SEATTLE – After he strained his hamstring in the second leg of the Seattle Sounders’ semifinal series against FC Dallas, the health of rookie forward Jordan Morris was one of the biggest storylines surrounding the club as the Sounders geared up to take on the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference Championship in the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs.
But the 2016 MLS Rookie of the Year winner put some of those concerns to rest for the time being in Seattle’s series opener against Colorado at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday, starting, playing 78 minutes and scoring the equalizing goal in the 19th minute to help the Sounders to a 2-1 aggregate cushion going into Sunday’s second leg.
“I felt great. I wanted to keep playing [tonight], so I think that’s a good sign,” Morris said after the game. “The hamstring felt good, so no real issues with that.”
Morris countered Colorado’s 13th-minute opener from forward Kevin Doyle with a rebound finish off a shot from midfielder Cristian Roldan just six minutes later, setting the stage for Nicolas Lodeiro’s second-half penalty kick that gave the Sounders the 2-1 lead.
Seattle head coach Brian Schmetzer said that he didn’t have a set number in mind for how many minutes Morris would play before Tuesday’s match, but was encouraged by what he saw from the 22-year-old in the time he was on the field.
“We don’t ever put a number on it,” Schmetzer said. “I was comfortable with him over [those] minutes. It was maybe just a little precautionary where we’re leading and I felt Brad [Evans] could come in and do the job. Just making sure [Morris] is healthy for the return leg.”
Midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz also made his return to the field for the Sounders on Tuesday after being held out of action since Oct. 23 with a sprained knee, meaning Seattle could have another attacking weapon at its disposal in the decisive leg of the aggregate goals series, set for Commerce City, Colorado on Sunday.
The Sounders will take the 2-1 advantage into that second leg but the road goal conceded to Doyle does mean the Rapids would advance with a 1-0 victory. In other words, a full-strength attack could prove crucial if Seattle is to crack a Colorado backline that conceded the fewest goals in MLS this season.
“Since we’ve taken over, there’s only one game where we haven’t scored a goal,” Schmetzer said. “2-1 to them [means] overtime. But there’s a lot of scores – 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 – that go in our favor as well.”
