SEATTLE – It’s never easy for players or head coaches to publicly vent their frustrations about referees in Major League Soccer, but it’s just as tough to completely hide some roiling emotions about controversial calls that define a game.
Seattle Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid and a handful of players walked that fine line Saturday night following the team’s 2-1 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC, arguably the team’s most vexing defeat yet of a franchise-record three-game losing streak to open the season.
The Whitecaps walked out of CenturyLink Field with the win in no small part due to to a pair of penalty kicks awarded their way on each side of halftime. Head referee Mark Geiger whistled both – one in the 9th minute for an apparent trip by Sounders left back Joevin Jones and another in the 74th on center back Chad Marshall for a slide tackle – and the veteran World Cup official left the field after the match to a chorus of dissent from the more than 40,000 fans in attendance.
Schmid, however, stopped short of commenting directly on Geiger’s performance, insisting instead that the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) will be the ones tasked with assessing the calls that defined the game.
“That’s for PRO to analyze his performance,” Schmid said. “They don’t really care what I think.”
The Sounders head coach did, however, offer a sly take on the Whitecaps’ first goal, converted by midfielder Pedro Morales after Jones was whistled for the foul on Christian Bolaños. Replays left a murky picture of whether or not Jones clipped the Vancouver midfielder while they both chased a loose ball in the Sounders penalty box, but Schmid said there was nothing unfamiliar about what happened on the play.
“I’m not sure about the PKs because I haven’t seen the replays yet,” Schmid said, “but I’ve seen guys trip themselves in the box before. So I know it can be done. It seems like right now, we’re not catching a break in any way, shape or form.”
The second PK was equally as ambiguous, when Marshall was whistled for a foul on Vancouver forward Blas Perez as they streaked into the box for a loose ball. Marshall slid and cleared the ball away but also caught plenty of Perez in the process, and Geiger quickly pointed to the spot.
Morales converted that PK as well, and the Whitecaps were winners.
“From my viewpoint, I can see Chad, and he clearly gets the ball,” goalkeeper Stefan Frei said. “Obviously there’s going to be contact, both guys are going to the ball. I don’t know what [Geiger] saw from his viewpoint, I think he only saw the contact and he didn’t see the touch from Chad. He made the call and it’s a big, big decision, and we paid for it.”
Both Frei and defender Zach Scott pointed out the physical play in the match, which saw the Whitecaps dish out 20 fouls and the Sounders 14. There were also six yellow cards in the match, four of which came for hard fouls.
“I don’t mind chippy games as much, as long as it’s going both ways,” Scott said. “If the ref wants to keep it chippy on both sides, it’s a Cascadia game. We all know what to expect. We’re not naïve here, just let it go both ways, and that was the only frustrating part.”
Scott said he took particular issue with the play of Perez, the Panamanian international picked up by Vancouver via trade with FC Dallas during the offseason. Perez and Scott tangled much of the night, and while ‘Caps head coach Carl Robinson praised his new striker’s play, Scott questioned some of the veteran’s tactics on the field, including a dramatic cry for a foul after the two went up for a header near midfield in the first half.
“I don’t know if you want to hear what I have to say about Perez; I’ll probably get fined,” Scott said. “If there are two things I do before my career is over, it’s make sure he never scores another goal, and beat Portland one more time.”
Despite the calls that went against them, Schmid and his players were also quick to spin the conversation inward, focusing on their own mistakes that have led to an 0-3 start to the season.
And while Schmid praised his team for an effort that saw them largely control the match, he’s also well aware the team’s frustrating first stretch of 2016 needs to come to an end soon.
“At some point you need to get results,” Schmid said. “At some point you need those results to add to your confidence and your belief in what you’re doing.
“Hopefully at some point too, the little errors and breaks that went against us tonight … unbelievable.”
