Some players just live for the biggest moments, the biggest matches and the biggest rivalries. The Seattle Sounders have had plenty, and they will have another chance to further write history when the welcome the Portland Timbers to Lumen Field on Saturday (1:55 p.m. PT; FOX, FOX Deportes, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS). Let’s take a look at the Sounders’ top attacking players in the Seattle – Portland rivalry during the MLS era.
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Fredy Montero
Stats: 7 goals and 1 assist in 8 MLS regular-season matches
Biggest moment: Montero scored a beautiful goal at Portland in September 2012. He opened the scoring for the Sounders in an eventual 1-1 draw with a deft touch and quick volley that beat substitute goalkeeper Joe Bendik just moments after he came on the pitch.
Clint Dempsey
Stats: 9 goals and 1 assist in 12 MLS regular-season matches
Biggest moment: With respect to his hat trick in Portland in 2014, Dempsey’s most lasting memory from the rivalry would come three years later. Deuce’s towering header in the fourth minute of stoppage time in June 2017 equalized and stole a point for Seattle in front of a stunned Providence Park.
Raúl Ruidíaz
Stats: 10 goals and 2 assists in 11 MLS matches (regular season and postseason)
Biggest moment: Ruidíaz’s best moment might be his stoppage-time volley that forced extra time in the Western Conference Semifinals in the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, but the Sounders unfortunately fell in penalty kicks. Ruidíaz punctuated a historic 6-2 thrashing against Portland last season with a rocket of a free kick goal — his first of two tallies on the evening — in a match that will be forever remembered as one of Seattle’s best in the rivalry.
Obafemi Martins
Stats: 3 goals and 4 assists in 6 MLS regular-season matches
Biggest moment: A player known to pull off the spectacular, Oba scored a wondergoal in Portland in 2014. He dribbled through several Timbers defenders, played a one-two with Dempsey before dribbling through the rest of Portland’s defense and finishing with a cheeky chip.
Nicolás Lodeiro
Stats: 1 goals and 7 assists in 17 MLS matches (regular season and postseason)
Biggest moment: Lodeiro has historically played provider in this rivalry, racking up seven assists, but his lone goal was a big one. After Dairon Asprilla scored early into extra time in the 2018 Western Conference Semifinals, Lodeiro answered with an ice-cold penalty to level the series on aggregate.
