Sounders lose, but still advance to conference finals
Published 8:25 pm Sunday, November 6, 2016
Seattle Sounders FC lost the battle Sunday night. But the Sounders won the war.
Seattle lost the second leg of its MLS Western Conference semifinal tie Sunday, falling 2-1 to FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas. However, the Sounders advanced to the conference finals 4-2 on aggregate, as Seattle built a commanding 3-0 lead in the first leg last week at CenturyLink Field.
Sunday’s game was briefly interesting as FC Dallas, winner of the Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record, opened the scoring in the first half to provide a whiff of hope. However, when Seattle’s Nicolas Lodeiro tied it in the second half, it effectively killed off the tie as it gave the fourth-seeded Sounders an away goal, meaning Seattle owned the tiebreaker. Dallas would have needed to beat the Sounders by four to advance after Seattle scored its away goal.
The Sounders advanced to face the Colorado Rapids in the conference finals. Colorado, the conference’s second seed, advanced by beating the third-seeded LA Galaxy on penalty kicks.
The teams have to wait two weeks for the two-leg conference finals to begin, due to the upcoming break for international games. The Sounders host the first leg of the tie on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
