SEATTLE — Will Bruin had had enough of Head Coach Brian Schmetzer’s defensive talks.
Schmetzer had been harping too much on Bruin’s defensive role and responsibility and as a result, Bruin had not scored in two months entering Sunday’s match against FC Dallas. Before the match, though, Bruin asked Schmetzer about what he should do defensively, and Schmetzer deferred.
“I said, ‘Will, I don’t want to talk about your defending, just score some goals,” Schmetzer recalled with a smile. “It was a nice little banter back and forth.”
Said Bruin: “A few games ago I gave [Schmetzer] a little attitude about always talking about defending when I’m a striker and I know I haven’t scored in a while, and that’s all I think about. It was a little inside joke between us. He didn’t bring it up [on Sunday] and I worried about scoring and I was lucky to get a fortunate bounce to start it.”
Bruin recorded a brace in three minutes in a 4-0 win over Dallas, recording his ninth and 10th goals of the season. This is the fourth time in his seven professional seasons that he’s reached double-digit goals.
“You need to pay attention to [Bruin] a defensive unit,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei. “He can hold up the ball, he can battle, he can go up for crosses, he can finish — he’s got it all. It’s another threat for us that isn’t just one-dimensional, but has a lot of things going for him. I love the fact that he scored today because he’s a hard worker.”
Bruin said it felt good to get back into the scoresheet and is hoping Sunday can buoy him next week and into the playoffs. He’s second on the team in goals scored behind Clint Dempsey despite being an on-and-off starter this season and will be especially vital while Jordan Morris continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
The Sounders may very well go as far into the playoffs as the additional offensive production of Bruin can take them.
“Will has been an opportunistic goalscorer throughout his career and getting double digits again is just credit to what he does best,” said Schmetzer. “He’s an animal inside the box and he likes to pick up all the loose pieces.”
