The sting of Wednesday’s exit from Concacaf Champions League play was still present as the Sounders took the field against St. Louis FC Saturday night, but the Rave Green were able to shake off their continental woes with their fifth win in the first seven matches of the 2026 MLS season.
Pre-Match
Brian Schmetzer talked during the runup to the match about the difficult decision between the experience of Hassani Dotson and the talent of Snyder Brunell, but ended up starting them both, with Brunell getting the nod at right wing and Dotson in the midfield.
Danny Musovski earned a return to the starting 11 after a strong performance midweek against Tigres in continental play.
Antino Lopez returned to the 11 in MLS play, two weeks after his last full appearance against Houston earned him a full first team contract.
Seeing Double
Brian Schmetzer described this week’s opponents as a good possession-based side, and they proved that in the opening minutes, disrupting the Sounders midfield and not allowing the Rave Green to cleanly build.
After a week where set-pieces had hurt Seattle on multiple occasions, it was corners which brought them back into the match.
In the 21st minute, a long effort from Snyder Brunnell forced a parry from Roman Burki, and the ensuing corner kick proved deadly. Albert Rusnak’s cross found a wide-open Christian Roldan on the back post, who headed in the opener without a defender within six feet of him.
St. Louis had seeminly forgotten to mark Roldan’s creeping run, a mistake that an MLS team rarely makes, but St. Louis ended up making it twice in 15 minutes.
In the 38th minute, a nearly identical corner kick found Roldan once again all alone at the far post. A picture-for-picture copy of the match’s first goal led to its second; this time, Roldan opted for a side-footed volley to find the back of the net.
Schmetzer was quick to credit Rusnak’s deliveries, as well as pre-game preparation from the coaching staff when it came to corner kicks.
“Albert delivered the ball to the exact spot the coaches told Christian to be… credit to the coaches and players.”
-Brian Schmetzer
“Teams have been running first post, and they probably assumed we were going first post. Credit to our staff for setting up the play, great delivery, and the blocking. I didnt have to move much.”
-Christian Roldan
“Once you score one, for the same thing to happen again, basically identical, you don’t see that very often. Given that our tallest player today was probably 5’11, it’s a bit surprising we scored two set-piece goals.”
-Albert Rusnak
Second Half Insurance
The lone change coming out of half was a Paul for Paul swap, with Rothrock replacing Arriola on the left wing.
Paul Rothrock has made a habit of immediately impacting matches, and it only took him two minutes to make his mark. After a well-weighted pass into the box from Christian Roldan, Rothrock cut back his dribble and was brought down by St Louis’ Conrad Wallem. Rusnak dispatched the stonewall penalty shout, and the Sounders found themselves three goals to the good off a trio of set-piece conversions.
Seattle entered the night with just three set-piece goals in 2026, and had doubled that total within 50 minutes of Saturday’s match.
Tactical Tinkering
Albert Rusnak and Hassani Dotson exited the match in the 53rd, with Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreira coming in. Brunell shifted back into the midfield, and Morris took his spot on the right wing. Schmetzer had discussed during the week trying to feel out Morris’ best current role, praising the way the team played with Morris on the right and Musovski up the middle, and a lopsided scoreline gave the perfect stage for some tactical and personnel experimentation.
New signing Peter Kingston came on for Alex Roldan in the 60th, and the winger found himself in somewhat unfamiliar territory, playing centrally just ahead of a back line which now included Christian Roldan at center-back.
When asked about the changes to close out the match, Schmetzer said he wanted to not take his foot off the gas pedal.
“We have to entertain our fans; they deserve that. We have a bunch of home games on a beautiful grass field, we want to entertain people and stay on the front foot.”
-Brian Schemtzer
Schmetzer’s last change came in the 80th, with Osaze De Rosario replacing Musovski up top in a match which had grinded into a march towards full-time.
De Rosario made good on his chance to make his case for more minutes, weaving his way through traffic at the top of the box and dispatching a low strike through a defender’s legs in the 85th to give Lumen field one last thing to cheer about.
The goal was De Rosarios first of the 2026 MLS season, and also gave Peter Kingston his first MLS assist.
St Louis would break up the shutout in the dying moments, as Edward Lowen hit a vicious half volley off a deflection to make it 4-1.
Seattle has now won seven of their eight matches all-time against St. Louis, and remain perfect at Lumen Field against them.
Post Match
Brian Schmetzer said his side came out cold and that the set pieces were needed to flip the momentum.
“We were chasing the ball for the first 15 minutes.”
-Brian Schmetzer
After another excellent performance from Christian Roldan, talk of the midfielder’s potential involvement in the upcoming World Cup with the USMNT continued
“What you have to look for when talking about a complete player is the intangibles that Christian has that many of us may take for granted.”
-Brian Schmetzer
“It’s always in the back of my mind… I don’t see myself as a lock by any means, I need to keep performing with the sounders to give myself the best chance… I hope I’m being seen for all the little things I do for the group, and any time I get a goal or an assist its a bonus.”
-Christian Roldan
Roldan even had a chance for a hat-trick after the Sounders were awarded their penalty kick, but says it wasn’t a hard decision to let Rusnak take the spot kick.
“Albert asked me if I wanted to take the penalty, and I said I wanted to win.”
-Christian Roldan
Match Notes
- Seattle sits in fourth place in the Western Conference following the result with 16 points (5-1-1).
- Seattle holds a 7-1-0 record against St. Louis dating back to 2023 when the Midwestern side joined MLS, including a 4-0-0 mark at Lumen Field.
- The Rave Green defeated St. Louis earlier this year, a 1-0 victory at Energizer Park on March 7. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored the match’s lone goal.
- Cristian Roldan’s goals in the 22nd and 37th minutes were his second and third of the season, all coming in league play. It is Roldan’s fifth career multi-goal game, and first since September 27, 2020.
- Albert Rusnák assisted both of Roldan’s goals, his second and third of the season, all in league play.
- Rusnák also scored his fourth goal of the season in the 49th minute via a penalty after Paul Rothrock drew a foul in the area.
- Osaze De Rosario scored his first goal of the season 86th minute. De Rosario scored five all-competition goals last season after signing with the club in May.
- Jesús Ferreira and Peter Kingston were credited with assists on De Rosario’s goal, their sixth and third in all competitions this season, respectively. Ferreira’s five assists in league play are tied for third in MLS this season.
- Tonight marked Seattle’s first MLS home match since its season opener on February 22 against Colorado. Due to ongoing renovations at Lumen Field for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Rave Green have played their last five matches on the road (3-1-1).
- Brian Schmetzer rotated the lineup from Wednesday’s 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup match against Tigres UANL, with Andrew Thomas, Antino Lopez, Hassani Dotson, Paul Arriola and Danny Musovski replacing Stefan Frei, Jackson Ragen, Jesús Ferreira, Paul Arriola and Jordan Morris.
- Seattle stays at home, hosting FC Dallas next week on Saturday, April 25 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 4 – St. Louis CITY SC 1
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistants: Chris Elliott, Jeremy Hanson
Fourth Official: Brandon Stevis
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
Attendance: 30,596
Weather: 65 degrees and cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Cristian Roldan (Albert Rusnák) 22’
SEA – Cristian Roldan (Albert Rusnák) 37’
SEA – Albert Rusnák (penalty) 49’
SEA – Osaze De Rosario (Jesús Ferreira, Peter Kingston) 86’
STL – Eduard Löwen 90+2’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
None
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Andrew Thomas; Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Alex Roldan (Peter Kingston 60’), Antino Lopez, Nouhou; Cristian Roldan – Captain, Hassani Dotson (Jordan Morris 53’); Snyder Brunell, Albert Rusnák (Jesús Ferreira 53’), Paul Arriola (Paul Rothrock HT); Danny Musovski (Osaze De Rosario 80’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Frei, Cody Baker, Stu Hawkins
Total shots: 13
Shots on goal: 9
Fouls: 9
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 2
St. Louis CITY SC – Roman Bürki; Rafael Santos (Tomas Totland 63’), Timo Baumgartl, Lukas MacNaughton, Dante Polvara; Daniel Edelman, Chris Durkin, Conrad Wallem (Brendan McSorley 81’); Marcel Hartel (Eduard Löwen 89’), Simon Becher (Sergio Córdova 63’), Cedric Teuchert (Jeong Sang-bin 63’)
Substitutes not used: Ben Lundt, Mbacke Fall, Fallou Fall, Miguel Perez
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 3
Fouls: 12
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 8
Saves: 5
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