The Seattle Sounders defeated Minnesota United 4-2 at Lumen Field on Monday in Game Two of their Best-of-3 First Round matchup in the MLS Cup Playoffs to even the series at 1-1. Obed Vargas, Jordan Morris, and Danny Musovski scored consecutively in the first half to put the Sounders up 3-0 before goals for the visitors from Nectarios Triantis and Robin Lod closed an eventful opening half. Vargas added an insurance tally in the 86th minute.
The Sounders found the opener inside eight minutes when Vargas collected an attempted clearance off a Sounders corner and pinged a left-footed strike through traffic. Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair got a hand on it but couldn’t keep out Vargas’ effort.
The Sounders doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Cristian Roldan picked up a loose ball on the right flank and drove to the end line before clipping a ball to the middle of the box for Jesús Ferreira, who headed it on frame and into the path of Morris, who redirected it into the net from the doorstep of the goal.
Seattle added a third in the 41st minute when Roldan got free down the right flank again after beautiful buildup play. Roldan then played Ferreira in the middle, and he again helped the ball along, this time to Musovski, who finished neatly.
Minnesota cut into the deficit with two goals in first-half stoppage time. Triantis scored the first in the first minute of added time when he finished off a nice run by Lod, who played the ball into Triantis’ feet in the box before he found the bottom corner.
Lod doubled up four minutes later when a turnover in midfield led to Bongokuhle Hlongwane sending a ball in behind the Sounders defense for Lod to run onto. The Finnish international stretched to get a toe on the ball to push it past an onrushing Stefan Frei.
The Sounders were inches away from restoring their two-goal lead in the ninth minute of stoppage time when Vargas struck a ball from the top of the box that rattled off the far post and back into play.
Ferreira ripped a shot from just outside the box in the 48th minute, but his strike was right at St. Clair.
The Sounders found some breathing room in the 86th minute when Danny Leyva played a deft ball into space for Paul Rothrock, who bodied his defender to win possession before dropping a pass into the path of Vargas, whose one-timed hit took a deflection to beat a diving St. Clair.
The Sounders will return to St. Paul to take on Minnesota in a decisive Game Three of their First Round series on Saturday (1 p.m. PT; MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). The winner of this series will take on the winner of San Diego FC and the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
New formation
Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer traded his traditional 4-2-3-1 formation for a two-forward setup that proved immediately fruitful with goals for both forwards Morris and Musovski. The Sounders exploded with a three-goal first half against a team in Minnesota that loves to sit deep and defend in a low block.
Starboy
In a breakout year in which he was named No. 1 on Major League Soccer’s MLS 22 Under 22 list, which recognizes the best 22 players under 22 years of age in MLS, Vargas showed out on the big stage on Monday. The Mexican international recorded his first career brace and was a shot off the post away from a hat trick.
Over the hump
After losing both regular season matches to Minnesota and falling in penalty kicks after a draw in the first contest of this series, the Sounders earned their first 2025 win over the Loons, a team against whom Seattle had been nearly unblemished since Minnesota entered MLS in 2017. The Sounders also avenged their only home loss of the MLS season, which came to Minnesota this summer.
