It was, in every way imaginable, a classic road win for the Seattle Sounders. Play hard-nosed defense by staying compact and resolute, keeping your composure, and converting on the offensive end of the pitch.
BACKLINE OVERCOMES ADVERTISING
The determined play of right center back Jackson Ragen, left back Nouhou, and right back Kalani Kossa-Rienze, subbed in for an injured Yeimar, and Alex Roldan anchored a gritty win for the Sounders. After starting Snyder Brunell for injured Paul Rothrock, head coach Brian Schemtzer was forced to make another lineup change due to an injury. Twenty-three minutes into the contest, Kossa-Reinze replaced Alex Roldan at right back after he slotted into right center back for Yeimar, who suffered a hamstring injury.
MID BLOCK JOINS THE DEFENSIVE PARTY.
In addition to the backline, Schmetzer received yeoman’s work from his two pivots, Hassanin Dotson and Cristian Roldan. While neither of the pair scored, they stayed compact with the backline when defending and pivoted forward when in transition. Their box-to-box play nullified the effectiveness of St. Louis Christoper Durkin, Daniel Edelmann, and Rafael Santos.
“The team put a lot of effort tonight, you know, Albert Rusnak Jesus ( Ferreria ), Synder Brunell, you know, Paul Arriola coming on tonight. Nicola Petkovic is coming on tonight, and the midfielders,” said Schmetzer. “ They’re exhausted, Hassani Dotson and Christian Roldan are exhausted. They had a monster game.”
With both sides playing stellar defense and pensive, attacking soccer, there were no clear-cut chances. The hosts had three shots on goal, and the visiting Sounders had two, with a 0.07 expected goal chance of 0.07. The Sounders’ best chance of the half came in the 38th minute, when striker Osaze De Rosario received a pass from Cristian Roldan, laid off to an onrushing Albert Rusnak, who forced a spectacular save by St. Louis keeper Roman Burki.
TACTICAL CHANGE TURNS THE GAME
The first half ended in a goalless draw. Two minutes into the second half, Kossa-Reinze scored the game’s only goal after a deft tactical change by Schmetzer. The Sounders started the second half with a full-court press that led to the costly turnover. Ferreira chased down a DeRosario pass into the left side of the St. Louis goal box. He then lost possession but quickly forced St. Louis defender Conrad Weldam into a turnover, assisted by Nouhou, who was pressing high. Ferreira collected the loose ball and crossed it to Kossa-Reinze. The former Husky trapped the ball with his right foot to his left and finished with aplomb.
“The guy comes on the field, he gives you energy, he gives you everything he has. But that play he made was kind of kind of interesting because he just gives him a good ball, but he kind of messes up the touch and they were waiting to see if the ball had rolled up on his arm for a handball,’ said Schmetzer.
“ But when he kind of has controlled it and he brought it back to his left, it kind of upset Burkey and the rest of the defenders and he, then he hits it with his left foot and goes in the corner of the net. And we’re just like, you know, just overwhelmed with joy on the bench to see that kid make an impact. I talk about it all the time, making plays. We needed to make plays, to win on the road, and that kid was stellar.”
CLOSING OUT THE GAME
Late game insertion of Cody Baker for Synder Brunell, Paul Arriola, and Danny Musovski for De Rosario saw the Sounders grind out a hard-fought win. Winning close, competitive matches is what good teams do. And early on, the Sounders are showing they have the potential to be a very good team. The next two matches will continue to test the Sounders’ resolve to win on the road. They will travel to Vancouver, BC, and take on the Whitecaps on Thursday, March 12, for the First Leg of the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Three days later, the Sounders will return to MLS action with a road trip to San Jose to face the Earthquakes on March 15th.
MATCH NOTES
- With its first road win of the 2026 season, Sounders FC now has six points through three games to start the campaign (2-1-0).
- The Rave Green are now 6-1-0 against St. Louis dating back to 2023 when CITY SC joined the league.
- Kalani Kossa-Rienzi’s goal in the 47th minute was his first of the season. The University of Washington product signed with Seattle in March of last year and went on to score three goals in all competitions to go along with three assists.
- Jesús Ferreira assisted Kossa-Rienzi’s goal, his team-leading third of the season. Ferreira had 12 assists in all competitions last year, tied for second on the team.
- Goalkeeper Andrew Thomas recorded his second shutout in three games to open the 2026 season. The Stanford product has five career clean sheets in MLS regular-season action.
- Brian Schmetzer made one change to the lineup from last week’s match against Real Salt Lake, with Snyder Brunell replacing Paul Rothrock, who was out with an injury.
- It was the first start of the season for Brunell, who appeared in both of Seattle’s previous matches in 2026 as a substitute. The midfielder signed with the First Team in July of last year, making eight appearances in all competitions and scoring two goals.
- Seattle now turns its attention to 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup action, with the first leg of its Round of 16 matchup against Vancouver Whitecaps FC taking place on Thursday, March 12 at BC Place (7:00 p.m. PT / FS2, TUDN). The team then returns to MLS play with a road trip to the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday, March 15 at PayPal Park (4:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV, iHeartMedia Seattle, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – St. Louis CITY SC 0
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Venue: Energizer Park
Referee: Timothy Ford
Assistants: Logan Brown, Rhett Hammil
Fourth Official: Lorenzo Hernandez
VAR: Jorge González
Attendance: 22,423
Weather: Cloudy and 45 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Kalani Kossa-Rienzi (Jesús Ferreira) 47’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
STL – Chris Durkin (caution) 33’
SEA – Alex Roldan (caution) 44’
SEA – Hassani Dotson (caution) 74’
SEA – Paul Arriola (caution) 81’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Andrew Thomas; Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gómez Andrade (Kalani Kossa-Rienzi 23’), Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; Cristian Roldan – Captain, Hassani Dotson; Snyder Brunell (Cody Baker 85’), Albert Rusnák (Nikola Petković 85’), Jesús Ferreira (Paul Arriola 64’); Osaze De Rosario (Danny Musovski 64’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Frei, Max Anchor, Georgi Minoungou, Yu Tsukanome
Total shots: 8
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 7
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 1
Saves: 5
St. Louis CITY SC – Roman Bürki – Captain; Jannes Orozco, Timo Baumgartl, David Polvara, Cedric Teuchert (Samuel Córdova 57’); Chris Durkin, Conrad Wallem (Joakim Nilsson Sang-bin 88’), Simon Becher (Brendan McSorley 78’); Rasmus Santos, Marcel Hartel, Rasmus Alm
Substitutes not used: Benjamin Lundt, Lucas MacNaughton, Miguel Perez, Mykhi Joyner, Célio Pompeu, Mamadou Fall
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 5
Fouls: 13
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 8
Saves: 3
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