Sounders can’t solve Montreal in 2-1 loss to end homestand
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The Seattle Sounders ended their five game homestand with tough loss to CF Montreal. Montreal has historically seen success against the Sounders, and that continued in this match. Seattle scored a goal within the first ten minutes, but were unable to find the back of the net after that. The Sounders seemed out of sorts for the majority of the match, and a good Montreal side was able to capitalize on that. Seattle will now begin a tough month of July, including four of six games on the road.
The Sounders hosted their first ever pups on the pitch night (Photo @SoundersFC on twitter)
Montreal’s press
The primary issue for Seattle in this loss was the fact that they simply could not adjust to the high press from Montreal. The Sounders were unable to put more pressure up the field, preventing them from creating much at all offensively. Even late in the match when it seemed like Seattle was upping their urgency, they were sloppy with possession that could have started transition. In addition to being unable to countering Montreal's press, the Sounders themselves could not get their press going. Despite not having Raul Ruidiaz available, Seattle has plenty offensive fire power. They failed to do much of anything outside of Jordan Morris’ goal in the third minute, as the Sounders committed several small technical errors.
The Sounders did not do goalkeeper Stefan Frei any favors on the second goal from Montreal (Photo @SoundersFC on twitter)
Jordan Morris’ form
Seattle forward Jordan Morris has been on a tear as of recent, and has been making his case to play in Qatar later this year. Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer has clamored for Morris to earn one of the 26 spots in this year's upcoming World Cup. While this is nice and could be helpful for Morris, the Mercer Island natives play helps him just as much, if not more. Morris has three goals and one assist in his last four MLS matches, in addition to a 90th minute equalize for the US men's national team. Simply put, one of the best ways to make a team is to score, no matter what sport it is. Morris has been finding the back of the net consistently, and if he continues, we will see him in Qatar.
With his goal in the third minute, Jordan Morris has 50 goals across all competitions for the Sounders (Photo @SoundersFC on twitter)
Reflecting on the homestand
Of the 15 available points from Seattle’s five game homestand this June, the club was able to collect ten. Considering some of the opponents that the Sounders matched up with, including LAFC, I believe that the club will accept that the majority of the time. Surely there are things that Seattle would like to clean up and prove upon, but when is that not the case? The Sounders hold themselves to a certain level of excellence, and they work tirelessly to reach it. It is still technically the month of June, and there is plenty of time for Seattle to clean issues like in today’s match up.
Seattle’s next matchup comes on the road, in a July 2nd contest against Toronto FC. Kickoff time is at 4:30PM PST between the two clubs that have faced each other twice in the MLS Cup final. While Toronto is not the club that it was during those aforementioned finals, expect it to be a tough contest for the Sounders.
