The Seattle Sounders ended the 2023 MLS Regular Season on a high note, with a 2-0 road victory at first-place St. Louis. Going into that final day, the Sounders could have finished anywhere between second and sixth place in the Western Conference. The draw from the Whitecaps vs. LAFC match, alongside the three points, allowed the Sounders to steal second place from LAFC. A major incentive for the Sounders on Decision Day was the injury situation, or rather, the lack thereof. The team did not seem to get a break from injuries throughout the bulk of the regular season, losing key players like Raúl Ruidíaz and Cristian Roldan at various intervals in the year. Thus, the Rave Green going into that fateful Decision Day, injury-free, was a significant boost– and the case stands going into the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, with the exception of Reed Baker-Whiting, who was recently ruled out for the next few weeks due to a hamstring injury he picked up on Decision Day.
The playoff campaign will begin at Lumen Field on Monday evening, for both the Sounders and FC Dallas. Round One of this year’s MLS Cup Playoffs will consist of a controversial Best-of-Three series, and since the Sounders captured the second-place seeding, Seattle will have hosting priorities for the series. The previous meetings between the Sounders and Dallas this regular season both ended in 1-1 draws, and since a tied Round One result goes straight to a penalty shootout, i.e., no stalemate outcomes, this makes predicting the series outcome a challenging task.
A primary concern that has followed the Sounders the entire year is the team’s lack of goalscoring, especially compared to rivaling teams like LAFC and St. Louis– potential future opponents who score goals for fun. The countering strong suit of the Sounders is their consistent defensive strength, where the number of goals conceded is amongst the least in the league. In the previous nine games, both Seattle and Dallas were unbeaten, and within this interval, the Sounders had actually won twice the number of games than Dallas. Another similar story between the sides is productivity in front of the goal, where both teams have found goal 41 times throughout the year.
Game Two will be held in Dallas on the following Saturday, where either a conference semifinalist will be decised, or third game will be forced back in Seattle.
A motivating factor for the Sounders is honoring Nicolás Lodeiro’s Seattle legacy with a third MLS Cup. After the Sounders legend had announced 2023 would be his final year with the Sounders, Lodiero was vocal about his vision of finishing the season with silverware. Thus, looking to finish his iconic Sounders spell by returning to the pinnacle of domestic achievements.
Cover Photo by Elisabeth Adams / Area Sports Network