SEATTLE, WA- After heading into the halftime break with the lead, the Sounders needed a 70th minute goal from Jimmy Medranda in order to salvage a point at home Saturday. The draw means that the Rave Green remain the only unbeaten team in the MLS.
Golden Boot Chase
Raúl Ruidíaz is one of the top strikers in the league and he has been playing as such so far this season. He added to his goal tally this season and opened up the scoring for the match in the 40′ thanks to a perfectly executed jailbreak by the Sounders.
Josh Atencio had a challenge at midfield that sprung the play into action. Atencio raced back into the play and was able to drop the ball of to Brad Smith who perfectly picked out Ruidíaz for the finish. The goal put the No. 9 atop of the MLS goals scored list on the season with nine. Shortly after that, Chicharito of the LA Galaxy also scored putting the two back in a deadlock.
The challenge.
The counter.
The patience.
The cross.
The finish.WHAT ? A ? TEAM ? GOAL ?#SoundersMatchday | #SEAvVAN pic.twitter.com/L8V8VVpSoS
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) June 27, 2021
Nice While It Lasted
Coming into today, the Sounders had yet to give up a goal in the run of play. That changed right out of the halftime break when Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland came far off of his line to challenge a ball but missed, opening the door for Vancouver’s Cristian Dájome to get a chance on the open net, in which he successfully did. 10 match run of no goals allowed from the run of play snapped.
A Kink in the Armor
Defense has been a strength of the Sounders to this point, but today showed that they are not perfect. The second goal of the night for the Whitecaps came because of a miscue on the backline for the Rave Green when a ball was entered into the box but Shane O’Neill whiffed on heading it away. This led to the ball falling to the feet of Lucas Cavallini who did not exactly get off a “shot” but was able to put it past Cleveland for the lead.
There was a discussion on whether or not Cavallini got away with a handball on the goal. VAR was not used to check the legitimacy of the goal.
Perfect Time to Get Your First
Defenders scoring is always a positive for a club and usually gets the big reaction from the crowd. When that goal is your first in a Sounders uniform, levels the match and is an absolute screamer, well then that’s amazing.
Jimmy Medranda was able to accomplish just this feat in the 71′. João Paulo stepped to a corner right of goal and sent it into the box, it was headed back out of the box to a waiting Medranda who threaded the needle and fired home the equalizer. It was Jimmy’s first goal with Seattle and his first MLS goal since 2018.
HAVE A HIT@jimmymedranda scores the equalizer! ?#SoundersMatchday | #SEAvVAN pic.twitter.com/Jpsv3VJ4AP
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) June 27, 2021
Cut the Cra(m)p
Once Seattle got the equalizer, Vancouver seemed to shift into flop mode. In their defense the temperature did exceed 90 degrees and that often leads to craping in a sport such as this. Unfortunately, it also appeared as if they were milking that factor a little too much.
This did significantly slow down the pace that Seattle was trying to play in order to get the game winner and led to seven minutes of added time in the second half. It also led to tempers flaring as both benches were shown a yellow card for chirping. You’d expect a hard fought and emotional match between two rivals but not always like this.
Rave Green was not able to pick up a stoppage time winner as they once again settled for a draw in front of the home crowd. It did also mean that the club remained unbeaten on the still fairly young season.
Scoring Summary
40′ SEA – R. Ruidíaz (Assists: Smith, Atencio)
49′ VAN – C. Dájome (Assist: Alexandre)
56′ VAN – L. Cavallini (Assists: Dájome, Rose)
71′ SEA – J. Medranda 71 (Assists: Montero)
Finally Some Rest
The Sounders will get a much needed rest as their next scheduled match isn’t until the 4th of July when they travel to Colorado. This is a much needed break for a team that is coming off a stretch of three games in one week. This should allow for players who are banged up or feeling fatigued to get back to or close to 100%.
That match against the Rapids is scheduled for a 6:00 PM PT kickoff and will be carried on the usual streaming and radio platforms.
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Russell is the Content Director for the Eli Network. He studied broadcast journalism at Eastern Oregon and North Dakota State University. Mostly covers soccer and basketball in the Seattle area and is the current play-by-play voice for Seattle Redhawks basketball. You can follow him @brussbrwn.
