Sounders keep season alive with 4-2 home win over Minnesota United

With the Season on the line, the Seattle Sounders were able to shine under the Monday night lights. The Rave Green picked up a 4-2 result in a win-or-go-home game two against perhaps the league’s most frustrating opponents, and set up a rubber match Saturday afternoon 1:00 p.m. at Allianz Feld

After dropping game one via a penalty shootout following a goalless draw in regulation, the series is now tied. The Sounders will return to the Midwest and try to extend their postseason. The winner of the match on Nov. 8 advances to the Western Conference quarterfinal round.

Pre-match

Bryan Schmetzer’s only change from the 11 that was held scoreless in Minnesota was the introduction of Danny Musovski up top, with Jordan Morris moving out to the right wing, replacing Paul Rothrock. It’s not a hugely surprising move considering Rothrock’s somewhat pedestrian performance in the first leg, and Morris looking dangerous on the wing in game one despite starting as the lone central striker.

Musovski had a frustrating substitute appearance in Minnesota, failing to convert on 1.37 expected goals, but Schmetzer once again looked to the “Moose-siah” to continue his career year in a do-or-die match. Musovski led the team with 14 regular-season goals.

Minnesota head coach Eric Ramsey stayed with the 5-4-1 formation that has given the Sounders fits throughout 2025. The Loons have won the last three consecutive contests against the Sounders.

Dream start for Seattle

From the start, the game settled into a familiar pattern that we have seen from the two clubs. Minnesota is sitting just about every player behind the ball, and the Sounders are scrambling to find daylight between the lines.

Minnesota seemed intent on letting the clock run even in the opening minutes. The Loons’ goal kick routines would take up to a full 60 seconds, and every dead-ball seemed to drag on as long as possible.

It was clear that Seattle needed an early break before the monotony of Loon-ball once again set in, and they got that break in the 8th minute. A corner kick was cleared straight to the feet of Obed Vargas at the top of the box, and the 20-year-old hit a grass-cutting shot that Dayne St. Clair was able to touch but not stop from finding the back of the net, 1-0.

The dream start continued for the Sounders in the 21st minute when Christian Roldan pounced on a second ball, whipped a cross to a diving Jesus Ferreira, whose header was deflected at the line by Jordan Morris past St. Claire for the lead-doubling goal. Seattle knew coming into this game that the ability to win loose balls and play with speed, energy, and intensity would determine the outcome of the game. They did just that through the opening stages.

You know, the intensity with which we came out. And not jsut the the intensity, because it’s a home game, but I think the intensity in our intent to try and score goals,” said head coach Brian Schmetzer.” I mean, there was a lot of intent for us to score goals and play exciting soccer. “

Despite going down 2-0, the Loons seemed to have no intention of changing their playstyle, enjoying a bit more possession but not creating many scoring opportunities.

The Rave Green, on the other hand, were taking their style of soccer to Minnesota United, and put together another fluid attack in the 40th minute to extend their lead. Once again it was Christian Roldan down the right and Ferreira getting a touch on the cross, but this time it was Danny Musovski to finish off the move with a routine finish inside the six-yard box. Needing a win to survive, Seattle’s made a statement with it’s free flowing attack.

Loons strike back

Minnesota’s “patient” style of play was rewarded in the eight minutes of first-half stoppage time. The visitors made great use of it, grabbing two quick goals on their first two quality chances of the match. In the second minute of the eighth, Robin Lod disposed of Jordan Morris at midfield, drove into the attacking third, and laid it off for Nectarios Triantis, who was able to finish past Stefan Frei. In the dying embers of stoppage time, the Loons would once again capitalize on a midfield giveaway. This time, center back Yeimar was dispossessed by Joaqin Pereyra, who connected with Bongokuhle Hlongwane, feeding it to Robin Lod running clean in on Frei, and slotting it home. 

Both teams would come feet away from finding a sixth first-half goal, with Obed Vargas striking the post, but the teams would go into the break at 3-2 Despite the late first half collapse , Schemzter had confidence in his players


 I told them that we’re not going to make those mistakes all the time, said Schmezer. ” I told them that the silver lining was that we were not going to make two mistakes like that again”

Half-Time

On the attacking end, Seattle had done in the first half what they had failed to do against the Loons all season: create overloads on Minnesota’s defensive line, slalom fluidly into the sparse space given up by the back five, and finish off their chances in front of the net.

However, this is not a Minnesota team that you can allow to lull you to sleep, and Seattle only needed to nod off for a couple of minutes to allow two counterattack goals, and let the visitors right back into a match that looked close to decided after 45 minutes. Seattle doubled Minnesota in the first half xG, picking up 1.16 to the Loons 0.56.

Schmetzer made a defensive change at halftime, replacing Alex Roldan with young Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. Roldan’s exit was attributed to groin tightness, and he is expected to play next week.

Second-half slowdown

The first ten minutes of the second half were tame relative to the chaos leading into the break, but Minnesota silently established a more aggressive press, and saw much more possession than in the earlier stages of the match.

The first flashpoint came in the 59th, when Danny Musovski found himself running onto a through ball in behind the back-line, and Minnesota defender Jefferson Diaz sprinted in late, hip-checking Moose to the turf. Screams for a Red Card from the Lumen field crowd were denied as a quick VAR check concluded that the play was clean.

Schmetzer opted for a burst of pace in the 65th minute, replacing goalscorer Danny Musovski with Paul Rothrock, and shifting Jordan Morris to central striker.

As the game continued to slowly shift into the Sounders holding on to their one-goal lead, Schmetzer looked to shore up the midfield with the introduction of Danny Leyva for Jesus Ferreira.

“All of the subs had a large impact on the game. Paul’s energy, enthusiasm and defending were very good. We’ll make the decision whether or not to start him during the week.”

-Brian Schmetzer

The second shot of the second half from the Rave Green would provide some much-needed insurance. In the 86th minute, Paul Rothrock would shoulder his way onto a through ball from Leyva down the wing, and square it for Obed Vargas, who would once again take a shot from the top of the box, this time taking a deflection off of Seattle-native Hassani Dotson before finding the net, 4-2.

The match would end without another score. The Rave Green had successfully weathered the storm, holding off Minnesota’s late first-half rally and seeing out the second 45 to extend their season at least one more game. In a tale of two halves, Seattle had found the right moments to produce some clinical finishes, finally seeming to have cracked the code to Minnesota’s throwback style.

Quotes

Brian Schemtzer was pleased with the pace the Sounders came out with in the first half, and believes it will be the key to taking the rubber match

“The intensity and our intent to score goals is the biggest takeaway.”

– Brian Schmetzer

Seattle had finally broken their winless streak against Minnesota in 2025, and now must once again find a way to break down a pesky back five.

“One of the ways you break down a back five is with defensive intensity… We tried to push higher up the field and counter-press when we lost possession. I think our goals came from that situation.”

-Brian Schmetzer

The player of the match for Seattle was undoubtedly young star midfielder Obed Vargas, who became just the fourth Sounder to record multiple goals in a playoff game.

“It didn’t cross through my mind that this was going to be our last game, we were very confident in getting a result…I think we were more decisive, more aggressive. I felt like we were winning the duels and battles.”

-Obed Vargas

Seattle now has a do-or-die game three in Minnesota Friday Nov. 8 at 1 P.M., with the winner advancing to the Conference Quarterfinals.

• Exploring Jadarian Price’s Impact on Seahawks’ Offense
• Seattle Storm’s Preseason Breakdown: Stats and Highlights
• Mariners complete strong road trip but Matt Brash causes concern
• Key Takeaways from Seattle Storm’s Thrilling Preseason Match
• FIFA Empowers Afghan Women Footballers with Historic Regulation Change

MATCH NOTES

• With the result, the Round One Best-of-3 series is now tied at one game apiece. Minnesota won Game 1 in a penalty shootout 3-2 after 90 minutes of scoreless action.

• Seattle now returns to Minnesota for Game 3 of the Round One series, slated for Saturday, November 8 at Allianz Field (1:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).

• The Rave Green are now 15-3-3 against Minnesota in all competitions, including a 2-0-1 mark in postseason action.

• Obed Vargas’ goals in the eighth and 86th minutes were his first and second career playoff goals and fifth and sixth of the season in all competitions.

• Jordan Morris’ goal in the 21st minute was his 10th career postseason goal, tied with Denis Bouanaga for the most among active players. It was also his first goal of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs and his sixth of the season in all competitions.

• Danny Musovski’s goal in the 41st minute was the first postseason strike of his career and his 17th goal of the season for Seattle in all competitions, the most on the team. He is now two tallies behind Raúl Ruidíaz and Obafemi Martins for the single-season club goal record of 19.

• Jesús Ferreira and Cristian Roldan provided assists on Morris’ and Musovski’s goals, their 13th and 12th of the season in all competitions. It was also Ferreira’s first and second career playoff assists and Roldan’s third and fourth.

• Seattle has a 26-16-10 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs since the club joined the league in 2009, the most wins of any team in that span, reaching four MLS Cups (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) and winning two titles (2016, 2019).

• Stefan Frei made his 38th postseason appearance tonight (all with Seattle), the most postseason appearances of any active player in Major League Soccer. Cristian Roldan is second with 34 appearances. Morris ranks fifth with 26.

• Alex Roldan made his 248th appearance tonight for the Rave Green in all competitions, breaking a tie with Fredy Montero for seventh in club history.

• Tonight was Seattle’s 49th match of the year in all competitions, tying 2012 for the most games played in a single season.

• Brian Schmetzer made one change to the starting XI from last Monday’s Game 1 in Minnesota, with Danny Musovski replacing Paul Rothrock.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 4 – Minnesota United FC 2

Monday, November 3, 2025

Venue: Lumen Field

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere

Assistants: Corey Parker, Jeremy Kieso

Fourth Official: Armando Villarreal

VAR: Daniel Radford

Attendance: 30,085

Weather: 46 degrees and cloudy

SCORING SUMMARY

SEA – Obed Vargas 8’

SEA – Jordan Morris (Jesús Ferreira, Cristian Roldan) 21’

SEA – Danny Musovski (Jesús Ferreira, Cristian Roldan) 41’

MIN – Nectarios Triantis (Robin Lod) 45’+1’

MIN – Robin Lod (Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Joaquín Pereyra) 45’+5’

SEA – Obed Vargas (Paul Rothrock, Danny Leyva) 86’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

MIN – Nicolás Romero (caution) 25’

SEA – Obed Vargas (caution) 29’

MIN – Morris Duggan (caution) 90’+5’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei – Captain; Alex Roldan (Kalani Kossa-Rienzi HT), Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan; Jesús Ferreira (Danny Leyva 83’), Albert Rusnák, Jordan Morris; Danny Musovski (Paul Rothrock 66’)

Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Jonathan Bell, João Paulo, Ryan Kent, Georgi Minoungou, Osaze De Rosario

Total shots: 11

Shots on goal: 6

Fouls: 10

Offside: 1

Corner-Kicks: 3

Saves: 2

Minnesota United FC – Dayne St. Clair; Anthony Markanich, Nicolás Romero (Morris Duggan HT), Michael Boxall, Jefferson Diaz (Hassani Dotson 79’); Wil Trapp (Kelvin Yeboah 65’), Nectarios Triantis, Joaquín Pereyra; Joseph Rosales (Julian Gressel 79’); Joaquín Pereyra, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Robin Lod (Carlos Harvey 78’)

Substitutes not used: D.J. Taylor, Alec Smir, Owen Gene, Dominik Fitz

Total shots: 9

Shots on goal: 4

Fouls: 12

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 2

Saves: 2

Sounders FC Communications