Editor’s Note: In celebration of the Seattle Sounders #ThisMoment 2016 playoff campaign, we’re taking a look back at the moments that defined Sounders playoff runs of the past.
And the playoff gods decreed it shall be Seattle vs Dallas in the Western Conference Semifinals, for the third year straight. In what is quickly becoming a playoff rivalry, many moments have hatched from the collision of these two sides. Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso got it all started in 2014.
The Sounders entered the 2014 MLS Cup playoffs after bypassing the Knockout Round with the top seed in the Western Conference. There they met FC Dallas for the first time in the MLS Cup playoffs.
Dallas claimed an early lead on a 34th-minute penalty converted by Brazilian midfielder Michel and took it into halftime in front of their home crowd.
Then came the honeybadger. Alonso had scored exactly one year previously for the Rave Green in the conference semifinals against Portland and returned to do it again at Dallas.
Midfielder Marco Pappa teed up a setpiece and struck it brilliantly for Alonso, who gave it the nod of approval into the far post netting drawing the match level and earning a crucial away goal. The Sounders walked away with a 1-1 draw at Dallas in the first leg.
Alonso’s goal proved to be the decisive margin of the series, as the Sounders earned a 0-0 draw at home in the second leg and advanced to the conference finals by virtue of away goals.
Here’s to the honeybadger. Forever big, in big moments.
