The lights dimmed, and then Lumen Field erupted into a cacophony of sound. It wasn’t a goal — instead the new light show that now precedes home games in Seattle — but it was about as exciting as it would get, as the Seattle Sounders grabbed their first point of 2024 — but will continue to wait for their first win — after a 0-0 draw in their home opener against Austin FC. Facing the team projected by many to sit near the bottom of the Western Conference, the Sounders were expected to dominate (and did), but couldn’t find the net despite a bevy of chances.
Despite neither team taking a shot for a quarter of an hour, Seattle controlled the game, dominating nearly every metric despite the one on the scoreboard. De la Vega, starting as the Sounders attacking midfielder, dropped into the left half space on nearly every possession to carry the ball out, and began to run the attack.
The Sounders rushed Austin early; de la Vega sprinted 30 yards to press Austin center back Julio Cascante, and head coach Brian Schmetzer said, “We’re at home [and] we want to set the tempo. Was it effective at times? Yeah. But did we do enough in those transition moments? That’s where we need to be more clinical.”
Then, the shots began to come. An Alex Roldan effort blocked by a sliding defender. A Jackson Ragen header off the recycled corner kick that flashed wide. A Nouhou volley that ended up closer to a field goal than underneath the crossbar. By the half, despite not troubling Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver, Seattle was undeniably in the driver’s seat. Austin didn’t have a shot, and its chances were held few and far between, but it remained even.
The chances continued to flow early in the second half as a Josh Atencio shot drifted wide of Stuver’s right hand post, but de la Vega was looking like the key to Seattle’s attack. He sat at the heart of every break and possession moment. “I think that the kid can play in the middle and on the left,” Schmetzer said. ”I think he just needs to get used to the league physically [and] use his teammates a little bit more.”
That physical frustration started to show as both sides began to foul. The pushes after the play became more noticeable, and when Austin winger Emiliano Rigoni went down inside the Sounders’ box, Verde head coach Josh Wolff protested so vehemently that he would receive a yellow card.
What felt like a building moment, though, was severed in the 62nd minute when de la Vega sat down and signaled for a change. De la Vega’s status is still unknown, and the Sounders will do an MRI before the next training session, but it’s not the same injury that he came to Seattle with. Raúl Ruidíaz entered in his place, but it would be on the rest of the Sounders to find the creative spark that the Argentinian had added.
Seattle’s forward sat behind Jordan Morris — in much the same look that the Sounders offered a week ago against LAFC. It began to bear fruit soon after his entrance: shots continued to dart just wide of each post, but Stuver stood strong.
Perhaps the closest of the lot was a 92nd minute Ruidíaz volley that cannoned off the crossbar — but in truth the 21 shots that Seattle took without a goal illustrated the problem that it has: without an ice-cold finisher, the expected goals that it will no doubt accumulate will remain just that: expected.
The basics were there, of course. The build-up play was better than it has been — especially with de la Vega in the mix — and every step except for the last was promising. The league’s best defense in 2023 looks once again strong, even missing multiple starting pieces. Goalkeeper Andrew Thomas said postgame, “I think that we’d be having a very different conversation if [Raúl’s shot] goes bar-down…in the end it’s one of those days that very easily could have been three or four nil.”
Thomas himself stood strong in a first home start, something that he called, “…speaks to the 10 guys who were ahead of me on the field.” But it will not work without those goals, especially at home, and that’s what the Sounders will look to add next.
First, though, is a trip to Philadelphia, where Seattle faces off against one of the East’s most consistent teams. The Union have started with two straight draws against Chicago and Kansas City, but continue to compete in the Concacaf Champions Cup alongside MLS play. They’ll face off next Saturday, at 4:30 Pacific Time.
Feature photo by Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network