Gustav Svensson could tell something wasn’t right.
The Seattle Sounders had just taken a 1-0 lead in the 85th minute against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday off a beautiful wonder-volley from Nicolas Lodeiro, a strike that looked to surely end Seattle’s road woes in northern California. Svensson, who entered in the 15th minute after starting center back Roman Torres exited with a left hamstring strain, sensed Seattle pulling back the reins. The last five-plus minutes never seemed like they would go the Sounders’ way.
“It felt like we were a little bit too scared to lose points that we fell back a little too much and let them put pressure on us,” Svensson said.
Chris Wondolowski found himself all alone in front of goal for an easy tap-in in the 90th minute and equalized, recording his 11th career goal against the Sounders, the most of any opposing player in Sounders history. Seattle leaves San Jose with a road point after a 1-1 draw with a Western Conference opponent, a good result on paper, but a result that sends Seattle home without two extra points it feels it should have had.
“It felt like we lost the game,” said Svensson. “That sucks. We get a point, and it’s not too bad, but it’s the way we got it. It just feels like we lost the game.”
Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer echoed Svensson’s sentiments.
"Sometimes when you come back for a draw like we did in Montreal, it feels like a victory,” Schmetzer told Q13 FOX’s Steve Zakuani. “This feels like a loss.”
The Sounders are unbeaten in their last four matches since their season-opening loss to the Houston Dynamo, but that won’t comfort the sting of Saturday’s result, especially given who scored and when. Earlier this week, Club Director of Goalkeeping Tom Dutra talked about how elusive Wondolowski is in the box and how much energy he still has late in games.
The Sounders bottled up Wondolowski fairly well all game until that point, but all someone like him needs is one opportunity. He patiently waited to get his and he took advantage.
“We have to control what we can control, tracking runners,” said Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan. “Anytime you get equalized in the 90th minute or so, it's difficult to swallow and we have to look back at the film and see what we did wrong and correct those mistakes.”
Despite the tough result, the Sounders have no reason to overly fret. They don’t leave San Jose entirely empty-handed and can use Saturday as a learning experience while still adding to their early-season point total. Months from now, when the emotions of Saturday are long worn off, Seattle should not be too disappointed in how the match finished.
“It’s not a good feeling,” said Svensson, “but one point is one point, and I think tomorrow it’s going to feel a little bit better.”
