The Seattle Sounders drew the San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 on Wednesday night at Lumen Field. Amahl Pellegrino opened the scoring for the ‘Quakes early in the first half before a Jordan Morris brace gave the Sounders the lead. Paul Marie found an equalizer for San Jose in the 89th minute.
Cristian Espinoza had the first real test of the match in the 13th minute when he took a punt from goalkeeper Daniel on the bounce and fired a shot that forced Stefan Frei to get down for a save.
The ‘Quakes took the lead in the 16th minute when they capitalized off a turnover that fell to Espinoza. He picked out Pellegrino, who beat Frei to a cross then redirected his initial header into the net.
Morris equalized just five minutes later when Ousseni Bouda attempted to a clear the ball in his box, but it deflected into the path of Morris. The Mercer Island, Wash., native made no mistake, taking the ball off the half-volley and smashing it home.
Morris earned his brace in the 39th minute to give the Sounders a 2-1 lead when he finished a deflected cross from Paul Rothrock.
Morris almost bagged a hat trick in the 72nd minute when he got on the end of an errant pass in San Jose’s 18-yard box, but it went just wide of the net.
Josh Atencio led a break in the 84th minute, but his final shot at the near post just skipped wide.
Morris had another chance for a hat trick three minutes later when Georgi Minoungou played Morris in, but Daniel came rushing out big to deny Morris’ effort.
Marie stole a point at the death when he was first to a cross from Jeremy Ebobisse and tucked it home first-time.
The Sounders remain fifth in the Western Conference table, with the Colorado Rapids, Vancouver Whitecaps and Houston Dynamo also dropping points on Wednesday.
The Sounders are off this weekend and will return to action to close out their three-match homestand when they welcome the Dynamo to Lumen Field on Sept. 28 (TICKETS).
THREE TAKEAWAYS
13 for 13
Morris scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season, which passes his Rookie of the Year-winning campaign in 2016 for the most in his MLS career. The Sounders’ second-all-time leading scorer has reached double-digits in goals five times.
De la Vega notches first assist
It was rather unconventional as an attempted clearance ricocheted off his body and into the path of Morris, but Young Designated Player Pedro de la Vega earned his first assist in a Sounders uniform. The Argentine winger has battled injuries for most of his first season in Seattle, but he is back fit and healthy as the Sounders head into the stretch run of the campaign.
Not quite over the ‘Quakes hump
The Sounders remain winless in six matches against the Earthquakes in all competitions. Seattle’s last win over San Jose came in a 3-1 victory on Sept. 29, 2021.
