MATCH RECAP: Sounders FC moves above playoff line with 4-0 victory over Vancouver

Two goals on either side of halftime propelled Seattle Sounders FC (6-6-1, 19 points) past Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC (5-8-2, 17 points) by a final score of 4-0 on Tuesday evening at Lumen Field. Team captain Nicolás Lodeiro began the scoring in the fifth minute, with striker Raúl Ruidíaz bagging a brace before fullback Alex Roldan added the fourth and final goal. The victory is Seattle’s fourth in its past five MLS games, moving the Rave Green above the playoff line in the Western Conference, with the club now occupying seventh position with multiple games in-hand on most other teams. Sounders FC also advanced its unbeaten run against Vancouver to 15 matches (10-0-5), dating back to April of 2017.

After Fredy Montero was taken down by Vancouver goalkeeper Cody Cropper inside the first five minutes of the match, Lodeiro slotted the ensuing penalty into the bottom corner of the net for his eighth goal across all competitions this season. 

Ruidíaz scored his first goal of the night in the 28th minute, finding himself on the receiving end of a touch by Jimmy Medranda inside the area, where he curled a shot into the right side of the net to double the home side’s lead. The Peruvian bagged his brace in the 54th minute, tapping in a Léo Chú cross from point-blank range for his 55th regular-season goal, tying him with Fredy Montero for most in club history.

Sounders FC made it 4-0 in emphatic fashion, with Alex Roldan scoring his second goal of 2022 across all competitions, firing a shot that beat Cropper at his near post in the 89th minute. Danny Leyva recorded his first MLS career assist on the strike.

After tonight’s match, Seattle faces a quick return to league play, as the Rave Green host Los Angeles FC on Sunday, June 18 in a nationally televised matchup on ABC (12:00 p.m. PT). Currently atop the Supporters’ Shield standings with 29 points, Sunday’s matchup marks the first contest of the season between the two Western Conference foes. 

MATCH NOTES

• Sounders FC is now 6-6-1 on the season and sits seventh in the Western Conference with 19 points, moving above the playoff line with tonight’s win. Seattle continues to have multiple games in-hand on most other teams in the conference due to fixture congestion during Concacaf Champions League play.  

• With tonight’s victory, Seattle has won four of its past five matches. 

• Seattle’s unbeaten run against Vancouver moves to 15 matches (10-0-5), dating back to April of 2017. The two Cascadia rivals have met 147 times since 1974, with Seattle leading the all-time series 72-50-25. No two teams have met more in the history of U.S. and Canadian soccer. 

• Tonight’s game was Seattle’s first Cascadia Cup contest of 2022, with the club now tied with Portland atop the standings. Contested annually since 2004 between all three Pacific Northwest teams, the competition was founded by the biggest supporters groups for each of the clubs: Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters, Portland’s Timbers Army and the Vancouver Southsiders. After pausing Cascadia Cup play in 2020 due to the pandemic, Seattle has claimed the regional title in the last three attempts (2021, 2019, 2018).

• Seattle’s home record in 2022 moves to 4-2-0 in MLS play and 8-2-1 in all competitions this season (MLS regular season, Concacaf Champions League and U.S. Open Cup). Including tonight’s match, the Rave Green are in the midst of a five-match home streak that continues on Saturday versus LAFC. 

• Club captain Nico Lodeiro bagged his third MLS goal in the fifth minute, converting a penalty from the spot. 

• Lodeiro’s penalty-kick strike was his eighth goal across all competitions in 2022, which leads the team. The Uruguayan has 52 goals across all competitions in Rave Green, good for fourth in club history. 

• Raúl Ruidíaz’s goals in the 28th and 54th minutes were the Peruvian’s seventh and eighth goals in all competitions in 2022, and his fourth and fifth tallies in league play.

• Ruidíaz now has 69 career goals across all competitions since joining Sounders FC in 2018. He currently ranks second in club history behind teammate Fredy Montero, (73 goals). 

• The Peruvian is currently tied with Montero in MLS regular-season goals (55 goals for both players). 

• In matches where both Ruidíaz and Lodeiro score, Sounders FC is 14-0-0 in all competitions (9-0-0 in MLS regular season play).  

• Since his MLS debut in July of 2018, no player in MLS has scored more against Vancouver than Ruidíaz (eight goals). 

• Alex Roldan scored his first goal of 2022 in the 89th minute, with Danny Leyva bagging his first career MLS assist on the goal. 

• Entering the match in the 72nd minute, Dylan Teves made his MLS debut on Tuesday evening.  

• Seattle Head Coach Brian Schmetzer deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with five changes from the May 29 match vs. Charlotte: Jackson Ragen, Kelyn Rowe, Jimmy Medranda, Léo Chú and Fredy Montero replaced Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Nouhou, Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris.

• Defenders Xavier Arreaga and Nouhou returned from international duty and were on the matchday roster this evening, while Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris are re-joining the club later this week from their respective national team squads

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 4 – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0
Wednesday, June 14, 2022

Venue: Lumen Field Stadium
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistants: Frank Anderson, Jeremy Kieso
Fourth Official: Tim Ford
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
Attendance: 31,165
Weather: 60 degrees and cloudy 

SCORING SUMMARY

SEA – Nico Lodeiro (penalty) 5’
SEA – Raúl Ruidíaz (Jimmy Medranda, Kelyn Rowe) 28’
SEA – Raúl Ruidíaz (Léo Chú, Kelyn Rowe) 54’
SEA – Alex Roldan (Danny Leyva) 89’ 

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

VAN – Andrés Cubas (caution) 65’
VAN – Caio Alexandre (caution) 79’ 

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Jimmy Medranda (Dylan Teves 72’), Xavier Arreaga, Jackson Ragen, Alex Roldan, Léo Chú (Ethan Dobbelaere 88’), Kelyn Rowe, Obed Vargas, Nicolás Lodeiro (Abdoulaye Cissoko 88’), Raúl Ruidíaz (Will Bruin 64’), Fredy Montero (Danny Leyva 72’)

Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Nouhou

Total shots: 16
Shots on goal: 8
Fouls: 16
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 0

Vancouver Whitecaps FC – Cody Cropper, Jake Nerwinski (Tristan Blackmon 75’), Érik Godoy, Ranko Veselinović, Luis Martins (Cristian Dájome 61’), Leonard Owusu (Caio Alexandre 46’), Florian Jungwirth (Andrés Cubas 61’), Marcus Godinho, Ryan Gauld, Déiber Caicedo (Ryan Raposo 89’), Brian White (Tosaint Ricketts 68’)

Substitutes not used: Isaac Boehmer, Sebastian Berhalter, Michael Baldisimo

Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 0
Fouls: 10
Offside: 4
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 3