Sounders upset LAFC, advance to Western Conference Final

Another playoff matchup between LAFC and the Seattle Sounders came down to the wire.

Meeting each other for the fourth time in the postseason, the two teams again battled to a standstill for the first 90 minutes of regular time in the Western Conference Semifinals on Saturday night. Seattle however got the important goal in extra time, as Jordan Morris’ goal in the second part of the extra session ultimately enabled the fourth-seeded Sounders to leave BMO Stadium with the 2-1 upset win.

“On One Hand, It’s A Great Season Bringing A Trophy Home, But We’re Gonna Want This One Back,” LAFC defender Aaron Long said, referring to LAFC’s US Open Cup win back in September.

The win sends Seattle to its seventh Western Conference final, where they await the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Minnesota United FC. A Minnesota win ensures they host that matchup next weekend, while a Galaxy win means another trip to Southern California.

“There were a few moments where we created, but were not really clean in the final pass,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Tonight, it seemed the decisions were rushed and a little more hectic.”

The moment came for Seattle in the 109th minute. João Paulo Mior sent a corner kick into the penalty area, LAFC’s Ilie Sanchez headed the ball out of the box, but Cristian Roldan got to the ball, touched it back into the penalty area, the ball was touched one more time before falling to the feet of Morris, who fired a left-footed shot that beat keeper Hugo Lloris near post to put Seattle in the lead.

LAFC took the lead in the 50th minute. Eduard Atuesta intercepted a pass from Jackson Regan and ignited an LAFC counter. Atuesta eventually got the ball back from Lewis O’Brien, played a ball to Mateusz Bogusz, who touched into the penalty area, then crossed a ball to the penalty spot and Ryan Hollingshead sent the right-footed shot past keeper Stefan Frei far post to give LAFC the lead.

“It was one of those feelings that as soon as we scored the opener, it felt like it was over,” Hollingshead said. “I felt like it was going to be hard to break us down.”

LAFC however literally let the Sounders back into the match in the 59th minute. Pedro De La Vega passed to Albert Rusnak inside the penalty area, Rusnak played Obed Vargas, who managed to keep himself offside, forward, Vargas crossed into the six-yard box, LAFC defender Maxime Chanot cut off the cross, but the ball deflected forward into the back net for an LAFC own goal that leveled the match.