PORTLAND – For the Seattle Sounders, Sunday evening’s 1-0 Cascadia victory over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park was a cathartic result on multiple fronts.
Thanks to a 76th-minute game-deciding own goal spearheaded by a charging run and cross from defender Kim Kee-hee, the Sounders got their first victory in Portland since August 2014 – a feat that can be considered an important psychological milestone. It was also their first victory over Portland in 2018, coming off a 1-0 road loss on May 13 and a 3-2 defeat at CenturyLink Field on June 30.
Speaking inside a jubilant locker room after the match, Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan admitted that the three-point result in the house of his team’s biggest rival had an especially sweet taste to it.
“It’s fantastic,” Roldan said. “It’s the first time for me in my professional career to win here. First time [for the team] since 2014. We’re ecstatic, the team is stoked – not just because we won here against our rivals, but because we’re keeping it going. We’re putting ourselves in a really good position for the playoffs. So hopefully this train will keep going.”
Cristian Roldan celebrates after the Sounders 1-0 triumph in Portland / Jane Gershovich
The match will largely be remembered for Kim’s improbable jaunt down the right flank that ended with the own goal, but the performance was another illustration of the defining trait of the club’s current run of 10 straight unbeaten matches: Seattle’s lockdown defending anchored by the center back pairing of Kim and Chad Marshall and supplemented by Ozzie Alonso and Gustav Svensson in the defensive midfield.
Sunday’s defensive effort was especially critical against a Portland team that has made its name over the past few years as a lethal attacking side on its home field and is almost never held off the scoresheet in the friendly confines of Providence Park.
“It’s that die-or-die defensive mentality – sacrifice yourself and do whatever you can,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei. “Chad, Gustav [Svensson], all the guys were throwing themselves at the ball and not too many made it through. So, frustrating game for [Portland], I think. That’s what we needed to do.”
With another victory over Sporting Kansas City in their next match at CenturyLink Field on Saturday, September 1 the Sounders would have their MLS record-breaking eighth straight win.
That’s certainly some added incentive for what could be a history-making occasion against an always-tough SKC side currently residing at second on the Western Conference table. While that would be nice icing on the cake, Frei said, maximizing the points the team takes from this current ridiculous hot streak remains the ultimate objective.
“We’ve found a way to prolong this streak,” Frei said. “It doesn’t get any easier. You gain confidence, yes, but it gets more and more difficult. Today was a tough game, next week will be a tough game as well. But it’s really, really nice to find ourselves above the [playoff] line now and something we should take pride in after so much hard work we put in to climb out of that hole.
“But by no means is the job done. We have to keep going and keep pushing and prolong this streak as long as possible.”
