Evans went down late in the game
with an apparent knee injury.
Aaron Weinberg / NSS
It lacked execution. It lacked chemistry. But most of all, the 1-1 tie against last-place FC Dallas lacked three starters and lost two more to injury during play.
Zach Scott, who was replacing Nate Sturgis, went down in the 18th minute and was out for the game. But perhaps more troubling was the sight of starting midfielder Brad Evans clutching his knee in pain in the second half, then being carried off on a stretcher.
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Seattle knew they would be playing with backups before the game with Freddie Ljungberg's untimely migraine, James Riley's red card suspension and Nate Sturgis' hamstring injury all forcing them to skip the flight down south.
But injuries weren't the only ugly aspect of Saturday's blustery 63-degree match in front of a a sparse crowd of 8,000 fans.
Both teams played uninspired mistake-prone soccer, something that's to be expected of a last-place FC Dallas side but not for the second-place Sounders.
However, it didn't start out so bad.
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who turned 25 years old the day of the match, scored Seattle's lone goal in the 18th minute off a Nate Jaqua header. Hurtado high-kicked the ball for the 1-0 lead in the face of Dallas Keeper Ray Burse who left the net to try to cut off Hurtado.
During the same minute, Zach Scott went down and left the match, leaving head coach Sigi Schmid to look even deeper into the depth chart by sending Tyson Wahl onto the field.
Seattle had a few near-goals in the first half, including an Evans shot that ricocheted off the crossbar.
Dallas's goal came more than two minutes into stoppage time in the first half. An apparent clear out of Seattle's end landed at the feet of Marcelo Saragosa, who booted the ball deep, landing it into Seattle's box. The ball was met by Andre Rocha unmarked on the right side. He quickly put it away in the back left corner for the equalizer.
While Seattle had numerous scoring opportunities in the first half, they seemed to lose their spark in the second. The team played flat while Dallas appeared energized by its stolen goal in the dying seconds of stoppage time.
Dallas finished with more shots (16) and shots on goal (5) than Seattle (14, 3).
The tie is Seattle's third in a row. The point gives them 15 and maintains their second-place Western Conference standing at three points ahead of Houston and Colorado.
Next week Seattle flies to Colorado to take on the Rapids for what could be a duel for second place. If Seattle loses, Colorado will move into a tie for second place in the conference.
One thing's for certain, and it's that Seattle will need their starters back for that game if they hope to regain any of the early season magic that propelled them to a 3-0 start.
Notes
Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-3) Kasey Keller, Zach Scott (Tyson Wahl 18), Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Sanna Nyassi 79), Sebastien Le Toux, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua (Stephen King 74)
Subs not used: Ben Dragavon, Peter Vagenas, Roger Levesque, Taylor Graham
FC Dallas (1-6-2) Ray Burse, Drew Moor, George John (Daniel Torres 28), Steve Purdy (Bruno Guarda 46), Marcelo Saragosa, Pablo Ricchetti, Dave van den Bergh, David Ferreira, Andre Rocha, Kenny Cooper, Jeff Cunningham (Brek Shea 24)
Subs not used: Josh Lambo, Dax McCarty, Alvaro Sanchez, Anthony Wallace
Scoring Summary
SEA: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Nate Jaqua) 18
DAL: Rocha (Saragosa) 48+
Misconduct Summary
DAL -- Andre Rocha (caution; Reckless Tackle) 20 SEA -- Steve Zakuani (caution; Dissent) 48+ SEA -- Tyrone Marshall (caution; Persistent Infringement) 64 DAL -- Marcelo Saragosa (caution; Dissent) 75 DAL -- Bruno Guarda (caution; Reckless Tackle) 80
Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
