Commentary: The "Big Bad Wolf" once again standing in the way of Sounders path to title
SEATTLE - Tonight we begin with the Seattle Sounders version of the Big Bad Wolf – because that’s who’s blown their championship hopes down twice already this season.
A four-letter acronym worse than some four-letter words: LAFC.
Frankly, maybe we should take a breath to enjoy the fact that the Sounders advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals for the the 14th time in their 16 year MLS history, a stunning nod to the franchise’s overall consistency and commitment to excellence.
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But I don’t think this is the year for that. Not when their next opponent has been the one depriving the Sounders of trophies over and over again.
This year alone, LAFC beat Seattle in Leagues Cup quarterfinals 3-0 and then beat them again 11 days later in the U.S. Open Cup semfinals 1-0. The Sounders have lost four total matches to LAFC by a combined 9-1 this year, and haven’t beaten LAFC in ten straight matches overall going back to the last three and a half years.
That’s 1,282 days. What some might call an inexcusable stretch.
Which, in many ways, would make this the perfect time to end LA’s dominant run.
The Sounders are also streaking right now, unbeaten in their last nine games with seven wins. They’ve allowed just four total goals in those nine matches, without allowing a single goal in six of them. In a season that began with their worst-ever start and a 12th-place position early on, Seattle shot up to fourth in the conference to clinch home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Hence, we’re now left with the immovable force against the unstoppable object. And yet one side in Seattle that is clearly hungrier to end an embarrassing stretch against the other team.
If the Sounders were to shock the world and win their first MLS Cup in five seasons, it would be fitting to take down top-seeded LAFC on the road, the same way they surprised the top-seed in the conference finals in 2019. And it would be poetic justice to do so after failing to beat a team that’s been such an Achilles heel for Seattle for close to 13-hundred days.
As the story goes, the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew those first two houses down, the third one held strong.
If Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup were houses one and two, the MLS Playoffs represent house number three. It’s time for Seattle to show why the foundation they’ve built and bricks they’ve laid one by one – are enough to finally hold strong.
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