Key moments
8’ — Richey plays the ball to Xavier Arreaga inside the box and under pressure, and Ricardo Pepi picks the pass off. Arreaga gets a touch to the ensuing shot sending it out for a corner.
20’ — Jesus Ferreira unleashes a shot that Richey dives to keep out. The rebound falls in a dangerous spot, but Shane O’Neill clears it before anything comes of it.
32’ — Jimmy Medranda takes a free kick from 20 yards out and his left-footed attempt swings just wide of the near post.
44’ — Nico Benezet finds an open Rowe at the back post, but his header sails wide.
47’ — Richey comes up with another big save denying a clear look from Dallas. The shot off of the rebound goes wide.
55’ — Will Bruin appears to give the Sounders a lead, scoring off a Kelyn Rowe cross but is ruled just offside.
63’ — Immediately after subbing into the game Nico Lodeiro finds Raúl Ruidíaz. His initial shot is blocked, but he immediately sends the rebound back in and hits it off of the crossbar and the far post and into the back of the net! 1-0 Sounders
89’ — Dallas push forward and nearly get a look at goal, but Brad Smith continues a defensive run and beats the attacker to the ball to clear it for a corner.
Quick thoughts
Happy birthday Mr. Manager: Brian Schmetzer seems like the kind of guy who probably doesn’t make a big deal out of his birthday. Nevertheless, a win on the road in a stadium his team hasn’t won in since 2014 — with a rotated squad, no less — is surely something he’ll be happy to celebrate. That the result came on his birthday is only a coincidence, but it’s a great excuse to celebrate the club’s steward who continues to make his case for finally winning the Coach of the Year award that he so deserves. He manages to get more out of his players than anyone else in the league could, and he’s got guys like Ruidíaz and Lodeiro seemingly happy to come off the bench when necessary as long as it helps the team. Happy birthday, Schmetzer, you deserve to celebrate.
Raúl Ruidíaz just keeps going: Raúl Ruidíaz hit something of a slump that coincided with the Sounders’ slump, going without a goal as the team lost two and drew one in their three-game homestand. It was the longest run of games he’d had without a goal all year, only going longer than one game without scoring one other time. Since then, as the Sounders have turned things around so has Ruidíaz. He’s got three goals in his last two games — including two absolute bangers — and is leading the Golden Boot race with 14 goals through 20 appearances. Ruidíaz has been a consistent threat during his time in Seattle, but we hadn’t really seen him catch fire before. It seems like the wait for that is over.
Josh Atencio is legit: The Sounders may have had to rotate a bit for this one, but they faced something pretty close to Dallas’s best lineup available. While Seattle had to bend under Dallas’ pressure throughout the night Atencio was key in making sure they didn’t break. From his position in midfield he consistently won contested balls in the air and on the ground, and showed a good deal of quality going forward as well. On Will Bruin’s disallowed goal, while Rowe hit a fantastic ball that would have gotten the assist the whole play happened because of Atencio’s awareness and ability to find Rowe making a run. He led the Sounders with 14 duels, and was only second in the game to Bryan Acosta’s 18, and continues to show that the star turn he took to start the season was more than just a fluke.
