Sounders vs. Earthquakes: Highlights, stats and quotes

“It felt like it was coming today. Every chance we missed felt like ‘now the next one is going to go, now the next one going to go.’”- Josh Atencio

The Seattle Sounders dominated in just about every statistical category except for the one that matters most, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday. The Sounders fired off 23 shots and piled up nearly 3.0 xG, their second-highest total of the season but could not find the goal.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 0 – San Jose Earthquakes 1

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Venue: Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field

Referee: Ramy Touchan

Assistants: Cameron Blanchard, Jeffrey Greeson

Fourth Official: Brandon Stevis

VAR: Malik Badawi

Attendance: 30,013

Weather: 60 degrees and clear

SCORING SUMMARY

SJ – Jeremy Ebobisse (Rodrigues, Cristian Espinoza) 48’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

SEA – Alex Roldan (caution) 19’

SEA – Jackson Ragen (caution) 43’

SJ – Paul Marie (caution) 66’

SJ – Jackson Yueill (caution) 77’

SEA – Josh Atencio (caution) 86’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Jackson Ragen, Xavier Arreaga, Nouhou (Kelyn Rowe 73’); Albert Rusnák (Fredy Montero 73’), Josh Atencio, Dylan Teves (Reed Baker-Whiting 58’), Nico Lodeiro, Léo Chú; Héber (Raúl Ruidíaz 58’)

Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Yeimar, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Sota Kitahara, Travian Sousa*

*Tacoma Defiance player on short-term agreement

Total shots: 23

Shots on goal: 8

Fouls: 12

Offside: 2

Corner-Kicks: 10

Saves: 2

San Jose Earthquakes – Daniel De Sousa Brito; Paul Marie (Daniel Munie 72’), Tanner Beason, Miguel Trauco, Rodrigues; Carlos Gruezo, Jackson Yueill (Michael Baldisimo 89’), Jamiro Monteiro (Ousseni Bouda 89’); Cristian Espinoza, Jeremy Ebobisse, Benji Kikanovic (Tommy Thompson 72’)

Substitutes not used: JT Marcinkowski, Jack Skahan, Cameron Cilley, Will Richmond

Total shots: 9

Shots on goal: 3

Fouls: 9

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 2

Saves: 8

FotMob.com

POST-MATCH QUOTES & SOUNDBYTES

SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER

On today’s match vs. San Jose:

“Couldn’t get one goal to tie the game, two goals to win, gave up another soft goal that I have to own up to. Yeah. Not, not sure of how to answer that…we can’t drop points at home all the time. You know, yeah we created a bunch, we created a ton of chances I don’t know what the expected goals will be. We had a lot of good opportunities. You know you’ve got to give a lot of credit, Stefan Frei makes that save last game, their goalkeeper made that save on Héber, it was a really good save in the first half. He was able to make a couple of easier saves but, you know, credit to them for staying in there. But overall, I thought we created enough chances and we just couldn’t score.”

SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER KELYN ROWE

On the overall mood of the locker room:

“It stinks, there’s a little frustration. This is a part where…this is not the end of our season. It’s what? A quarter of the way through, maybe a little bit further than that. And for me, the next game is the most important. And luckily for us, it’s in three days. It’s one of the, probably, the biggest one of the year so far. It is Portland, it is a rivalry match, it’s a match that we need to show our home, who we are.”

SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER JOSH ATENCIO

On getting so many chances but not scoring:

“It felt like it was coming today. Every chance we missed felt like ‘now the next one is going to go, now the next one going to go.’ It’s just, we had momentum, and momentum is such a big thing in soccer and I think the guys showed so much fight today that we can play better after we concede the goal. Everyone got up after the goal, we don’t hide away, everyone wanted the ball, wanted to make plays happen. I mean you can’t wait for the other team to score to ignite a spark. But when it does it brings some belief into the group.”