It’s midsummer, and the Seattle Sounders are hitting high gear. Sound familiar?
After a challenging start to the 2024 MLS regular season, the Sounders picked up their fourth win in a row while extending their unbeaten run to six straight games on Saturday night, defeating Austin FC, 1-0, at Q2 Stadium to reach seventh place in the MLS Western Conference with a 9W-7L-7D record (34 points).
Jordan Morris scored the match’s lone goal in the 63rd minute before Austin’s Brendan Hines-Ike was sent off in the 77th minute with a second yellow card.
“We've got a good squad. They believe that they can win. The coaches have done a great job of getting the players to all understand what we want, and the players have been delivered,” Sounders head coach Brian Schemtzer said post-match. “Guys are making plays. It's hard to win on the road. Even when Austin went down a man. They didn't quit.
“We had bad luck and were shooting ourselves in the foot earlier in the year.”
Morris stays hot
Winless after their first five matches, the Sounders have managed a remarkable mid-season shift. Not only are they back in the Audi MLS Cup Playoff picture, they're also in the hunt for the US Open Cup after booking a semifinal date with LAFC earlier this week.
While the Sounders have been in top form, no one has shined brighter than Morris. The 29-year-old is scoring at an amazing clip, with eight goals in his last 10 appearances, including the winning goal in Matchday 26. He also found the back of the net in Seattle's mid-week USOC triumph.
Currently at 9g/1a in 23 league games, Morris is just three goals off his career high of 12, set during his rookie 2016 season.
“For goalscorers, when you're playing with confidence, it obviously helps," Morris said. "You can go through times where it feels like you're never going to score again, and then sometimes you're scoring every game and quick chances. A lot of it's up to the group that’s playing well and gave me really good balls. So obviously, I'm happy with the form.”
It wasn’t a regular match for the Sounders homegrown, however. Morris came off the bench for the first time since a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on May 15, and it was the first time he scored as a sub since March 1, 2020, in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire.
“When I found out I was not starting this game, that was my own goal, was whenever my number gets called, come in and try to make an impact. Watching the first half, the guys worked hard and did great, and I felt like there were places to exploit because they were pushing,” Morris added.
“The mentality I had was just to try to come in, try to work hard, and help the group.”
As Seattle adjusted to a higher press to make the most of Morris’ speed in the second half, they held strong defensively and lifted the team to goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s 112th career clean sheet. This set things up nicely for a continued run, as Seattle look ahead to their Matchday 27 showdown Wednesday (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) against St. Louis CITY SC at Lumen Field.
“It’s very good for the confidence as a group and very good for individuals like Jordan to come in and score a goal,” Frei added. “Guys are firing on cylinders, and it's amazing to see. We've always said that we had a deep team, but when the deep team can get confidence as well. We’re going to be dangerous.”
