The Sounders’ loss to St. Louis City SC was an affirmation to what head coach Brian Schmetzer has been preaching since the preseason. Seattle is a deep and talented squad. So much so that Schmetzer missed the contests due to an illness. Debutant assistant coach Freddy Juarez coached the team. After Friday’s practice, the team announced that Paul Arrilla would miss a significant part of the season due to a torn ACL. Joining Arriola on the injured list were Jordan Morris ( hamstring) and Pedro De la Vega( quadricep). The Morris and De la Vega news was more encouraging, the pair would be out 4-6 weeks. Center-back Yeimar missed Saturday’s game due to personal reasons.
MILAGE PLUS
Saturday’s contest with St. Louis was the Sounders’ fourth game in ten days. Two home games, Mach 5th ( Cruz Azul 0-0) and LAFC March 8th ( 5-2 win), were followed by a road game on March 11th with Cruz Azul ( 4-1 loss) in Mexico and then Saturday’s match with St Louis on March 15. Saturday’s contest win, lose, or draw was going to be a demarcation. After the contest, the team would have a week before a home encounter with the Houston Dynamo on March 22.
NEXT MAN UP
So fast-forward to Saturday’s game, in which the Sounders’ shuffled line-up started on the front foot with energy. Paul Rothrock and Georgi Minougou were active on the wings, making runs and taking on defenders when the opportunity arose. It was all going swimmingly, as they say, until an unfortunate mistake.
UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE
A misfortunate slip by center back Jackson Rage resulted in a yellow card and a free kick for Saint Louis. Ragen slipped while trying to kick the ball into the Sounders midfield, the rangy midfielder fell on the ground and landed with his hand on the ball. Match referee Fotis Bazakos whistled the play dead, issued a yellow card to Ragen and awarded the homeside a free kick. A precision free kick by St Louis midfielder looped over the wall and into the top left corner for the 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the game.
FIGHT BACK
Credit the Sounders for having the grit and figh back to weather the storm. Immediately after the goal the team went back to its attacking style. The Sounders’ attacking pace pushed the homeside deep into its defensive half. With St. Louis in retreat mode, the Sounders had the lion’s share of possession and numerous shots, which never troubled St Louis keeper Benjamin Lundt. The score line remained when the whistle blew for the halftime break.
CONTINUED ATTACK
The second half started just like the first ended, with Rothrock, Minougou finding space down the flanks due to St Louis’s narrow defending. Albert Rusnák’s run’s in front of Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas created space for the holding midfielders to push up. There was a lack of creativity in the final third from Jesus Ferreira, who started his first game as the team’s number 10. Ferreira worked hard on his off-ball movement and runs to space but never received that final ball into space in the final third. Danny Musvoski replaced him in the 67th minute and nearly paid instant dividends when he fed Rothrock with a pass into the left flank. Rothrock was unable to get a shot of but won a corner for his troubles. The Sounders continued to push the ball up the field but were unable to unlock the bunkered-down St. Louis fortress.
PENALTY NO PENALTY
Danny Levya subbed in for Cristian Roldan in the 78th minute to give the Sounders some fresh legs to their attack. In the 84th minute, St Louis nearly doubled its lead on a counter attack, but a point blank range save by Stefan Frei stopped Marcel Hartel’s blast from reaching the back of the Sounder net. The rebound fell to St Lous midfielder Tomás Ostrák, who saw his point bank shot blocked by Nouhou. The back-to-back saves energized the Sounders, who went hunting for the equalizer.
In the 92nd minute of the 6th minute of extra time, the Sounders were awarded a penalty kick by referee Fotis Bazakos, who deemed Obed Vargas fouled by St. Louis defender Henry Kessler. The spot-kick was overturned after a VAR decision concluded that Vargas had touched the ball with his hand before he was fouled. The Sounders ‘ hunt for the equalizer ended a few minutes late when the whistle blew to end the contest.
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MATCH GAME NOTES
MATCH NOTES
- With the result, Seattle sits in 10th place in the Western Conference at the time of writing with four points (1-2-1).
- Tonight’s result is the first time Seattle has ever dropped points to St. Louis, previously holding a 4-0-0 record against the Midwestern side.
- Cristian Roldan appeared in his 353rd match across all competitions tonight, breaking a tie with Zach Scott for the most by a field player in club history across all eras. Stefan Frei is the club’s all-time appearance leader, playing in 393 matches including tonight.
- Head Coach Brian Schmetzer missed tonight’s match with an illness. Assistant Coach Freddy Juarez served as the acting Head Coach in Schmetzer’s absence.
- Seattle rotated its lineup from Tuesday’s match Concacaf Champions Cup match against Cruz Azul, with Jonathan Bell, Paul Rothrock and Georgi Minoungou replacing Yeimar, Paul Arriola and Jordan Morris.
- The Rave Green now return home to take on Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday, March 22 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV, iHeartMedia Seattle, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – St. Louis CITY SC 1
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Venue: Energizer Park
Referees: Fotis Bazakos
Assistants: Jeffrey Swartzel, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: John Matto
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
Weather: 56 degrees and rain
SCORING SUMMARY
STL – Eduard Lowen 15’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Jackson Ragen (caution) 14’
SEA – Jesus Ferreira (caution) 45’+1’
SEA – Obed Vargas (caution) 64’
STL – Henry Kessler (caution) 72’
STL – Simon Belcher (caution) 81’
SEA – Alex Roldan (caution) 83’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Jackson Ragen, Jonathan Bell, Nouhou; Alex Roldan, Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan (Danny Leyva 79’), Paul Rothrock (Kalani Kossa-Reinzi 80’), Georgi Minoungou, Albert Rusnák; Jesús Ferreira (Danny Musovski 64’)
Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Jacob Castro, Stuart Hawkins, Cody Baker, João Paulo, Travian Sousa
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 1
Fouls: 11
Offside: 2
Corner-Kicks: 7
Saves: 4
St. Louis CITY SC – Ben Lundt; Jannes Horn (Joshua Yaro 63’), Kyle Hiebert, Henry Kessler, Tomas Totland (Tomas Ostrak 67’); Akil Watts (Joakim Nilsson 90”+1’), Eduard Lowen (Alfredo Morales 62’), Chris Durkin; Conrad Wallem, Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert (Simon Becher 62’)
Substitutes not used: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Christian Olivares, Timo Baumgartl
Total shots: 14
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 11
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 1
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