Lost in the celebration of Jesús Ferreira’s first Seattle Sounders goal and a Man of the Match goalkeeping performance from Stefan Frei in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over San Diego FC was the play of unlikely substitute Stuart Hawkins.
With regular center back partners Yeimar and Jackson Ragen unavailable to start — Yeimar is out with a hamstring injury, while Ragen made his first appearance back on the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury of his own — Jonathan Bell and veteran Kim Kee-hee got the nod. But when Kim went down with a calf injury in the 34th minute and Ragen on a minutes restriction, Hawkins was called into action.
“I appreciate the coaching staff trusting me in that situation,” Hawkins said. “[They told me] just to keep it simple, connect your first few passes, get into the game and then play your game.”
It was a big ask for the 18-year-old Homegrown, who had signed his First Team contract in 2023 but just made his MLS debut in a seven-minute cameo against LAFC earlier this month. Wednesday’s game against San Diego was just his second First Team appearance in an MLS match, and he was largely lined up against Mexican international Chucky Lozano, one of the region’s best players.
“I’m proud,” said Hawkins. “I don’t like to be super prideful, I stay humble with it. [Lozano is] a great player…It’s awesome to play against people like that and hopefully more in the future.”
Hawkins was more than up to the challenge. He picked up where Kim left off and helped preserve a clean sheet against one of the best attacking sides in the league.
“We have high hopes for him,” Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said of Hawkins. “He’s defending against Chucky Lozano. He’s doing what he needs to do…The kid’s great.
“One of the reasons why we signed Kim Kee-hee was because we didn’t think Stuart was quite ready,” Schmetzer continued. “But if the kid can put in performances like that, and he can show us that he can do that on a consistent basis, then he’s ready… Stewie surpassed his expectations in a large way.”
Part of Hawkins’ success on the evening came from his familiarity with Bell. The two have paired together several times with MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance and have a good understanding of one another.
“I enjoy playing with JB,” said Hawkins. “He’s pretty comfortable on the ball, so I feel like we can find some line-breaking passes. I enjoy my time with him. He’s great, he’s solid. He always comes in and does a great job with the team.”
Hawkins may have very well played himself into his first career start on Sunday when the Sounders host Minnesota United (3 p.m. PT; MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | TICKETS). With Yeimar and Kim sidelined and Ragen still likely unable to start, Hawkins will have earned every bit of that potential breakthrough.
“You can see it over the years, a lot of guys have had to wait,” said Hawkins. “Paul Rothrock, other guys like that…It’s just staying ready for the opportunity and taking it when it comes.”
