The Seattle Sounders did on Monday night in Match One of their Round One series with the Houston Dynamo what they have done all season. Seattle led MLS with just 35 goals allowed from 34 contests in the regular season and put in another stellar defensive display in their 5-4 penalty kick shootout win after a scoreless draw in regulation.
The Sounders limited the Dynamo to zero shots on target and just 0.6 Expected Goals.
“I didn’t feel that they had a ton of real clear chances,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer.
Where Seattle will lament a little is in the final third where it couldn’t find the breakthrough in attack despite being up a man for the final half hour. The Sounders finished with more than three times Houston’s Expected Goals but were forced into a shootout regardless.
But in the postseason, especially in the first round where it’s a best-of-three series, wins are wins.
“I’m a firm believer that when things are going well, you find results,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei. “Kudos to our guys because it’s frustrating to find ourselves going to PKs, so to really focus and deliver like that is amazing. Playoffs are on a knife’s edge.
“It’s the perfect game for us,” he continued. “It comes early in the playoffs. We’re playing a good game, and I think we lose our heads a little. We almost reverted into bad habits that we struggled with in the beginning of the season…We’re going to be able to look at it critically because we did get the result and we are up a game, but knowing that we can do some things better.”
Seattle’s composure to convert all five of its spot kicks gives the team a little bit of breathing room heading to Texas on Sunday for Match Two (3:30 p.m. PT, Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM). A Dynamo win would even the series, sending it back to Lumen Field for a decisive third game, but the Sounders are hoping to finish the job and book their ticket to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Frei, in particular, is on the verge of MLS history. He’s the current active leader in postseason games played, and he recorded his 14th career playoff clean sheet on Monday. One more would tie the legendary Kevin Hartman for first in league history.
Keeping a zero on Sunday is priority No. 1 for the Sounders, according to Schmetzer, who said that it would give the team the best chance at ending the series in Houston. And as for his takeaway from the opening match, it’s playoff soccer and only one thing counts in the end.
“Right now, it doesn’t matter how we played,” Schmetzer said. “We’re in control and we won.”
