Seattle Sounders defender Oniel Fisher made sure to make some noise during his first regular season appearance of 2017 in the Sounders’ 2-2 draw against the Montreal Impact on Saturday.
The third-year University of New Mexico product had been working his way back from the league’s concussion protocol and didn’t factor into Seattle’s 2-1 defeat to the Houston Dynamo last weekend. But after entering Saturday’s match as a 59th-minute substitute with his team down 2-0, Fisher made his presence felt, drawing a pivotal penalty kick that allowed midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro to cut the lead in half.
Sounders forward Will Bruin would then find a miracle equalizer in the waning moments of stoppage time, allowing Seattle to leave Olympic Stadium with the road point.
“[The coaches] just advised me to aggressive and get forward and that’s what I did,” Fisher said after the game. “I just came out and played aggressive and we came out with the tie.
“I just saw the space and I decided I was going to take the ball through that space and whatever happened happened. We got a PK and we’re blessed for that. …The referee made the call and his decision is final, so that’s what it is.”
Fisher had been one of the top candidates to slot in as Seattle’s right back in the absence of presumptive starter Brad Evans, who is out of action for the next 5-7 weeks with a calf injury. But his concussion meant that Swedish signee Gustav Svensson, normally a defensive midfielder, had deputized at the position for the season-opener against Houston and started Saturday’s match at Montreal.
Following Saturday’s strong showing, however, Fisher says he plans on trying to ride the momentum into more playing time, and perhaps into claiming the starting right back spot for himself going forward.
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“That’s the aim and the goal, to make it a little bit tougher for the coaches and to play 90 minutes every game,” he said. “That’s my aim and that’s what I want to do. Play 90 minutes every game.”
Fisher’s play on Saturday, while impressive, doesn’t necessarily offer him any guarantees of locking down the starting role. It was, after all, just one game and the veteran Svensson still figures to be in consideration for a good portion of whatever minutes might be available in Evans’ absence.
But if Fisher can parlay Saturday’s fireworks into some consistency going forward, you might be seeing his face in Seattle’s starting XI sooner rather than later.
