SEATTLE — Sunday night was a long time coming for Aaron Kovar.
The Seattle Sounders Homegrown midfielder broke his collarbone last July in the U.S. Open Cup and missed 13 games before returning as a substitute in the penultimate match of the 2016 Major League Soccer regular season. He did not play in the playoffs during Seattle’s run to MLS Cup and then suffered a groin injury in the offseason, which kept him sidelined for the first 14 games of the 2017 season.
At last, in the 54th minute on Sunday in the Sounders’ 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo, Kovar checked in.
“I don’t know how much [you appreciate] the moment while it’s happening, because you’re in the moment,” Kovar said. “But I think when I really felt like, ‘This is really good to be back,’ is when we scored that goal. It was just a good feeling.”
Kovar helped set up Will Bruin’s goal with some nifty footwork to keep possession as he dribbled around two Houston defenders. He found Osvaldo Alonso, who sent the ball wide to Cristian Roldan whose cross found Bruin for the game-winning goal in the 69th minute. Kovar stressed how important it was for him to not lose the ball in that situation because of how many numbers the Sounders had forward, and his deft bit of skill unbalanced the Dynamo defense enough to find the one breakthrough Seattle needed.
“He was ready to play,” said Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer. “I love Aaron because he’s a competitor. You saw his initial ball that he gets, he’s going at guys. He wants to make a difference. I think that’s something that is just testament to his character, and he came in and made a difference. He wasn’t 100 percent Aaron Kovar, he was a little rusty, but he certainly came in and made a strong impact in this game, so that’s a good thing.”
Kovar provides more depth in attacking midfield especially while Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris are with the U.S. national team for World Cup qualifiers and Harry Shipp recovers from a hip flexor injury. The 23-year-old Seattle native found himself in good situations going forward on Sunday and is excited about earning more minutes as he works toward full match fitness. His 36 minutes played on Sunday night are more than he has played combined in MLS since July 13, 2016.
"It’s a process, one day at a time, ramping up and just trying to show that I can do it,” Kovar said. “I think what I’ve had to learn these first few years is that you just can’t get too low when things are bad and when things are good you can’t get too high because it can change for the better or you can lose it all in one second.
“You just try to appreciate every little moment you have and appreciate tonight and look forward to the next opportunity.”
