The 40th meeting between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers had plenty of stake as it always does. Saturday’s match served as an early litmus test for the fourth-place Timbers, who were hosting the sixth-place Timbers. The two sides were separated by three points with LAFC sitting in fifth. It was the first of two matches for the Cascadia Rivals.
STRONGEST LINE UP
Head coach Brian Schmetzer shuffled the deck from the starting IX in the LAFC match to what he believed was his strongest side at this point in the season.
Stefan Frei, Kim Kee-hee, Alex Roldan , Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas, Albert Rusnák, Ryna Kent and Danny Musoviski were inserted for Andrew Thomas, Jon Bell, Kalani Kossa- Rienzi, Dany Leyva, Joao Paulo Paul Rothrock, Pedro de la Vega and Osaze De Rosario . While many have questioned the wisdom of playing Ferreira and Rusnák at the same time, I agree with Schmetzter. Ferreira has yet to score this season but has logged six assists. His facilitation skills are too valuable to keep him on the benchat at the moment
EARLY SHOTS
Both sides had early looks at goal. In the fourth minute, Cristian Roldan’s looping pass to Danny Musoviski was intercepted by Timbers defender Finn Surman, which resulted in a wasted corner for the visitors.
A lethal Timbers counterattack was initiated by Timbers midfielder Antony‘s slide rule pass that fed a galloping Juan Mosquera, who sliced through the heavy-footed Sounders defense. Mosquera’s shot went just wide of a sprawling Stefan Frei.
SOUNDERS EXERT THEMSELVES
Quick passing from the back line to the midfield and the front line saw the Sounders take a foothold in the game. Cristian Roldan , Vargas, and Frerrria’s interplay coupled with long downfield passes took advantage of Musoviski’s hold-up abilities and speed. Musoviski overwhelmed Portland centerbacks Kamal Miller and Finn Surman. An exquisite 25-yard pass from Cristian Roland to galloping Musoviski led to the Sounders striking first blood. After receiving Roldan’s pass, Musoviski held the ball, turned, and laid it off to Rusnák, who pounced on the pass and blasted the ball past Timbers Mixime Crepeau.
TIMBERS ANSWERED WITH A QUICKNESS
With the crowd edging them on, the Timbers found the might and skill to level the game. Timbes midfielder David da Costa’s ramble down the right flank garnered the attention of the Sounders backline. With everyone paying attention to him, da Costa found an abandoned Santiago Moreno in front of the Sounders’ goal. The Colombian blasted the ball into the back of the Sounders’ goal for the equalizer.
SLOW START TO SECOND HALF
Timbers head coach Phil Neville made two changes to start the half inserting Cristhian Paredes for Joao Ortiz in the midfield and Darion Zuparic for Kamal Miller at centerback. An exciting and exhilarating first half was replaced by a lethargic pace to start the second half. The culprit was both teams keeping their shape when defending and limiting unbalanced transitions. With his team continuing to struggle, Neville inserted Jonathan Rodrigues for Antony, who had clearly run his race.
QUICKNESS FOR POWER
Seeing a leg-weary opponent, Schmetzer went to a fast and quick lineup. Paul Rothrock replaced Ryan Kent, and Pedro de la Vega was inserted for Ferreira in the 71st minute. The substitutions nearly paid an instant dividend. Cristian Roldan’s long pass in the 73rd minute found a streaking Rothrock down the right flank who had a good look at goal but saw his shot blocked inside the box. Schmetzer inserted Georgi Minoungou for Musoviski in the 81st minute, which gave the Sounders more speed to attack the Timbers’ backline.
SOUNDERS UNABLE TO FIND GAME WINNER
From that point on it was the Sounders who were on the front foot and outshot the Timbers down the stretch but were unable to get the ball in the back of the net.
“Paul has shown that he can do the work up front. He’s kind of jack of all trades. Georgie against Miller has a match up that was pretty clear and obvious,’ said Schmetzer. “ It almost worked. I mean,he got around him once and, you know, we had some half chances, we almost got them in good position again.”
Despite all of their attacking prowess the Sounder were unable to find a game winner.
BIG TAKE
After the game, Schmetzer and his players felt the game was two points dropped. I am not sure I agree. Both sides had some early chances, and yes, the Sounders ended the game on the attack. This was a game that either side could have won, but did not, partly due to a lack of action and good play by the opponent. It was a fair draw in that the Sounders’ defense made the one mistake, which the Timbers made them pay. Schmetzer won the tactical battle from start to finish in that Nevile was also looking to adjust to Schmetzer’s tactics. And after three brutal road games, the standings are as they were. The Timbers are third in the Conference with ( 6-5-3 , 23 points), LAFC is fourth ( 6-3-4, 21 points), and the Sounders are fifth ( 5-5-4, 20 points) .
IMAGES BY TIM ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY
POST GAME NOTES
MATCH NOTES
- Seattle is now 15-15-11 against Portland in the regular season since the Oregon side joined MLS in 2011. Dating back to 1975 in the North American Soccer League, the Rave Green holds a 57-47-19 advantage over the Timbers.
- With the result, Sounders FC sits in sixth place in the Western Conference with 20 points (5-4-5).
- The match marked Seattle’s first 2025 Cascadia Cup match as the club sits in second place with one point, tied with Portland but leading the goal differential tiebreaker. The Rave Green’s next match in the regional contest is against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday, June 8 at BC Place.
- Albert Rusnák scored his team-leading sixth regular season goal in the 30th minute. Since joining Seattle prior to the 2022 season, the midfielder has tallied 24 goals and 25 assists in the regular season, one goal shy of becoming the second player in MLS history to record at least 25 goals and 25 assists in the regular season with two clubs.
- Danny Musovski and Cristian Roldan both recorded assists on Rusnák’s goal. It was the first of the season for Musovski and Roldan’s sixth assist of the MLS campaign. Jesús Ferreira leads the team with seven all-competition assists in 2025.
- Roldan’s assist was also his 64th in all competitions since joining the club, second in club history (Nico Lodeiro, 95).
- Brian Schmetzer rotated his lineup from Wednesday’s match at LAFC, with Stefan Frei, Alex Roldan, Kim Kee-hee, Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan, Ryan Kent, Albert Rusnák and Danny Musovski replacing Andrew Thomas, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Jonathan Bell, Danny Leyva, João Paulo, Paul Rothrock, Pedro de la Vega and Osaze De Rosario.
- Saturday was the first Seattle-Portland rivalry match for both Kent and Ferreira. Kent signed with Seattle on March 31, while Ferreira was acquired by Sounders FC during the offseason.
- Seattle now returns home to host FC Dallas on Saturday, May 24 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (12:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – Portland Timbers 1
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Venue: Providence Park
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistants: Corey Parker, Kyle Atkins
Fourth Official: Malik Badawi
VAR: Armando Villarreal
Attendance: 25,218
Weather: 60 and mostly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Albert Rusnák (Danny Musovski, Cristian Roldan) 30’
POR – Santiago Moreno (David Da Costa) 36’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
POR – David Ayala (caution) 23’
POR – Kamal Miller (caution) 34’
SEA – Nouhou (caution) 50’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei – Captain; Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Kim Kee-hee, Nouhou; Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan; Jesús Fererria (Pedro de la Vega 71’), Albert Rusnák, Ryan Kent (Paul Rothrock 71’); Danny Musovski (Georgi Minoungou 81’)
Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Jonathan Bell, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Reed Baker-Whiting, Danny Leyva, Osaze De Rosario
Total shots: 14
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 9
Offside: 2
Corner-Kicks: 8
Saves: 0
Portland Timbers – Maxime Crépeau; Jimer Fory (Claudio Bravo 90’+1’), Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller 78’), Finn Surman, Kamal Miller (Dario Zuparic HT), Antony Alves (Jonathan Rodríguez 67’); Joao Ortiz (Cristhian Paredes HT), David Da Costa, David Ayala, Santiago Moreno (Omir Fernández 90’+1’); Felipe Mora
Substitutes not used: Ariel Lassiter, Trey Muse, Gage Guerra
Total shots: 5
Shots on goal: 1
Fouls: 19
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 5
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