Minnesota United must try to find a way to defeat an old foe when it hosts the Seattle Sounders in the deciding match of the Western Conference first round series Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The Sounders, who won the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019, are 15-3-3 all-time against the Loons in all competitions, including 2-0-1 in the playoffs.
Fourth-seeded Minnesota won the penalty shootout 3–2 in the first match, which ended in a scoreless draw on October 27. Fifth-seeded Seattle took a 3-0 lead in the first 41 minutes, rebounding to win the second game 4-2 at home on Monday.
“Our mentality is the same as before,” said Albert Rusnak of Seattle. “For us, it’s win or go home.”
Obed Vargas scored twice, including an 86th-minute goal to seal the victory, and Jordan Morris and Danny Musovski also scored first-half goals for Seattle.
Despite a poor start Monday, Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay saw some positives his team could build on heading into Saturday’s game. The Loons cut the lead to 3-2 with goals from Nectar Triantis and Robin Lod in first-half stoppage time to make things interesting in the second half before Vargas sealed the victory for the Sounders.
“We obviously wanted to survive the difficult early opening stages,” Ramsay said. “But I think the most important thing for us is that we showed real fighting character to get back in the game. … (Although) it didn’t mean anything (on Monday), at the end of the day it means a lot going into the next game.”
Lod added: “The good thing is that we can play in our stadium with our own fans, which helps us a lot, so I’m looking forward to that.”
The winner will face either San Diego FC or the Portland Timbers, who will play their deciding Game 3 on Sunday evening. If top-seeded San Diego advances, either Minnesota or Seattle would travel to San Diego in the West Semifinal. If Portland advances, the Loons or Sounders would host the Timbers.
–Field level media
