Sounders concede Cascadia Cup in a lackluster home defeat to Vancouver

The Seattle Sounders lost their seventh straight league game after falling to the Vancouver Whitecaps. A positive first half was spoiled by a poor second half. The Whitecaps scored twice late in the second half to earn the three points while also winning the Cascadia Cup.

The Sounders started the match well. They were controlling the flow in the first half-hour. Everything fell apart when Jesus Ferreira went down with a hamstring injury. After Ferreira was subbed off, the team lost all attacking creativity.

The Whitecaps scored the first goal in the 77th minute after Rayan Elloumi got behind his defender, as Nouhou on the far side of the pitch kept him onside. The Sounders were beaten on the dribble three times in the build up to the goal.

Nouhou had a mess of a match. He was dropped too far back on the first goal, keeping the attacker onside. Minutes later he tried to defend a ball over the top, and instead of clearing the ball he was demanding Andrew Thomas to come collect it. The defender nearly got the ball off of Nouhou, who then passed it into the arms of Thomas who was scrambling, leading to an indirect free-kick inside the box. Thomas Muller converted the free-kick and sealed the match.

(Ryan Hampton / House of Sounders)

The fans in the crowd had seen enough. The frustration was felt from the fans, while many headed towards the exit after the first goal went in.

“I would be frustrated if I was a fan too,” said Brian Schmetzer when asked about the fans leaving early and booing the team at the full-time whistle. “I’m asking for a little bit of patience, but look, they paid the ticket. They paid the money. They can say what they need to say, they can boo, they can leave, that’s fine. But the energy and the fight that team will show, maybe that is something they can latch on to. The players haven’t given up on them. The players are still working, so hopefully the fans don’t give up on the players.”

Pre-Game

The Sounders entered the match sitting below the playoff line in 11th place. Despite sitting so low in the conference, they remain just 11 points off of first place Houston Dynamo. The Whitecaps entered at 2nd place, tied with LAFC on 34 points. Still just 10 points above the Sounders in a tightly congested Western Conference.

Both clubs walked into Lumen field looking for momentum. The Whitecaps had not won a game since defeating Calvary FC in the Canadian Championship on July 8th. The Sounders had just one win in their last 9 matches, defeating Queretaro in Leagues Cup. Both Cascadia teams were missing multiple starters, contributing to the rough stretch of form.

The Cascadia Cup remained on the line heading into the match. The Sounders mathematically could still win the regional cup by winning both meetings against the Whitecaps and by a cumulative 7 goals. Not likely, but technically possible. The Whitecaps only needed a single point to be crowned Cascadia Cup winners for the second year in a row. Seattle last claimed the title in 2021, when they had won it for a third season in a row. The trophy has alternated between Portland and Vancouver since then.

(Ryan Hampton / House of Sounders)

Key Moments

18’: INJURY – VAN, Jeevan Badwal

36’: INJURY – SEA, Jesus Ferreira

77’: GOAL – VAN, Rayan Elloumi (Emmanuel Sabbi)

82’: GOAL – VAN, Thomas Muller (Oliver Larraz)

Takeaways

The Sounders are in the worst stretch of form they have ever been in. They lack quality in the final third, recording just 5 shots with none on target. Players hesitated to shoot in the box, and would rather look to make a pass.

Jesus Ferreira was the one player who created chances in the match before his injury. Following Ferreira’s departure from the match, the Sounders barely created anything on the attack. They had a big chance in the second half, but Rothrock played the ball in the air instead of driven on the ground. Had it been a low-driven cross, the Sounders likely would have scored first.

This team is simply just not fun to watch. Danny Musovski was getting into good positions, but nearly every first touch got away from him. Rusnak had no influence on the match, mainly just being a body in the middle for long portions.

Injury problems are clearly a factor, but there is still enough quality in this team to not be losing like this. The Sounders have not had a goal from a center forward in league play since May, when Osaze De Rosario scored the winner in the 89th minute against San Jose. Musovski did score in the win over Queretaro in Leagues Cup. The last two wins for the Sounders were games in which the player up top scored.

(Ryan Hampton / House of Sounders)

Post-Game

Alex Roldan on the team’s long stretch of poor form: “It’s obviously not what we want as a team. We know this club has high expectations. The city, the fans, have high expectations and we are not meeting them right now. The fans and the city don’t deserve this and we need to look at ourselves and do a better job on the field.”

Albert Rusnak on how the team could create more chances: “Being more brave. Trying to take more risks. It’s easier to take risks when you are doing well and winning, and everyone is feeling it. You feel like even if you make a mistake, it doesn’t really matter, nothing will happen and we go again. Right now it’s just I don’t think we are in sync that way. Players hesitate to take a risk and we choose the safer option, then we keep going back, back, back and it is not really goal dangerous.”

What’s Next

The Sounders have a short turnaround as they host Austin FC in the mid-week. Austin beat the Sounders back in July, a match that really started the losing skid after the World Cup.

Austin sits below the Sounders currently in the Western Conference, yet it feels as if the Sounders are the underdogs. The Rave Green desperately need to earn points against Austin FC.

Match Stats

Score: Sounders 0 – 2 Whitecaps

Venue: Lumen Field

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 72°F (22°C)

Attendance: 30,026

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Possession %: 43 – 57

Shots (on target): 5 (0) – 19 (6)

Corners: 1 – 8

Saves: 4 – 0

Fouls: 16 – 11

Yellow Cards (Red): 3 – 0