the Sounders had arguably been the more dangerous team even before Abraham Romero’s red card. Although it took the Sounders more than 30 minutes to get their first shot, that first shot was a wide open look by Morris that he put just wide. Rothrock had a quality look of his own a few minutes later. The play that drew the red card also seemed to be part of the game plan as the Sounders kept testing the Crew backline with through balls and balls over the top. Clearly, they saw opportunity in transition.
Even after the card, nothing was guaranteed. Plenty of teams are able to see out a game playing down a man and while Zawadzki clearly isn’t a goalkeeper, he’s a very capable defender. All four of the Sounders’ goals were well taken and might not have been stopped even if a more experienced player were between the pipes, including Rusnák’s strike.
“You play who’s in front of you,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “If the scoreline was 6,7, 8, that’s a scoreline. We weren’t trying to be bad sports. We were playing to win. There was an incident that affected the outcome. Our players were very professional, did their jobs, kept a clean sheet and took hold of game in the second half.”
Coming when it did, the win felt even more cathartic. The Sounders had just lost emotional matches to LAFC and the Portland Timbers and it felt like the season may be teetering on the precipice. Now, the Sounders’ path to the playoffs seems far more manageable.
As things sit today, the Sounders are fifth in the Western Conference with four of their remaining six games at home, where they’ve not lost to anyone other than LAFC over the past five months. There’s an entirely realistic path to 55 points without even getting a road result.
This match might not quiet the doubters, who have rightly pointed out that the Sounders have not beaten many top teams. But if this is the result that propels them to a strong finish, no one seemed inclined to downplay its significance.
“That locker room is extremely happy,” Schmetzer said. “They are extremely together. That’s a happy group. Whether there’s good results, that team is committed to one another.
“A lot of things came out of tonight, I’m sure a lot of people expected this game to be a loss. For us to persevere and do our job is massive. It’s massive.”
