The Seattle Sounders hit a brutal milestone last Saturday night at Lumen Field, extending their league winless streak to a staggering 11 matches (0-8-3) after yet another frustrating 0-0 draw against Michael Bradley’s New York Red Bulls. This latest stalemate, the third consecutive and the second time we’ve dropped points at home, feels less like stability and way more like outright stagnation for our Emerald City squad. We’re now stuck in 13th place in the Western Conference with just 27 points, and frankly, it’s making us queasy.
Where Did All The Shots Go?
Lumen Field was supposed to be the spot to flush away those squandered leads, punish an Eastern Conference visitor, and finally bank three points. Instead, it was 90 minutes of pure frustration against a New York team whose game plan was basically manic pressing, tactical hacking, and relying on former USMNT keeper Ethan Horvath to play like prime Lev Yashin. And what did we do? We obliged! The Sounders created a whopping 21 shots, hit the woodwork twice, and somehow managed to miss two absolute sitters. It’s tough to call it “unlucky” when you’re generating that many chances, have a starting right back go down with an ankle sprain, and pull your primary creative winger at halftime due to a minutes restriction. Plus, Paul Arriola clattered an 18-yard missile off the crossbar in the 94th minute! Our possession just lacks any actual end result.
Andrew Thomas Keeps Us Breathing, But We’re Still Dropping Points
Look, it wasn’t all bad. Andrew Thomas was a beast, picking up his sixth clean sheet of the season with four absolutely clutch stops. The community even voted him MOTM with a 7.3 rating! He handled a routine Cade Cowell effort in the 43rd minute, smothered an 18-yard look from Julian Hall right after the restart, and then made *the* save of the match in the 74th minute, sticking out a trailing boot to deny Hall from point-blank range. Thomas even put a bow on his shutout by diving across the line in stoppage time to parry an 8-yard half-volley from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. You also saw Stuart Hawkins grow up another two inches in central defense next to Alex Roldan, especially with Jackson Ragen injured. We held off New York’s late transition counters, which was big.
But let’s be real, those were just “one point banked” moments. The “two points dropped” part is what stings. Generating 21 shots at home, with six on target, against an opponent missing its defensive core? That *has* to yield at least one goal. Horvath was spectacular, no doubt, but our finishing inside the box was somewhere between hesitant and allergic. And honestly, the substitution cadence felt late, conservative, like we were treating a 0-0 home fixture like a tense second-leg aggregate battle. We need to be aggressive for the win!
Three consecutive draws against beatable opposition while stuck in 13th place just screams a lack of urgency. That “we played well enough to win” mantra needs to be tossed out the window and replaced with actual three-point victories. This team, and these fans, deserve more than this endless string of stalemates. We need to turn this ship around, and we need to do it now.
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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