TORONTO, ONTARIO – Jordan Morris scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season with a second-half equalizer as Sounders FC (5-9-2, 17 points) drew 1-1 with Toronto FC (5-6-5, 20 points) Saturday evening at BMO Field. Moments after the Reds went up 1-0 via a strike from Jordan Hamilton, Morris equalized on a counterattack sprung by defender Joevin Jones, giving Seattle its second road result of the week across all competitions. The Rave Green return home for a pair of matches this week, beginning Tuesday with a friendly against English Premier League side West Ham United before taking on the LA Galaxy on Saturday in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN.
Toronto FC went up 1-0 in the 60th minute courtesy of a goal from Hamilton after Sebastian Giovinco got behind the Seattle defense for a one-on-one opportunity with goalkeeper Stefan Frei. After Frei thwarted Giovinco’s attempt, the ball fell to Hamilton for an easy conversion into the open net.
Morris responded moments later for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Jones sent a long pass from the midfield line into the 18-yard-box that found Morris, who was out-numbered three-to-one by the Toronto defense. The rookie turned inside and fired a bending right-footed shot that snuck its way inside the far post to even the match at one goal apiece.
Seattle applied heavy pressure inside Toronto’s area in the waning minutes of the match, including a dangerous cross from Morris that was cleared off the line, but the score-line remained deadlocked at 1-1 to give Seattle its second road draw of the 2016 MLS campaign.
Forward Clint Dempsey and defender Brad Evans were absent from Seattle’s matchday 18-man roster Saturday evening. Dempsey was given the weekend off by the technical staff following his Semifinal Round run with the U.S. National Team at the 2016 Copa America Centenario, while Evans remained in Seattle due to a calf strain suffered in last weekend’s match against New York City FC.
Sounders FC returns to action on Tuesday, July 5 with the club’s lone international friendly of the season against English Premier League club West Ham United (7:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM). Sigi Schmid’s side makes its return to MLS play on Saturday, July 9 in the first of three regular-season meetings with Western Conference rival LA Galaxy. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. PT, with a national broadcast on ESPN.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – Toronto FC 1
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Venue: BMO Field
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistants: Adam Wienckowski, Philippe Briere
Fourth Official: Mathieu Bourdeau
Attendance: 26,750
Weather: Mostly cloudy and 77 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
TOR – Jordan Hamilton 60’
SEA – Jordan Morris (Joevin Jones) 61’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR – Marco Delgado (caution) 44’
TOR – Steven Beitashour (caution) 90’+2’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Zach Scott – captain, Chad Marshall (Tony Alfaro 51’), Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Cristian Roldan, Erik Friberg; Aaron Kovar (Herculez Gomez 85’), Jordan Morris, Andreas Ivanschitz (Nelson Valdez 70’)
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Oniel Fisher, Nathan Sturgis, Oalex Anderson
Total shots: 12 (Friberg/Kovar, 2)
Shots on goal: 3 (3 players, 1)
Fouls: 10 (J. Jones, 3)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 8 (Friberg/Gomez, 3)
Saves: 2 (Frei, 2)
Toronto FC – Alex Bono, Eriq Zavaleta (Raheem Edwards 88’), Damien Perquis, Nick Hagglund; Steven Beitashour, Tsubasa Endoh (Benoit Cheyrou 77’), Jay Chapman (Jonathan Osorio 70’), Marky Delgado, Mark Bloom; Sebastian Giovinco, Jordan Hamilton
Substitutes not used: Quillan Roberts, Drew Moor, Justin Morrow, Mo Babouli
Total shots: 12 (Giovinco, 4)
Shots on goal: 3 (3 players, 1)
Fouls: 12 (Delgado, 3)
Offside: 3 (3 players, 1)
Corner-kicks: 3 (Giovinco, 2)
Saves: 1 (Bono, 1)
MATCH NOTES
- Seattle Sounders FC is now 5-9-2 on the season, including a 1-5-2 record on the road.
- Sounders FC is 7-2-2 all-time versus Toronto FC, including a 3-1-1 mark at BMO Field. The Rave Green drew Toronto FC for the first time since a scoreless draw at Seattle in August 2009.
- Forward Jordan Morris scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the second half. Sounders FC is 4-1-1 on the season when Morris finds the net.
- With the 1-1 result, Seattle earned its second road draw of the season (Last: 1-1 at Houston Dynamo on April 10, 2016).
- Toronto FC defender Eriq Zavaleta played 88 minutes on the backline for the host side. The 23-year-old was drafted No. 10 overall by Sounders FC in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, where he made five league appearances. Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei was Toronto FC’s primary goalkeeper from 2009-2011 before joining Seattle prior to the 2014 season, while forward Herculez Gomez made seven MLS appearances for the Reds in 2015.
