The Seattle Sounders’ 5-0 romp over CF Montréal last Saturday may only count for three points in the standings, but its implications may very well lead to many more down the road.
Following a winless start through the club’s first five matches of the 2024 season, one which has been plagued by injuries, the Sounders emphatically wrapped up their first victory. The game was a bit of a catharsis as well, as Seattle exercised some of its goalscoring demons by scoring more goals on Saturday than the club had in total entering the weekend.
“We just needed to win,” said forward Raúl Ruidíaz. “Whether it was one or five goals, we needed to win. But scoring five really gives you that additional push and is something that definitely helps to improve our confidence.”
Ruidíaz led the attack for the Sounders, scoring twice and adding an assist en route to being named MLS Player of the Matchday. But just as important was the first goal of the season for forward Jordan Morris. He finished a beautiful redirection behind his legs on the goal line to notch the Sounders’ third goal early in the second half and put the game to bed.
“That looked more like us, felt more like us,” said Morris. “Frustrating start to the season, but again we believe in our quality and we knew what we could bring and I’m glad we brought it [Saturday]. Hopefully it’s a start of a big push to keep climbing the table.”
The Sounders spent the first month of the season without some of their best players available. Goalkeeper Stefan Frei, attacking midfielder Albert Rusnák, defensive midfielder João Paulo and Young Designated Player signing Pedro de la Vega all missed significant time. Even so, Seattle felt a little hard done to not have gotten a few more results.
“I think the team has played well in moments and we just haven’t been able to cross the finish line with our goalscoring,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “We knew the team had it in them. It was just a moment like Raúl’s first goal where that deflection came, and everybody started saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I guess we can score.’
“The third and fourth goals were good combination, good soccer that we’ve played in some of those early moments in the season, but we haven’t been able to finish those plays. And [Saturday] we were.”
Now the Sounders turn their attention to a trip to Texas to take on FC Dallas on Saturday (5:30 p.m. PT; Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM). Seattle will be looking to use last weekend’s momentum to try and turn three points into six.
“We’re happy, but we’re not done,” said Ruidíaz. “It’s just one win. We need to keep trying, we need to keep working, so that this is something that continues.”
Echoed Morris: “We knew where we were [in the table], and obviously it wasn’t acceptable where we were, and we know that we’re better than what we’ve been showing. So, to have a performance like that gives everyone a ton of confidence to keep pushing, to keep moving forward.”
