The Seattle Sounders’ run at defending their Leagues Cup title is officially done, ripped away by Chivas de Guadalajara in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday. Facing unbelievably long odds to even advance, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer made a bold move, sending out a heavily rotated lineup that gave four Tacoma Defiance loanees their first Sounders starts, with only two ostensible regulars on the pitch. Chivas, already eliminated themselves, came out with a much stronger lineup featuring several of their normal starters, but that didn’t stop the Emerald City’s squad from making some noise early.
Young Guns Showed Up (At First!)
Despite the huge experience gap, the Sounders actually jumped out to an early lead! Gallatin Sandnes, one of those loanees, poked home his first professional goal in the 13th minute. Jesús Ferreira sent in a corner kick, Tino Lopez headed it back across goal, and Sandnes was right there to finish. We even nearly extended that lead when Osaze De Rosario got played in behind the Chivas defense off another Tino Lopez header, but his shot was saved. Thank goodness for Stefan Frei, whose quality saves kept us ahead heading into halftime. Luis Rey even ripped one off the post in the 8th minute, but Frei got just enough of it. Edson Carli, another loanee, also took an audacious shot from 20 yards out in the 12th minute. These young guys were hungry!
Second Half Heartbreak in Guadalajara
The second half, though? It was all Chivas, plain and simple. They dominated possession, leaving the Sounders with just 20% of the ball. You could feel it coming, and they finally broke through in the 61st minute when Luis Rey laced a left-footed shot from 14 yards out, finding the inside of the near post. Then, in the 72nd minute, Luis Romo played an absolute dime of a ball over the defense, setting up Santiago Sandoval for a header past Frei. The boys didn’t give up, getting a couple decent looks at an equalizer. The best one came from Stuart Hawkins, who made a remarkable run from our own penalty area, got a pass from Paul Rothrock, and then played a gorgeous trivela pass right into De Rosario’s path. It looked like he was in, but a defender put him off just enough to miss the shot. What a heartbreaker.
So, the Leagues Cup defense ends here. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but Schmetzer’s decision to play the youth gave some of these guys an incredible amount of experience against top competition. Sebastian Gomez and Stefan Frei were the only holdovers from the lineup that beat Querétaro, and seeing players like Gallatin Sandnes, Edson Carli, Mark O’Neill, Charlie Gaffney, and 27-year-old Ryan Sailor get their first starts tells you everything. This team might be out of the cup, but those minutes for the young talent could pay off big down the road.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Sounder at Heart.
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