If the margins in the regular season are slim, they become even thinner in the postseason. So often, soccer matches are played on a knife edge, and results are determined by who can step up in the biggest of moments.
The Seattle Sounders needed a win on Monday at Lumen Field in Match 2 of their Best-of-3 First Round matchup against Minnesota United to keep their season alive, and it took fewer than eight minutes for Obed Vargas to open the scoring and do something the team couldn’t muster in Match 1 in Minnesota last week. On an attempted clearance off an Albert Rusnák corner kick, Vargas collected the ball at the top of the box before striking a low, left-footed drive across his body to the far corner to pace Seattle to a 4-2 victory.
“We talked before the game about finding moments to make an impact in the game,” said Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “You have to make plays in order to win. What I learned from a very good coach is you can look for those moments to make an impact in the game. Obed certainly did that tonight.”
Vargas’ strike was the first of three goals in succession in the first half to pace Seattle to a lead that, however threatened, it never relinquished. And when the Sounders were trying to kill the game off late in the second half, it was Vargas who stepped up yet again to deliver the dagger for his first career brace.
“Minnesota sits back a lot, so we need to get more numbers up the field to be more dangerous,” said Vargas. “The first goal was crucial to open them up a little bit and force them to come out of their shell…Against a back line of five and a team like that, you need to score one goal to force them out of their shell.”
Vargas also hit the post near the end of the first half as part of a Sounders onslaught against a Loons defense that was one of the best in the league in 2025. Minnesota conceded just 39 times in the regular season, good for the third-best mark in MLS, and had only allowed more than three goals once this year.
“We were more dynamic, more decisive, more aggressive,” said Vargas. “We believed the ball was going to go in the back of the net.”
The Mexican international was No. 1 on Major League Soccer’s 22 Under 22 list but snubbed recently for MLS Young Player of the Year. On Monday, the 20-year-old reminded everyone across the league why he is one of MLS’ brightest Homegrown stars.
Now, he and the Sounders head back to Allianz Field in St. Paul on Saturday (1 p.m. PT; MLS Season Pass on Apple TV) in a winner-takes-all Match 3 with a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals on the line. If Seattle expects to advance to take on the winner of San Diego FC and the Portland Timbers, it will need to rely on its central midfielder to put in more influential work on both sides of the ball.
“Obed [had] a very, very good performance,” said Schmetzer. “He was looking for his moments to be involved in the attack. His defending again and his covering ground with Cristian [Roldan] was very, very good, but it’s another strong performance from a very good young soccer player.”
