Crushing the Canucks: Win puts Sounders in third

The Seattle Sounders took the drive up to British Columbia for a midweek Cascadia Cup clash with the Vancouver Whitecaps. They’ll be declaring three points, three goals, and another clean sheet at customs on their way back home, following their 3-0 win at B.C. Place on Wednesday. The win was secured thanks to a penalty won by Paul Rothrock and put away by Albert Rusnák bracketed by goals from Georgi Minoungou and Rothrock. Combined with other results, the Sounders moved into third place in the Western Conference.

Seattle were on top of Vancouver from the jump, getting the first shot of the game from Georgi Minoungou in the 6th minute in something of a harbinger of things to come. Minoungou’s shot was overhit, but came off of some excellent interplay down the left between Nouhou and Paul Rothrock. Obed Vargas got in on the fun in the 12th minute, hitting a shot from just outside the area following a short corner routine, but his effort went wide.

Then in the 14th minute Minoungou opened his MLS account and put Seattle on the board. Albert Rusnák sent in a fantastic corner that found the head of Jordan Morris in the middle of the area, and Morris sent the ball to the back post where Minoungou ran onto it and made sure he ushered the ball across the goal line. From there the Sounders continued to give the ball to Minoungou isolated against a defender on Seattle’s right. They created a number of chances as they dominated possession throughout the half, but couldn’t find their second goal.

Vancouver had chances of their own, most notably forcing a big save from Stefan Frei in the 19th minute. A shot from Sebastian Berhalter was deflected by Nouhou and Frei dove to his right and got a palm to the ball in order to keep the ball from finding the side netting at the back post. Sam Adekugbe had a good look a few minutes later when he had a header at the back post in the 25th minute, but he put his header into the turf and the bounce took the ball up and over the bar.

The Sounders kept the pressure on in the second half, keeping the Whitecaps under a near-constant threat to open the half. Vancouver nearly leveled the score in the 58th minute after a strange choice by Frei to apparently attempt to shepherd a ball out of bounds rather than pick the ball up or clear it and the ball was played back towards the penalty spot. Pedro Vite got a shot off that looked destined for goal, but Nouhou cleared the ball off the goal line and out for a corner.

Paul Rothrock drew a penalty for the Sounders in the 64th minute after a pass from Minoungou and fighting through a challenge, for which he got clobbered by two defenders inside the area. Albert Rusnák stepped up to the spot and smashed his shot into the bottom corner just beyond the reach of Vancouver’s goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka to make it 2-0 in the 65th. Rothrock got himself on the scoresheet just two minutes later. Rusnák was once again provider, but the play started with a long ball from Stefan Frei up to Jordan Morris who jumped and flicked the ball on for Rusnák. Rusnák surveyed his options and with Minoungou making a run on his right he played a through ball to his left for Rothrock who took a few dribbles into the area and hit his shot into the side netting at the back post to truly put the game outside of reach.

Seattle kept looking to add to their lead and Vancouver continued trying to find a consolation goal, but the real excitement after Rothrock made it 3-0 came just before stoppage time when Fafa Picault was shown a second yellow card. The attacker was trying to help his side’s scrambling defense as he attempted to break up a Seattle attack, but he got nothing but Rusnák as the Sounder crossed the midfield line. The Whitecaps played the remainder of the game with 10 players as the Sounders climbed up to 3rd in the West and secured another shutout.

Seattle head back home before going back on the road this weekend for their game against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.

Key moments

6 - Shot! Georgi Minoungou has Seattle’s first effort on goal, getting the final touch on a pass from Nouhou after some good play down the left between Nouhou and Paul Rothrock. The shot comes under pressure though, and goes well over the bar.

12 - Shot! Obed Vargas takes a shot from the top of the box after the Sounders take a short corner. He keeps his attempt low, but it goes wide.

14 - GOAL! Minoungou is on the back post to put the Sounders in front! Albert Rusnák sends in a corner that Jordan Morris is able to get up and head down to the back post where Minoungou makes sure it finds the goal. 1-0 Sounders

19 - SAVE! Stefan Frei makes an incredible diving save, leaping to his right to palm away a deflected Sebastian Berhalter shot. The rebound falls to Fafa Picault, but his shot is blocked by Alex Roldan and touches off of Picault on the way out of bounds to give Seattle a goal kick.

25 - Shot. Vancouver have a great look after the Sounders have a few individual errors as they try to shut down or clear the Whitecaps attack, eventually leading to a chance for Sam Adekugbe at the back post but he puts his shot into the ground and it bounces over the goal.

35 - Chance! Rusnák plays a beautiful through ball for Paul Rothrock who sends in a low cross that Morris almost redirects in, but it’s clipped out for a corner.

40 - Cross! Rusnák plays a free kick out wide for Minoungou who beats a defender and sends in a cross that reaches Morris, but it’s just too high and skips off the top of his head.

51 - Cross! Rothrock has the ball at the elbow of the area after a short corner routine and he sends in a cross towards the back post that just goes over Minoungou’s head.

57 - Chance! Seattle get out on the run against a scrambling Whitecaps defense. Morris plays the ball for Minoungou who tries to return the favor, but his pass is just too far in front.

58 - CLEARANCE! Frei leaves his goal to try to shepherd a ball out of bounds but loses out and Vancouver get a shot that’s destined for goal but Nouhou clears it off the line.

64 - PENALTY! Rothrock dribbles into the area after a feed from Minoungou where he gets into a foul sandwich between Berhalter and Ranko Vesilinovic to earn Seattle a PK.

65 - GOAL! Rusnák steps up to the spot and although goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka dives the right way Rusnák’s shot beats him to the bottom corner to double the lead. 2-0

67 - GOAL! Paul Rothrock makes it three! Frei sends the ball up to Morris who flicks the ball on for Rusnák. Rusnák has Minoungou to his right and Rothrock to his left and opts to play it to his left. Rothrock drives into the box and fires his shot into the far side netting! 3-0

75 - Chance! Rothrock plays a lovely little through ball for Morris, but Takaoka comes sliding out to close him down and makes the save to keep the score at 3-0.

77 - Save! The Whitecaps play through Seattle’s defense to get the ball to Brian White in a dangerous spot, but Frei comes up big to preserve the clean sheet.

89 - Red card! Picault fouls Rusnák as Seattle’s no. 11 crosses the midfield line on a break and is shown his second yellow card of the night. Vancouver are forced to play down a man for the remainder of the match.

Quick thoughts

The Season of Albert: Albert Rusnák is on fire. His goal and two assists against the Whitecaps put him at 9 goals and 15 assists for the season, his highest goal contributions total for a season of his MLS career and passing his career high for assists of 14 which he set back in 2017. It’s not just the best season of his career, it’s one of the best seasons a Sounders player has ever had in MLS. Nico Lodeiro had 24 goal contributions in 2018. Only Clint Dempsey (15 goals, 10 assists) and Obafemi Martins (17 goals, 13 assists) in 2014 have had more prolific single MLS seasons in Seattle. And to think, some people questioned whether he was deserving of being a DP.

Keep the clean sheets coming: Stefan Frei added yet another clean sheet to his tally, his 10th of the season – which puts him one behind Hugo Lloris for the league lead – and the 115th of his career. He becomes just the second goalkeeper in MLS history with five seasons of at least 10 shutouts, joining Nick Rimando. This shutout pushed Seattle to the front of the pack in terms of goals allowed per game, or GA/90. They are level with the Columbus Crew for the total number of goals allowed at 34, but having played one more game their GA/90 is 1.06, while the Crew’s is 1.1. It might not end up meaning much when votes are cast for end of the year awards, but the Sounders defense is incredible and could very well prove to be the deciding factor when the playoffs get started.

Delicious depth: Both Paul Rothrock and Georgi Minoungou scored in this one, not only rewarding Brian Schmetzer’s trust but potentially going some way towards silencing some of their detractors and doubters. The goal for Minoungou was ungraceful, but it’s the kind of play we see players flub all the time, and it came as he was the focal point of a lot of Seattle’s attack. Rothrock scored a great goal, but also drew the penalty that Rusnák scored and was just generally a throw in Vancouver’s side as he continues his breakout season. Seattle’s depth has pushed to the forefront and players who were fringe prospects in the Spring are now key contributors as the team rounds into form at the perfect time.

Quote of the Day

Player spotlight

Jordan Morris – Jordan Morris didn’t score, and other players will deservedly garner a bulk of the attention for this win, but he had two assists - a primary assist on the opener, and a secondary assist for his flick-on to Rusnák on Rothrock’s goal - in addition to a lot of the things you want to see from your 9 to help the team secure the win.