Seattle Sounders win MLS Cup 3-1 over Toronto FC

SEATTLE-Sunday November 10th pre-game events for the Major League Soccer Cup Finals started at 8:00am. Among the events included a special performance by Macklemore before the 10:45am "March to the Match" from Occidental Park to CenturyLink field. 69,274 fans piled into CenturyLink field breaking an attendance record for fans at a soccer match in Washington State and attendance for a sporting event of any kind at CenturyLink field. Aaron Brown, our still photographer for this event, mentioned to me after the game that he regretted not bringing ear plugs for the noise at field level.

The first half was tightly played with the time of possession heavily in Toronto's favor 65% to 35%. Toronto was more accurate and frequent with their passes and had three quality scoring chances versus Seattle's two. Seattle's goalie #24 Stefan Frei made three great saves in the first half. With less than a minute left in the first half #9 Raul Ruidiaz had the best scoring chance of the first half stopped by Toronto goaltender #16 Quentin Westberg. That save briefly quieted the crowd going into halftime and the buzz in the press box was that Seattle played a poor 1st half despite the game being tied 0-0.

Seattle played a much better 2nd half and it all started when the Sounders' Kelvin Leerdam kicked a ball that redirected off of Justin Morrow's leg and into the net for the first goal of the game. Since Leerdam is a defender and defenders aren't focused on scoring goals (he's scored just 6 goals in his MLS career) this is the equivalent of having the defense score a touchdown in football. It was very demoralizing for Toronto and they never recovered.

At the 76th minute #8 Victor Rodriguez scored what would be the game winning goal for the Sounders and the fans at the stadium got even louder sensing that Seattle was going to win. #9 Raul Ruidiaz who had several scoring chances during the match finally got one past Toronto's goalie making the score 3-0 at the 90 minute mark. Five minutes of overage time were announced and Toronto's Jozy Altidore who did not start the game due to injury put in a header to make it 3-1 with two minutes left. The late goal didn't quiet the crowd at all and the game ended at 3-1 with Seattle winning its 2nd MLS Cup and its first at home.

The writers in the press box were handed out individual ballots with a few minutes left in the game to vote for the MLS Cup MVP. This was a pleasant surprise for me as I was not expecting to vote. Victor Rodriguez was named MLS Cup MVP.

Scoring Summary

57' – #18 Kelvin Leerdam assisted by #9 Raul Ruidiaz

76' – #8 Victor Rodriguez assisted by #10 Nicolás Lodeiro and #4 Gustav Svensson

90' – #9 Raul Ruidiaz assisted by #4 Gustav Svensson

93' – #17 Jozy Altidore from #10 Alejandro Pozuelo

Goals – Kelvin Leerdam, Victor Rodriguez, Raul Ruidiaz, Jozy Altidore

Assists – Gustav Svensson 2, Raul Ruidiaz, Nicolás Lodeiro, Alejandro Pozuelo