FRISCO, Texas — In the same space where the Sounders mourned the end of their campaign last season, there was a different energy within the visitors’ locker room at Toyota Stadium on Sunday night.
They emerged from the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal series against top-seeded FC Dallas bruised, battered and beaten — on the night, at least.
Dallas won the game 2-1. At times, it even rocked the visitors back on their heels, with momentary doubt creeping in. But the 3-0 lead the Sounders carried over from the first leg was more than enough to get them over the line.
Seattle is bound for the Western Conference final for the third time in club history by virtue of a 4-2 aggregate victory over the regular-season MLS champions. It got revenge on the team that knocked the Sounders out of the playoffs in this same round a year ago.
The Sounders will play host to second-seeded Colorado on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at CenturyLink Field, with the second leg to follow that Sunday in Commerce City.
A quick glance around that visiting locker room at Toyota Stadium confirmed that the Sounders will cherish every moment of that long layoff. Afterward, there was the quiet pride of a job well done.
Jordan Morris moved gingerly about the room. The rookie forward was removed at halftime with a strained hamstring, the severity of which to be revealed in the coming days. There was also no word as to whether the injury will affect his call-up to the U.S. men’s national team for its crucial World Cup qualifier Friday against rival Mexico.
“It was a last-minute decision upon examination at halftime by our trainers,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We just felt that he couldn’t go. Jordan felt that he couldn’t go.
“It’s really early. He will be fully evaluated by our staff, by the U.S. staff, and we will go from there.”
Morris’ absence was a cause for concern even before fellow forward Nelson Valdez limped off shortly afterward, putting further strain on an already taxed attack corps.
Valdez sat next to Morris in the corner of the locker room, gingerly rubbing the left calf whose cramps forced his substitution midway through the second half.
By then, Seattle had netted the goal that took most of the pressure off. Nicolas Lodeiro tied the score at 1-1 and effectively ended the series off a feed from Tyrone Mears, an away goal that meant Dallas now needed to score five in order to advance.
Up until that point, Dallas certainly made Seattle sweat.
It felt unlikely, given just how overwhelmed FCD was last week at CenturyLink — and just how devoid of attacking ideas there were without injured playmaker Mauro Diaz — that the hosts could genuinely make a series of it.
Yet Tesho Akindele’s opening goal in the 25th minute changed the game. For the next 10 minutes or so, in front of a less-than-capacity but lively crowd of 14,878, Seattle looked rattled.
Cristian Roldan was yellow-carded for a high tackle, and for minutes afterward, he waved his arms at referee Hilario Grajeda, incensed. Both Walker Zimmerman and Michael Barrios wasted clean looks to double the lead for Dallas.
“It wasn’t really ebb and flow,” Schmetzer said. “It was more of one-way traffic. We were really under the gun.”
The Sounders survived until halftime, where they could at least exhale. On the locker room whiteboard, the coaches pinpointed the problem areas where Dallas was doing most of the damage.
They emerged for the second half sans Morris but with greater composure. Lodeiro’s goal settled them further, and even after Maxi Urruti scored shortly afterward to set the final scoreline, never again did it look as if Seattle was in legitimate danger of elimination.
There was something of an anticlimax to the final whistle, a world-weary sigh of relief rather than scenes of jubilation.
“They were extremely happy,” Schmetzer insisted. “There might be some dancing videos out there.”
They were also exhausted, and more than a couple of them hobbled around the discarded athletic tape littering the floor.
“A number of us have been in this position before,” Seattle’s Brad Evans said. “We know our most difficult task lies ahead.”