By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The struggle that’s been the beginning of the 2024 campaign for the Seattle Sounders FC seemed to drag its pessimism into this contest in a few forms, despite the sort of upbeat demeanor that had been shown by the players throughout the week of training. Thankfully, the long awaited first win of the season for the Rave Green came in the form of a 5-0 onslaught of visiting CF Montreal, as Seattle wasn’t kind to their Canadian visitors from the jump. Sounders all-time goal scoring leader Raúl Ruidíaz added to his running total, scoring two goals within a span of seven minutes in the first half to give Seattle a lead that they’d never relinquish. With Ruidíaz chasing that third goal for the hat trick all night long, the Sounders never let their foot off the gas as three second-half goals help nail the coffin shut to give Seattle their first victory on the season to let the club and their fans breath a massive sigh of relief after a painful first five matches of the year. Add a clean sheet to that goal outburst, and you’ve got a result that the club will be looking to build upon as we move forward through the long winding MLS season.
Seattle Sounders FC forward Raul Ruidiaz celebrates his second goal of the night, from the penalty spot, in the clubs 5-0 win over CF Montreal. (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
Raul’s rocket and penalty give Sounders a lead at half
From the get-go, the Seattle Sounders controlled this match with their offensive pace of play and never really had to deal with much in the form of an opposing push from CF Montreal. Unlike in more than a few of their matches to begin this season, the Sounders were able to make that offensive momentum actually mean something in the 20th minute. A free kick in towards the box by Seattle midfielder Albert Rusnak was initially going far post for teammate and defender Jackson Ragen, but instead of having an attempt towards goal the ball ended up in the corner outside corner of the box nearest the far post where Ragen had been. Flying in came Raúl Ruidíaz, lurking around the top of the box, beating two Montreal players to that ball and volleying a shot with his left foot that curled beautifully over a few more Montreal players and out of the reach of goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to get the Sounders on the board and give Seattle some much needed momentum early into this match.
Just three minutes after that goal, the Sounders were pressing offensively once again as they sought a second score to add to their advantage, and they’d be able to do so albeit a bit delayed. A Jordan Morris header near the top of the Montreal box was supposed to perfectly lead teammate Albert Rusnak, who had a head of steam, charging into the box with the opportunity and plenty of space around him for a strong volley. Rusnak was instead tripped by Montreal defender Joel Waterman, and initially no penalty was given by head referee Filip Dujic. Play ran for a bit, but a video review ensued after the first whistle after that match and upon that review, a penalty was granted to the Sounders. As he has for some time, Raúl Ruidíaz stepped up to the spot for the penalty and buried it, not using a Panenka this time but rather blasting a shot to his left. The ball evaded Montreal keeper Jonathan Sirois, diving correctly to his right but failing to react just in time, and Seattle’s lead saw itself push to two goals, both scored by Ruidíaz.
The Seattle Sounders celebrate Jordan Morris’ 47th goal, making the lead 3-0 at the time over CF Montreal in the clubs win. (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Salting away Seattle’s first win of 2024
With a two-goal lead already theirs and no real showing of a dangerous chance by Montreal outside of the header from Joaquin Sosa in the 38th minute of the match that was saved excellently by Stefan Frei in net for Seattle, the Sounders could’ve felt as though they had the opportunity to just waste away the 45 minutes in the second half and cruise to their first win of the season. Considering how their season has gone so far, thankfully that wasn’t how Seattle played the rest of this match, as they pressed hard to continue forward and add on to their lead including the effort of Raúl Ruidíaz as he sought the final goal for a potential hat trick. That wouldn’t come, unfortunately, but the Sounders did tack on three more goals throughout the course of the second half to fully cement their first victory of the season and make it so that the total goals they scored tonight equaled that of those they’ve scored all season coming into this match combined.
Seattle Sounders FC forward and University of Washington alum Dylan Teves scored the 5th and final goal of the night against CF Montreal. (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
Seattle got to adding to their lead quickly out of the halftime break, as forward Jordan Morris used a backheel that bounced off a Montreal defender and goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to become the third Sounders goal of the match, coming off a nice cross into the box by Cristian Roldan. Some more brilliant passing saw Seattle add their fourth goal of the night, after Montreal’s Nathan Saliba had seen a second yellow card that resulted in a red to leave his team down to ten men, as Raul Ruidiaz found a streaking Albert Rusnak coming into the box. Rusnak, who could’ve opted for the selfish route and taken a shot, saw that defender Alex Roldan had completed his run into the box and fed him for the easy tap in on a wide-open net as Sirois in net never saw Roldan charging in as he was fully focused on Rusnak. The final cherry on top of this satisfying victory for the Rave Green came in the final minute of stoppage time, as University of Washington product Dylan Teves was got behind the Montreal backline and forward Danny Musovski spotted that, as Teves scored on an off-balance shot to beat Sirois and put the fifth goal on the board for Seattle. Happy days, spreading the wealth around, and the first Sounders win of the season, completed with five goals and a clean sheet.
Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei was steady in net for the club, helping pick up a clean sheet against CF Montreal. (Photo by Paul Kahl)
What’s next?
Following tonight’s home win over CF Montreal, the Seattle Sounders FC will head back out on the road for their next contest, as the Rave Green have been through six matches now and have technically had an even amount of home and away matches if you’re able to account for the fact that they played 6 minutes of that now rescheduled rained-out match against the Philadelphia Union. The Sounders’ next contest takes them to the state of Texas, as they’ll face off against FC Dallas for the first time this season when they meet on Saturday, April 13th. That match has a kickoff time listed at 5:30PM PDT and will be broadcast nationally on Apple TV – MLS Season Pass. It’ll be the first time that these two clubs face off against each other since their round one of the 2023 Audi MLS Cup playoffs, that saw the Sounders win and advance in three matches but lose the road leg of the round in Frisco.
Check out photographer Paul Kahl’s photos from the match here
Check out photographer Nate Koppelman’s photos from the match here
