The Seattle Sounders defeated Phoenix Rising FC of the USL Championship 2-1 on Wednesday night at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash., in the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Rémi Cabral opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half before second-half goals from Alex Roldan and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi sent Seattle to the quarterfinals.
Cristian Roldan nearly scored just five minutes in when his shot from outside the box just missed curling into the far post after almost scoring an Olimpico.
Phoenix’s first real opportunity came in the 10th minute when Cabral was played in behind on a through ball down the right side, but Andrew Thomas dove to his right to parry it wide.
The Sounders had a great chance to take the lead in the 43rd minute when Cristian Roldan played in Danny Musovski on a 2-on-1 break, but his attempt was saved by Patrick Rakovsky.
Rising FC took the lead on the brink of halftime after Danny Leyva fouled Panos Armenakas in the box. Cabral stepped up to the penalty spot and converted in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
The Sounders pulled level from the penalty spot as well in the 68th minute after Alex Roldan drew a penalty when his shot from distance ricocheted off the arm of John Stenberg. Roldan stepped up to take the spot kick himself and beat Rakovsky to the left side of the net.
Seattle found the winner in the 88th minute when Kossa-Rienzi took a flicked-on header from Musovski off his chest, dribbled in the box to open space and fired a shot into the top corner. It was the first Senior Team goal for the University of Washington product and Tacoma Defiance short-term loanee.
The Sounders will continue their busy month of May by resuming league play at St. Louis CITY FC on Saturday (5:30 p.m. PT; MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Kossa-Rienzi plays hero
What a moment for the 21-year-old from Berkeley, Calif. The Sounders drafted Kossa-Rienzi in the first round of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft and has plied his trade well enough in MLS NEXT Pro with the Defiance to earn the trust of First Team Head Coach Brian Schmetzer in the Open Cup.
Thomas impressive again
While he didn’t have as much to do against Phoenix as he did against Louisville City in the previous round, Thomas displayed yet another strong performance in net. He didn’t allow a goal from open play and helped direct a youthful back line, especially on the right side with Kossa-Rienzi and 17-year-old Stuart Hawkins.
On to Sacramento
The Sounders will visit another USL Championship side in Sacramento Republic FC in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup. Sac Republic defeated the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer in a thrilling 4-3 match on Tuesday.
