Stefan Frei’s save on the LA Galaxy’s Giovani dos Santos was not just his moment of 2016. It was the moment of the Seattle Sounders' season.
Trailing 1-0 early at StubHub Center on Sept. 25, a desperate Sounders team needed points as they chased an elusive playoff spot. Seattle entered the match with 35 points and in seventh place in the Western Conference, one spot outside of postseason contention.
In the 33rd minute, Robbie Keane played a left-footed through ball from 10 yards in his own half to a streaking dos Santos, who outpaced Roman Torres. Dos Santos took one touch to the right before trying to chip the ball past an oncoming Frei. The Sounds goalkeeper got low, cut off dos Santos’ angle and deflected the ball away with his face to keep Seattle’s deficit at one.
The magnitude of that save transcends the denial of a fantastic goal-scoring opportunity. If Frei doesn’t keep that out, the Sounders go down 2-0, likely leave Los Angeles emptyhanded and their little open playoff window all but closes.
Instead, they responded two minutes later on an own-goal equalizer off an Andreas Ivanschitz corner kick, and they didn’t stop there. Seattle rattled off four unanswered goals after a Jordan Morris brace and Osvaldo Alonso wonderstrike from distance to put the emphasis on an eventual 4-2 victory, the second of four in a row.
It was LA’s lone home loss all season and the most resounding victory under Brian Schmetzer’s tenure as interim head coach. It was also the first time the Sounders won against the Galaxy in LA since 2009.
Frei has had many memorable stops this year — his fingertip save on the Houston Dynamo’s Will Bruin two weeks later might have even been more impressive — but none was more meaningful than his one against LA.
He didn’t just save a shot on dos Santos. He saved the Sounders’ season.
