It’s been all-too-easy to write off the Seattle Sounders this season. They’ve become experts at digging holes and lowly amateurs at climbing out of them. 

Some nights, though, that doesn’t matter. Some nights, it’s about magic — and about grit.

Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer once again made multiple changes to the previous match’s lineup. Right winger Paul Rothrock was moved to the bench after a 173-minute week in favor of forward Danny Musovski, and João Paulo was inserted into the midfield pivot in place of Josh Atencio. Léo Chú also reclaimed his place on the left wing as Jordan Morris rotated back into the number nine slot.

The changes introduced a somewhat rare style to the Sounders’ play. Often, given the ball after an FC Dallas attack in the first half, Seattle opted not to sprint down the pitch and instead possess the ball — eventually pushing it into the “prime assist zone” either side of the top corners of the Dallas penalty area.

Most of the early half-chances would come from those areas. João Paulo and Obed Vargas were slipped in either side of Martin Paes’ goal, but couldn’t direct their respective efforts on target. Seattle’s midfield took potshots from 25-yards out, and Morris found himself through on goal in the 31st minute but slowed up and eventually had his shot saved by Paes.

Early in the second half, the chances continued to flow, but the quality was shirked for quantity. Because of that inability to finish, when Dallas finally fashioned itself two golden opportunities, Seattle was in a two-goal hole. 

In the 67th minute, Dallas midfielder Patrickson Delgado caught Yeimar Gomez Andrade napping and ghosted away from the centerback on the back post and directed the subsequent cross into the net.

Three minutes later, Delgado turned provider and played Dallas forward Petar Musa into a position just left of the goal that it seemed only the Sounders could miss from. Musa made no such error and dispensed the ball into the net. Despite dominating the match, Seattle dug itself a near-unrecoverable hole in 180 seconds.

“Those were individual mistakes that we shouldn’t give up,” Schmetzer said. “I’ll look at them again, and we don’t want to disrespect Dallas by any stretch of the imagination, but we could’ve done better on those goals.”

The Sounders nearly pulled it back in the same amount of time. A fresh-off-the-bench Raúl Ruidíaz headed in the first off a Rusnák cross out of the prime assist zone, and recent hero Paul Rothrock had the equalizer at his feet just half a minute later but couldn’t put it on target.

Ruidíaz’s goal is the type that Seattle have him for. It’s why he was inserted into the game: At 33 years old, he’s not as strong of an option in the counterattacking system that the Sounders favor. But the Peruvian is a fox in the box — a pure finisher. Given the ball inside the area, he will finish more often that not. It’s the argument to have him in the team.

“Raúl is a proven goalscorer,” Morris said, “and to come off the bench like that and score a goal to get us back in the game is big. The more guys that are scoring, the better for the group.”

Morris had one last effort of his own. First, he got his head on a corner kick in the 88th minute and directed the ball bar-down for the Sounders’ first goal from a corner kick of the season. He sprinted to the corner alongside most of the team, celebrating a second comeback from a two-goal deficit in four days.

Rothrock, though, was fetching the ball out of the net.

Six minutes later, it would be a hobbling Vargas, left on the field with all of Seattle’s substitutes exhausted, who set Morris through on goal. With two Dallas defenders and Paes in his face, Morris slipped on the edge of the box.

It didn’t matter. He made contact, and the ball sailed into the back of the net. Seattle erupted.

“Jordan has been around for a long time,” Schmetzer said. “He’s done a great job for the club. He’s the hometown kid. You guys know the story.”

With the goal, his 60th in regular-season play, Morris moved into second place all-time in Seattle’s regular-season scoring charts.

“It means everything to me,” Morris said. “That was a big goal of mine, to keep climbing that list. Even when I started here, that’s [what] I feel like I can bring to the game … to see my name up there with legends like Fredy [Montero] and Raúl, it means a ton to me.”

After a seven-point week, the Sounders continue their three-match homestand next Saturday with a visit from a likely Xherdan Shaqiri-less Chicago Fire. It’s the first time they face an Eastern Conference opponent since winning in Philadelphia on April 30, and a vital inter-conference matchup. A win would be their first back-to-back victory this year.

“We just have a belief now,” Morris said. “I mean, we had a belief the whole season — the guys, the locker room, it was always there. We knew the quality that we have and things are starting to fall for us a bit … I think it just shows that the team keeps fighting and there’s no quit in this group.”

Feature photo by Aimee Arnold / Area Sports Network