Despite conceding inside of two minutes to the Supporters Shield-leading San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, the Seattle Sounders’ attitude never wavered. They erased the deficit near the end of the first half before trading goals in the second half and ultimately finding the winner in the 89th minute.
“It shows how much grit and desire we have to win these kinds of games, even if we start off really badly,” said Osaze De Rosario, who headed in a cross from Nouhou at the death to give the Sounders their 3-2 win. “We’re able to fix our wrongs.”
Perhaps it’s fitting that De Rosario was the one to complete the thrilling victory, a player who began the season as the starting No. 9 before falling on the depth chart and needing to work his way back into the rotation. Head Coach Brian Schmetzer praised the work ethic of De Rosario, who had been staying after training working on his finishing so he could make the most of his opportunity.
With the result, the Sounders extended their home unbeaten streak to 22 games, their MLS unbeaten run to nine, and jumped into third place in the Western Conference standings with matches in hand. They also captured the Heritage Cup by sweeping the Earthquakes, a team whose only two losses in 13 matches this year have come at the hands of Seattle.
“That’s a super-motivated group,” said Schmetzer. “We’ve only lost one game this year, and that was a hard game. San Diego was a hard game, and we dropped points in Kansas City. But we beat Vancouver twice in [Concacaf Champions Cup], and the team’s done exceptionally well.”
Jesús Ferreira, in particular, shined on Wednesday, scoring on a full-field run for his second goal of the season. A pass-first playmaker since arriving in Seattle, Ferreira’s teammates have been urging him to be more selfish in front of goal, and on Wednesday he flashed the type of attacking skill that made him one of the league’s most lethal goalscorers during his time with FC Dallas.
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“We knew that in this game, we’re at home and we can attack a little more and leave our guys in the back a little one-v-one,” said Ferreira. “We believe in our guys. We have athletes who can run up and down. We were a little bit more aggressive and that worked in our favor.
“Every game at home is a big game. These three points, especially with an opponent who is above us, it’s very important. We know how good of a team San Jose is.”
Seattle is looking to close out the first part of a segmented season strong before the league takes a six-week break for the FIFA World Cup. The Sounders will first host the LA Galaxy on Saturday (6:15 p.m. PT; FS1, Apple TV | TICKETS) in the World’s Game match before visiting LAFC on May 24.
“We’re going in with the mentality that these [last few games] are finals because then we have a break,” said Ferreira. “We have to end the [first part of] the season on a high note.”
