Winless Sounders look to break through vs. Minnesota United
The Seattle Sounders have finally gotten on the scoresheet.
Now they want to get into the win column.
The two-time defending Western Conference champions will be seeking their first victory of the season when they host Minnesota United on Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field.
The Sounders (0-3-1), who were held scoreless in their first three MLS matches this season, finally scored on Will Bruin's goal in first-half stoppage time last week at Sporting Kansas City. The Sounders took the lead midway through the second half thanks to Cristian Roldan, but conceded a late goal to SKC's Graham Zusi and had to settle for a 2-2 tie.
"We should have won the game. That's how MLS is. You have to credit Zusi for making a play at the end there, but I thought that we put enough into the game that we could have come out with the full three points," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. ""For the guys to put in all of that effort and all of that work ... it stings a little bit. But it gives them some good incentive for the next game."
The Sounders will have forward Clint Dempsey and defender Kelvin Leerdam back after serving red-card suspensions. Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, the team's longtime captain, made his season debut last week in reserve after recovering from a quadriceps injury.
Minnesota (2-4-0) has lost three games in a row and is coming off a 3-2 defeat at Portland.
The Loons did get a goal from Darwin Quintero in his MLS debut. He was named to the league's Team of the Week.
Quintero, a Colombian international, was nicknamed "El Cientifico del Gol (The Goal Scientist)" in Liga MX, where he played nearly a decade for Santos Laguna and Club America.
"We said that we bought him because he makes things happen in the final third and that's what he's done," Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said after the match. "He got himself a goal, always looked dangerous when he got the ball. ... He can be really pleased with his first night's work for us, but he'll get better when we get to work with him a lot more and he gets a better understanding of the people around him."
Minnesota defender Tyrone Mears, a former Sounder, has been ruled out for Sunday's match with a right leg injury.
The Sounders outscored Minnesota 6-1 to win both meetings between the teams last season, the Loons' first in MLS.
--Field Level Media
