Sounders hang on vs Dallas to earn spot in conference championship

Seattle came to Dallas with a 3-0 advantage from the first leg after their big surprise win last week at home. The game was nervy and difficult for the Sounders, and Dallas’ two goals didn’t make it any easier. But the Sounders managed that crucial away goal through Nicolas Lodeiro and, despite losing 2-1 on Sunday, held on to get the 4-2 win on aggregate and a place in the Western Conference Championship.

Brian Schmetzer, the Sounders’ newly minted head coach (his interim title was removed earlier this week), put out the same starting nine from last week’s match. Defender Roman Torres, however, did make the bench after being out last week with a hamstring issue. FC Dallas put out a similar lineup as last week as well, with a couple changes meant to boost their attack. Former Sounder Mauro Rosales made the starting lineup, presumably to give Dallas the creativity they have been missing without Mauro Diaz.

The first half started about as expected, with Dallas taking risks early to try and establish a lead, but were unable to create any useful chances. Seattle relied on its counterattack at times, trying to maintain possession and get Dallas to open themselves up. Dallas had its best early chance through a deflected Maynor Figueroa shot, but Stefan Frei made the save. The goalie then kicked off a Sounders counterattack that nearly saw Nelson Valdez get a cross to Jordan Morris, but the pass was a little too fast for the rookie. Frei saved Seattle’s blushes again after a defensive miscue allowed Atiba Harris a wide open shot on goal, but the Sounders’ keeper managed to save the point-blank shot. The deadlock eventually broke in the home side’s favor in the 25th minute, as Tesho Akindele headed in a cross past Frei to give Dallas a 1-0 lead. The Sounders looked for openings after the goal, with their next solid chance coming when Lodeiro’s free kick from just outside the box was tipped onto the the post by Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz. The half ended with a dangerous free kick for Dallas, but the team’s only meaningful shot from the opportunity flew high over the crossbar.

The second half started with some surprise, as Oniel Fisher replaced Morris, who suffered an apparent thigh injury. Less than 10 minutes into the half, Tyrone Mears found space deep on the right flank after beating his opposite number and whipped a cross into the box. A flying Lodeiro met the cross at point-blank range to knot the score at 1-1. But the Sounders barely had time to celebrate, as Dallas flew down the pitch after the restart and pinned the Sounders back when a deep cross found an unmarked Rosales at the far post. The former Sounder headed the ball back across goal to a wide open Maximiliano Urruti, who powerfully headed the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1. The Sounders almost gifted the home side another when Frei dropped a save near the goal line but Dallas’ attackers were unable to get a clean shot before firing the ball over the bar.

Man of the match: This is a tough one. I think Stefan Frei, even though he didn’t have the best of nights. He kept a number of chances out of his net and commanded his area well at times. He could have done better during Dallas’ second goal, but his defense was definitely more at fault than him. Nicolas Lodeiro deserves a mention for his goal and a handful of other solid moments.

Turning point: Even though this one felt nerve-wracking until the final whistle, Lodeiro’s goal helped Seattle keep the match just out of reach for the trailing home side.

One reason to worry: Jordan Morris and Nelson Valdez appeared to have injuries, though we don’t yet know the extent. If they are injured (even slightly), the Sounders hope they’ll be able to skip international duty and heal up before the first conference finals match in just over two weeks. The team called Morris’ injury a hamstring strain after the match.

One reason to relax: The Sounders made it! This result means they’ve already made a deep run in this year’s playoffs when we all wrote them off from even making it in. They have more than two weeks to rest.

Other notes:

• Dallas managed to expose a few of Seattle’s most significant weaknesses, most notably a disorganized defense on the home team’s second goal. The Sounders really need Roman Torres back for the next round. Zach Scott almost gave Dallas an easy goal early on, if it weren’t for a great save by Frei.

• The Sounders had a few discipline problems early in the match, with Cristian Roldan getting into a scuffle and earning a yellow card. But as Dallas got more and more physical and tried to push their opponents, the more calm and collected Seattle got.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.