TORONTO—The Sounders have always enjoyed playing in or against Toronto – they've won all but three of the teams' all-time meetings. But on Saturday at BMO Field, they required a little bit of fortune and a timely strike from Jordan Morris to secure a share of the points with a 1-1 road draw.
“We're happy with the point,” said Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid. “We were fortunate, but we've had so many games where we've been the dominant team and haven't come out with results that we're okay with it.”
Toronto wasted several chances throughout the first half, only to finally break the deadlock in the 60th minute through Jordan Hamilton. But, Seattle had a Jordan of their own to equalize mere seconds after the restart on a beautiful turn.
“It's important to get a contribution from Morris,” Schmid said. “He's a young player, he's learning. It was one of the things that we talked about [after he had a similar chance against Salt Lake, lost by taking an extra touch]. When you turn like that, you've got to hit it right away, before the goalkeeper has a chance to set himself, which [Jordan] did and hit a great shot into the corner.”
On the back of two straight losses, with just a single win in their last six league matches, the Sounders survived an early onslaught in which Morris looked adrift, an island floating in a sea of center backs.
“First half was tough,” Morris said. “That’s a part of my game I need to get better at, with my back to goal and holding the ball up. [Damien] Perquis is a great defender, won a lot of [aerial] balls, but you have to keep fighting and things will go your way eventually.”
As they did, earning a valuable point on the road with the draw.
“When you are where we are, with our record, you're looking for confidence,” Schmid said. “With the win on Tuesday in the Open Cup, even though it was on [penalties], and getting a point here today, it's going to help us in terms of growing that confidence.”
