SEATTLE — The situation could not have been any more perfect.
After four consecutive wins, the Seattle Sounders were hosting the last-place Houston Dynamo, a team that had just been eliminated from postseason contention. With a win, the Sounders would clinch a playoff berth for the eighth consecutive season.
After a quick turnaround this weekend in a loss to the Colorado Rapids, Houston did not start many of its mainstays, including Mauro Manotas, who entered Wednesday’s fixture having scored five goals in his last three games. Seattle had the dynamic pairing of Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro back from national team duty, a possibility that seemed unlikely less than a week ago.
The game and the playoff spot were for the taking, but like most of this 2016 season, things did not go as planned.
For the second straight match, an early injury forced interim head coach Brian Schmetzer to use an early substitution. In Vancouver on Oct. 2, it was Alvaro Fernandez. On Wednesday, it was Andreas Ivanschitz, who was diagnosed with a right knee sprain.
Seattle never looked right afterward and the opportunity was ultimately squandered in a scoreless draw. The club remains unbeaten in its last six matches, but a home draw with so much on the line left a sour taste in the team’s mouth.
“A point will be helpful down the road, but we’re disappointed,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who recorded five saves, and none bigger than his parry of a Will Bruin shot off the post in the first half. “It was a great opportunity to take care of business, to reward ourselves for the hard work we’ve put in and ensure ourselves a spot in the playoffs.
“We blew that chance. We deserve to reap the rewards of the hard work we have put in.”
The fact the team is distraught over a point is in itself a signifier of how much the club has turned its fortunes since late July. It is now 7-1-4 under Schmetzer and is expecting to win games. The Sounders are not satisfied just collecting points where they can get them.
The draw is especially frustrating, given that it was Seattle's third tie with the Dynamo this year.
“My overall impressions are that those are three times we could have gotten a win,” said Herculez Gomez, who made his second consecutive start on the wing. “Those are points missed that are hopefully not going to hurt us in the end, but could potentially come down to it.”
The Sounders' next opportunity to make the playoffs is considerably more difficult than the one they couldn’t achieve on Wednesday. They travel to Frisco, Texas, for a Sunday tilt against Western Conference- and Supporters’ Shield-leading FC Dallas with a short turnaround. While still a near-lock for the postseason and now tied with Real Salt Lake for fourth place, there is an unspoken uneasiness in not having it wrapped up.
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“The good thing about Wednesday-Sunday games is if you don’t have a good result Wednesday, you look forward to the next game,” said defensive midfielder Cristian Roldan, who finished the game at left back after Tony Alfaro departed with a cramp late in the match. “We have to get points on the road [at FC Dallas] because we don’t want to make a difficult last home game for us [versus Real Salt Lake].”
The Sounders play at the same time as the Portland Timbers on Sunday, who are hosting the Rapids. If the Timbers drop points, Seattle will clinch irrespective of its result. But Schmetzer knows Wednesday night’s performance left much to be desired.
“Things happen,” he said. “We control certain things that we need to work on. We’ve got training tomorrow.”
