When Jordan Morris slotted home a goal in the 56th minute on Thursday night, the Seattle Sounders forward looked visibly relieved, as if all the hard work he had put in over the past 12 months had come to fruition.
The goal extended the Sounders’ lead to 3-0 in an eventual 5-0 rout over Honduran side F.C. Motagua in the second leg of the Round of 16 in Concacaf Champions League. But for Morris, it was his first goal since the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs after he injured his ACL for the second time last February. He made his return to competitive action ahead of schedule, getting onto the field for the final two matches of the 2021 MLS regular season before starting and going 104 minutes in Seattle’s opening playoff match.
To score again on Thursday night in front of his hometown crowd was a long time coming, but just being on the pitch was a celebration in itself.
“Just Jordan being back on the field, you can see some of the joy that he had,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “He’s a goalscorer and he loves scoring, but Jordan’s also an unselfish kid. I’m not so sure that that goal was the moment that he thinks about.”
The Sounders will need another productive year out of Morris, who was a 2020 MLS Best XI candidate and the 2019 MLS Comeback Player of the Year following his first ACL injury that cost him all of 2018. His return to the wing allows Schmetzer to revert to his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation while also allowing both captain Nicolás Lodeiro and new offseason acquisition Albert Rusnák to operate in advance positions.
Morris has looked sharp since returning. He hit the ground running after getting his first United States national team cap in over two years when he started a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina in December. He’s since made a start and two additional substitute appearance for the USMNT in crucial 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
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“We can take tonight’s game and maybe it’s a little bit of a monkey off his back, but…it’s his presence on the field that gives him joy,” Schmetzer reaffirmed. “He had that start for the national team, that was a big moment. That was a big deal for him.”
Morris, 27, is entering the prime of his career and is due for a massive year as one of the key figureheads in this dangerous Sounders attack. Thursday was hopefully the start of what could be another Comeback Player of the Year-worthy MLS campaign, which starts with the home opener on Sunday against Nashville SC (5 p.m. PT; FOX 13+, Prime Video, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS).
