The Sounders continued their extended road trip to Missouri to play St. Louis City on Saturday afternoon. Seattle went into this fixture 5-0-1 head-to-head over St. Louis, and the only loss came last season at Energizer Stadium.
Despite coming off a loss away to RSL, Brian Schmetzer sent out a similar lineup against St. Louis, where the only change came in the top three behind De Rosario, with youngster Snyder Brunell starting over an injured Paul Rothrock.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer was impressed by the away support in St. Louis, and he said after the match that he could hear the supporters: “After the game, of course, there was a quiet stadium, and our fans were beating their drums, and we heard them. And the players all went over there. So number one, thank you, as always, to the traveling fans.”
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The game ended as a 1-0 victory for the Sounders, and the winning goal came one minute into the second half by substitute Kossa-Rienzi. Assisted by Jesús Ferreira, the 23-year-old University of Washington alumni and Tacoma Defiance graduate broke the deadlock by slotting the ball into Roman Bürki’s bottom left corner. Kalani celebrated scoring his fourth Sounders first-team goal with his Obafemi Martins-style signature acrobatic backflip celebration.
The inspiration for Kalani’s acrobatic celebration is rooted in his experience in gymnastics, where he said after the match that “I used to always be bouncing around, flipping around, and so it just kind of became my celebration. In high school, I did a lot. I didn’t score a ton of goals in college, but for the ones I did score, I would usually hit the backflip.”
Kalani also gave insight into his thought process when deciding to do the celebration: “Sometimes I’m hesitant to do it because it’s a tough look, for sure, if you do it, and then you lose the game or tie a game, and then it’s kind of like, alright, we’re over celebrating. But this time, I was just like, I’m just gonna do it. And worst-case scenario, it gives me motivation to work as hard as I can so we don’t lose this game.”
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Already suffering with another injury bug, the Sounders may have to add another key player onto the injury list after Yeimar was forced out with an injury he picked up at the 22nd minute. The eventual match winner, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, replaced the 33-year-old center back. Brian Schmetzer said that Yeimar sustained a right leg injury, specifically involving the hamstring. Over the upcoming week, Yeimar will be evaluated, specifically through an MRI, to determine the severity and duration of absence.
Yeimar’s center back partner, Jackson Ragen, spoke about Yeimar’s injury and how the team filled in for his absence: “Hopefully he’ll [Yeimar] be back soon, but I thought the team did great. I think we have plenty of guys who can step up and do the job that’s required, like Kalani, for example, and Alex [Roldan] flooding in center back and all the subs that came on.”
Schmetzer also weighed in on how he thought the team adjusted to Yeimar being forced out of action, stating that the team didn’t change anything defensively after the substitution, such as pressing or rotations. Schmetzer kept his back four formation consistent with the previous season: “We did not go to a back line of five. That was back line of four, specifically; even when Cody Baker came on, we still stayed in the back line of four. And that’s how much confidence I have in Alex Roldan.”
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St. Louis kept the majority of the momentum throughout the first half, finding a few shots on target, though none that troubled Andrew Thomas. Later in the half, the Sounders began to pick up opportunities, including a strong, low shot from Albert Rusnák that forced Roman Bürki to make a save.
St. Louis responded to conceding by maintaining the momentum they had in the first half. The Sounders stood their lines and contained the home side, conceding shots around the target.
Later in the game, Schmetzer brought in Danny Musovski for Osaze De Rosario and Paul Arriola for Jesús Ferreira, who assisted the opening goal. De Rosario will be looking for stronger offensive performances in future matches, after the young striker played another game without significant involvement. However, Schmetzer referenced Osaze in his praise for the defensive contributions and high work rate he put into the game.
The Sounders had a promising break at the 80th minute, which was started by Nouhou, who made a quick effort to get to the ball first after a pass by Cristian Roldan. Nouhou found Arriola, who then connected the play to Rusnák, playing a smart through ball into the St. Louis box. Snyder Brunell took a strong shot at a slightly difficult angle, which Bürki had covered. St. Louis turned the tide and was on the break soon after.
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Immediately after that Seattle opportunity, St. Louis almost found the equalizer after a dangerous shot from the air by Marcel Hartel that bounced in front of Andrew Thomas and forced him to a crucial save. The bouncer prompted a dangerous moment for the Sounders defense, as a rebound could have been found by a St. Louis attacker. Fortunately for Seattle, Cristian Roldan was the first to get to the free ball deep in the penalty box and was able to relieve pressure by heading the ball away. As the closing minutes of the match approached, St. Louis began to press more aggressively in the Seattle defensive half.
The Sounders were able to keep the clean sheet in St. Louis despite the home team’s efforts to salvage a point. Now 2-0-1 to start the 2026 MLS Regular Season, the Sounders are now in 6th place with six points in the fresh MLS Western Conference standings.
“There were just too many positives in the game that I had to take notes in the game,” said Brian Schmetzer during his opener in the post-match press conference. Especially on the defensive end, Schmetzer acknowledged the team’s defensive efforts to keep St. Louis scoreless. Schmetzer recognized the squad’s defensive contributions from all the way up top with Osaze De Rosario to the back lines with Alex Roldan. Jackson Ragen, especially, Schmetzer said that he had “a friggin monster game.”
Photo: Sounders FC Communications
Andrew Thomas gained valuable experience with the challenging game, with Schmetzer describing the night for Thomas as “a learning curve for him,” as the young goalkeeper earned the clean sheet on top of the victory.
Next, the team will shift their focus to CONCACAF Champions Cup action, with the next match being against Cascadia rivals and 2025 MLS Cup finalists Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. The last time the Sounders faced Vancouver in CONCACAF was back in 2015, when Seattle comfortably advanced 4-1 on aggregate. However, now the Sounders are up against a far stronger Whitecaps, and the outcome of this tie will help forecast how the Cascadia Cup will shape up in 2026.
The Whitecaps defeated the Portland Timbers at Providence Park 4-1 shortly after the Sounders victory, showing us that Vancouver will continue their strong performances into the new season, or showing that Portland will continue to struggle in 2026—or both. “I hope Vancouver wins,” Coach Schmetzer said during the press conference, where shortly after, he learned that the Whitecaps took the lead.
Cover Photo: Sounders FC Communications
