SEATTLE — There was no sitting back, no packing in on defense.
FC Dallas pushed forward in a bid to reach the Major League Soccer playoffs with a win at Seattle, but the free-flowing style played right into the Sounders comfort zone.
Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, the reigning MLS player of the week, had two assists as Seattle scored two goals in the second half for a 2-1 come-from-behind win Saturday night at Qwest Field.
While the Sounders (12-7-11) are the first MLS expansion team since the 1998 Chicago Fire to make the postseason, Dallas (11-13-6) saw its postseason hopes dashed.
With its 47 points, Seattle, a winner of three straight, is second in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Houston and Chivas USA, which will square off in a regular-season finale Sunday in Carson, Calif. Playoff pairings, sites and dates won’t be determined until Sunday’s games are completed.
The Sounders believe they are ready for the playoffs.
“We don’t fear anybody, we feel very confident with whoever we play,” Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “It was so nice to get that monkey (the scoreless streak) off our back, I’m very proud of the way everyone kept battling.”
Seattle midfielder Nate Jaqua leveled the score and ignited the crowd of 33,108 fans in the 62nd minute when he found himself on the end of a nice sequence of passes. Ljungberg dribbled to right corner of the Dallas box and sent in a deep cross that found the leg of a sliding Fredy Montero. Montero had enough focus to make a sliding centering pass right to Jaqua’s boot.
“It was a great ball by Fredy to get it back across (the box),” Jaqua said.
Jaqua’s equalizer ended a record Seattle won’t want to match in any upcoming seasons. The Sounders had gone 466 minutes without scoring a goal at Qwest Field before Jaqua’s tally — the last Seattle player to celebrate a goal in front of the home crowd was defender Patrick Ianni during a July 11 win over Houston.
“It was definitely good to get on the board at home,” Jaqua said. “We were confident, we were playing well and creating chances, we just couldn’t tuck one into the back of the net, but we knew that it would happen.”
Utilizing its speed, Seattle relentlessly pressured the Dallas defense and goalkeeper Dario Sala during a wild second half.
Seattle outshot Dallas 18-10, including 8-3 shots on goal.
Brad Evans flicked in the game-winning goal in the 84th minute after receiving a short left-footed cross from Ljungberg. But it was Jaqua’s persistence that created the goal-scoring opportunity. In the 84th minute, Jaqua dribbled down the right side, had the ball taken off his feet, but quickly turned around and stole the ball back before he tapped it to Ljungberg.
“I think we could’ve scored some other goals as well,” Ljungberg said. “… it was a great game.”
Dallas midfielder Atiba Harris put the away side on top after just 14 minutes. Seattle had more early chances, but Harris capitalized in the open field with a strong right-footed shot from about 25 yards out that beat Keller to his right side. Keller finished the match with two saves.
Not only did the win help Seattle’s chances for a higher seed in the playoffs, it also helped Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid make history.
Schmid recorded his 125th career win, making him the all-time winningest MLS head coach, one win ahead of U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley.
“My favorite record is most wins in the playoffs and that’s something I want to build on,” Schmid said after saying earning the No. 1 spot for all-time wins filled him with a lot of honor and humbleness.
George John, a Shorewood High School and University of Washington graduate, started in central defense for FC Dallas, but left the game in the 35th minute with an apparent lower leg injury. John did not return and defender Kyle Davies was substituted on for him in the 40th minute.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
