Sounders and Timbers play to tight draw in first match of 2023 doubleheader
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In the second ever Seattle vs Portland doubleheader, the best rivalry in MLS produced a scoreless draw. The Sounders were the better team on the attack, but the Timbers noticeably packed defensive presence cleared away anything that Seattle tried to produce. There were a handful of tight chances on the day, but the Sounders poor finishing trend continues to hurt them when it comes to scoring and results. The one point keeps the Sounders atop the Western Conference, but also means that they’ve gone winless in the two Seattle vs Portland doubleheaders. In addition, through three matches so far this season, the Sounders have lost every Cascadia match they’ve played in this season.
“Maybe just a little reflection on the halfway point of the year. Certainly a tie is a tie, it’s not great. There’s certain positives that we’ll try and take out of the game. If you look at the season as a whole, 27 points. 54 probably gets you in the playoffs. We’ve been hovering around first and second all season. I know, there’s a ton of games to go today. Lots of teams have, well, a couple of teams have games in hand. But overall, I would say that the team has done well. We’re in a stretch here where the results could have been better, I think will we’ll certainly reflect as a coaching staff next week when we have a full preparation before the Charlotte game. But overall, I can’t be horribly upset. 100 shutouts for Stefan Frei. He comes up third on the list behind Rimando and Hartman. We’ve had a lot of great players in this club. Brad Evans, Alonso, Steph’s obviously there. Nico has 200 starts now for the club. We’re getting young kids considerable minutes. And what I mean by that as in years past, maybe the kids have gotten a start here or there. Kids have had opportunities, and with Reed he got his chance today. We’ll work with him. But Cody, Josh, Obed. Those kids have played significant minutes in some important games. And I think that development will help us down the road as well. I have no fear putting, you know, Dylan, Teves had an outstanding performance against New York Red Bulls. I think the future is positive for me. It’ll take me a while and good luck to Laura and the Rein. Maybe they can salvage a win out of the afternoon. I know it’s a gorgeous day, I’ll go out there and watch a little bit of the game. But halfway through the year, there’s room to grow is what I would say. But I’m not completely disappointed.”
Pre-match sights and scenes ahead of the Seattle Sounders playing to a scoreless draw with the Portland Timbers (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Early danger
The first half of this match between Seattle and Portland saw both sides present no real danger between them, while the Sounders dominated possession. Seattle has been a side that’s created plenty of opportunity and chance throughout their season, failing to capitalize on it as of late, but none of that was evident through the first 45 minutes of this contest. All that middling possession, while they were making sloppy mistakes in their own half that the Timbers failed to capitalize on. As expected for this rivalry, it was chippy and heated (in terms of temperature and degree of intensity), with 17 fouls total being called and eleven of them against Portland.
Seattle was playing a dangerous game, with how sloppy and careless they had been in their own half, but the possession they’d controlled made it feel like they were just waiting to bust out of this quiet and get on the attack. With the veterans on this roster and the young talent that had been injected into this starting lineup, there was plenty of potential for the club to get their attack firing. With Raul Ruidiaz and Cristian Roldan on the bench, they were in solid position to do that in the second half.
The first half proved dangerous for the Sounders, as the Timbers generated some minor chances, while the game was notably physical (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Failing to find the follow through
The second half turned the offense up a notch, as both sides were able to generate more from their attack but it failed to result in any score. As they had in the first half, Seattle led the way in terms of offensive statistics but couldn’t make it count. Neither side was able to create a “big chance” and if it was, it came off a mistake made by the opponent. The mistake aspect was mostly the Sounders department, whose sloppy mistakes and occasional cracks in defense gave the Timbers prime opportunity to break through and find a late winner, including a golden giveaway in the final minutes of stoppage time. It was encouraging to see Cristian Roldan, coming in as a 57th minute substitution, provide some spark and help conduct some quality passing, and it’s a good sign moving forward.
“You’ll see the same Cristian Roldan that we’ve grown to love. He just needs a couple games under his belt. My expectations for Cristian was to give everybody a boost. I think that happened. I think the crowd enjoyed seeing him back on the field. It was his birthday today. We joked a little bit after the game, we couldn’t get him the three points for his birthday. He’s a great, great young man and a tremendous soccer player.”
When it comes to the result of this rivalry match, neither Roldan or Ruidiaz (who entered at the same time) could be the hero that Seattle needed. Time ran out, and the two rivals split points. Outside of the basic shots, the Sounders dominated the attacking statistics but their generation of opportunities was much lower than it has been this year. Seattle is still looking to put together their finishing and find a rhythm, something that was present through the first portion of the regular season. They're treading water right now, and their month of June needs to be much better than how May went if they want to stay firmly atop the Western Conference rather than scrapping by.
“Did we really create enough chances? And I think you could say the answer’s no, probably not. We need to create a little bit more. You know, some of that is on the right-hand side, we started two kids. Your expectations have to be in line, normally right side with Cristian and Alex is lights out. It’s good. Good attacking movements down that right hand side. With Reed and Cody expectations in line, I thought they worked hard. I think they were decent. Cody in the second half showed that he could get it out. Still get up and down the line. But they’re not finished products yet. The left side, I was impressed with Leo Chu to play three games in a week. I don’t know if people would have thought that would have happened. But you can tell that he’s a dangerous, component to our attack. We just need to get him to have a little bit more final polish on his final pass.”
Seattle Sounders FC forward Leo Chu continues to generate offensive attack up the side for the Sounders, as Nouhou continues to aid him (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Learning experiences
As mentioned in the beginning of the season, head coach Brian Schmetzer’s intention to play his young players continues to show as this season progresses. Two players in particular stood out today, as Reed Baker-Whiting started the game at right wing while Cody Baker got the start as the right outside back for the Sounders. Both had relatively middling games, but showed good upset, especially considering the rivalry match that they were in. Baker-Whiting was able to generate space and create chances for service; his balls in just weren’t the best now. Baker played solid defensively, didn’t really get beaten down his side of the field, and was able to physically hold his own against the Timbers who were trying to get into his head. It’s a big experience for them both, and should only help more with their further development for the club.
Young Seattle Sounders FC players Reed Baker-Whiting and Cody Baker continue to play meaningful minutes for the club (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Not a poor result, but could’ve been better
While splitting points is never necessarily a bad thing, especially since the Sounders have been downright bad in their recent run of form at Lumen Field. The issue with this match was that again Seattle failed to convert opportunities during a match that they dominated in terms of offensive statistics. That exact scenario has played out numerous times for the Sounders this season already, and it’s the reason why they’re barely hanging on to first place in the West and not extending their lead atop the conference. The chances are there, the talent is putting opportunities in play (including young talent), the club just isn’t finishing them.
“Well, maybe I should do a little reflection, because Gio, he’s actually a nice man. I think he’s a good coach. But that is a sore spot. It’s kind of a black hole on the resume for sure. He has had my number since he started with Portland, there’s no denying that, that’s a fact. We were hoping, you know, and I saw our ECS newsletter and start up a new decade of dominance and some of the other things that float around on social media, what does motivate me to be better than my adversary? I’ll reflect on that. I thought we did what we could for this game, to Jeremiah’s point of the tactics were okay. Did they accomplish what we wanted? No, because we didn’t score. But, you know, certainly we kept another clean sheet. And if we defend well, we’re going to win a lot more games than we’re going to lose.”
Seattle Sounders FC head coach Brian Schmetzer appears to be yelled at by Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Our player of the match: Nouhou
You could very easily go with goalkeeper Stefan Frei from this match, and we’d arguably split this award with him after recording his 100th clean sheet in his career which marks him third all-time in MLS. While this is true, Nouhou had to make some big stops of his own down the stretch as the Timbers put on some late pressure, chasing down Portland attackers while continuing to help push the Seattle attack up the left side of the field. While there was much discussion about a potential sale for Nouhou this past offseason and especially around the time of the World Cup, it appears that the Cameroon-born defender while remain in a Sounders kit, and he continues to help them stay in games at his left outside back spot. For those big chase downs late in the game, Nouhou gets my pick.
“Stef is extremely vital for our success, and our success moving forward. Credit to him, 100 games of clean sheets is incredible. I’m sure he’ll be the first ones to tell you that he’s upset with not getting a win.”
Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei recorded his 100th career clean sheet in the draw (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Quick notes
At the time of writing, Sounders FC remains atop the MLS Western Conference with 27 points, two points ahead of St. Louis and LAFC. Both St. Louis (four matches) and LAFC (five matches) have games in-hand over Sounders FC.
Sounders FC hosted its largest crowd of the 2023 season today, as 42,054 took in the match. The game was part of a Seattle-Portland doubleheader featuring both cities’ topflight men’s and women’s soccer teams at Lumen Field, with a single ticket providing access to the full day. Following Sounders FC’s match, OL Reign hosted the Portland Thorns at Lumen Field.
In a fierce rivalry dating back to 1975 in the North American Soccer League, today’s match at Lumen Field was the 118th all-time meeting between Seattle and Portland across all competitions. Seattle leads the all-time series with a record of 56-46-16.
Earning a point a today’s game, Seattle arrested a four-match skid against the Timbers. Sounders FC had previously dropped four losses in a row to Portland, the most consecutive losses during any span of the MLS portion of the rivalry.
Seattle’s home record against the Timbers moves to 7-5-5 in regular-season play in the MLS era (dating back to 2011). The club is now 14-14-8 in regular-season play against the Timbers.
Today was also Seattle’s third Cascadia Cup match of the year, the regional cup competition played between Sounders FC, Portland and Vancouver. The Rave Green currently sit in third place in the 2023 Cascadia Cup standings. Portland is leading the way with seven points (2-1-1), with Vancouver close behind with six points (2-1-0).
On home turf at Lumen Field in 2023, Seattle has five wins, three losses and two draws through 10 MLS contests on the EQC Pitch.
Keeping the clean sheet today, Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei recorded his 100th shutout in MLS regular-season play. By hitting the century mark, Frei becomes just the third player in MLS history to accomplish the feat (Nick Rimando, Kevin Hartman).
Club captain Nicolás Lodeiro made his 200th start for Seattle on Saturday afternoon across all competitions, becoming just the fifth Sounder to achieve this mark in the club’s MLS era. The Uruguayan joins Stefan Frei, Cristian Roldan, Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans.
Entering the match as a 57th-minute substitute, midfielder Cristian Roldan made his return from an injury layoff that dates back to April 15. Roldan was making his way through the concussion protocol, forcing him to miss 11 matches for the Rave Green. He last featured on April 8 in 3-0 win over St. Louis. He now has eight appearances for the club in 2023 (seven starts).
There were five changes to Head Coach Brian Schmetzer’s starting XI today from Wednesday’s match versus San Jose, with Yeimar Gómez Andrade replacing Xavier Arreaga at centerback, while Cody Baker replaced Alex Roldan on the backline (suspension). João Paulo (suspended for Wednesday’s match) was back in central midfield for Josh Atencio, while Reed Baker-Whiting rotated in for Dylan Teves on the right wing. Fredy Montero got the nod up top in place of Héber.
What’s next?
Seattle has ended its three match homestand, heading out on the road for two tough matches against current playoff teams in their respective conferences. The next time that the Sounders will do battle is on Saturday, June 10th in the state of North Carolina as they battle Charlotte FC for the second time ever. It’s the first time ever that Seattle will head down to play Charlotte in their building, as Seattle narrowly took a 2-1 result against them at Lumen Field in 2022. The Sounders will look to bounce back and snap out of their recent struggling shape against a Charlotte side that has lost four of their past five.