SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders are going to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Will Bruin, Nicolás Lodeiro, Chad Marshall and Magnus Wolff Eikrem all scored in the second half, pacing the Sounders to a 4-0 victory in the second leg of their CCL series against Salvadoran side Santa Tecla at CenturyLink Field on Thursday night.
The result gave Seattle a 5-2 aggregate victory following a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the series in El Salvador, sending them through to the next round of the regional tournament where they will face Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara.
Neither side managed to crack the scoresheet in a chippy and physical first half, but the Sounders broke through with a tap-in tally from Bruin just after second-half kickoff off a cross from Lodeiro.
Lodeiro added the second of the evening for Seattle 20 minutes later, slotting home a perfectly placed header off a feed from Clint Dempsey. Marshall then headed home a finish of his own in the 81st, with Wolff Eikrem adding the insurance two minutes later to seal the 4-0 scoreline that would hold as the Leg 2 final.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
THE WOLFF IMPRESSES
Following the scoreless first half, Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer subbed on new midfielder Magnus Wolff Eikrem to start the second half and the move paid immediate dividends. The Norwegian helped facilitate Seattle’s first two goals with a pair of pinpoint feeds and scored one of his own for the Sounders final goal. With forward Jordan Morris out for the year with a torn ACL, Eikrem’s presence in Seattle’s attack will be pivotal in 2018. He’s off to a good start.
SECOND HALF ONSLAUGHT
The blowout result made for easier breathing for the 35,549 fans in attendance at CenturyLink Field on Thursday, but Santa Tecla certainly made the Sounders earn their keep. The scoreless deadlock at halftime meant the visitors still led the series 2-1 on aggregate and would have gone through if they could have held that result. In the end, however, the lengthy road trip and the hostile CenturyLink environment would prove too much for Santa Tecla to overcome as the Sounders poured it on in the second half.
MLS SEASON KICKING OFF
With their ticket to the quarterfinals punched, it’s finally on to league play for Seattle, which kicks off its 10th MLS season against LAFC at CenturyLink on Sunday, March 4 (2 p.m. PT; ESPN, YouTubeTV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS). The scheduling of CCL that overlaps with the league’s preseason is always the biggest challenge for MLS clubs, so the Sounders can consider obstacle number one of their 2018 campaign cleared ahead of the start of their regular season.
