It may have taken longer than he expected, but midfielder Paul Arriola finally scored his first MLS goal for the Seattle Sounders last weekend, rescuing a road point in the 81st minute against the LA Galaxy. Arriola made a massive intraleague move from FC Dallas ahead of the 2025 season, and his tenure began so promisingly, with two goals in his first two starts in Concacaf Champions Cup play. But his season was cut short in March by an ACL tear against Cruz Azul in CCC, ending his year with just 74 MLS minutes.
Fast forward to 2026, and Arriola flashed even more signs of impact, recording a brace in CCC to help knock out Cascadia rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps. But the injury bug struck again, forcing Arriola into an up-and-down campaign that was finally capped off with a decisive and well-earned goal against the Galaxy.
“It’s been a mental battle this year with physical injuries, playing time, situations — so many things that often times are out of my control,” said Arriola on Wednesday. “There were times I think I deserved to score throughout the year that hadn’t happened.”
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Arriola made quick work of his time on the pitch on Saturday, finding the back of the net less than two minutes after entering as a substitute. Peter Kingston knifed through the LA defense and picked out Jordan Morris, who cut a ball across the face of goal for Arriola to tap in.
“This one, my teammates made good plays, and I showed up in the right spot and got rewarded,” Arriola said. “That’s sports in general. Sometimes the ball falls to you, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Arriola will likely be called on more frequently over the home stretch of the season, as Head Coach Brian Schmetzer announced that fellow winger Paul Rothrock will be sidelined for eight to 10 weeks with a right hamstring injury. Arriola is a former United States international with extensive playing experience in Liga MX and MLS, and he knows that he and other veteran members of the group are going to need to continue to step up and produce.
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“It’s understanding that there’s pressure and accepting that there’s pressure that we need to pick up points, but at the same time not falling away from who we are and do things out of the ordinary that we usually wouldn’t do,” he said.
The Sounders’ next challenge comes this Saturday in a road tilt against the Colorado Rapids (6:30 p.m. PT; Apple TV) as the push for the playoffs intensifies. Seattle currently sits two points out of the ninth and final postseason spot with two matches in hand.
“We’re focusing firstly on Colorado…we really do have to go one at a time,” said Arriola. “We have to find ways to win. I can’t keep reiterating it enough, it doesn’t have to be pretty.
“We’re at a point in the season where playing well and not getting a result is not good enough.”
