The Seattle Sounders are back; a new MLS season has begun.
The 2026 campaign kicked off strong, with a win on Feb. 22 over conference rival, the Colorado Rapids. A 2-0 win over Colorado puts Seattle in fourth place in the Western Conference, just below San Diego FC, Los Angeles FC and the San Jose Earthquakes.
A new start, new beginnings and new expectations have arrived.
A perfect pass by Seattle Sounders winger, Pual Rothrock, to fellow teammate, Albert Rusnak’s head. That goal opened the scoring and set the tone that night.
Two minutes later, Colorado’s goalkeeper Zack Steffen couldn’t hold onto the ball. A deflection in which Seattle’s midfielder, Hassani Dotson tapped it in the back of the net. Dotson is one of the new signings from this offseason and he’s already made an impact.
The Sounders led at halftime 1-0 and dominated those 45 minutes of regular time.
Around the 61 minute mark, the Sounders were able to put another ball past Steffen.
Seattle’s attacking midfielder Jesus Feraria assisted Rothrock, scoring his second goal of the night, pushing the lead to 2-0.
With that goal from Rothrock and the assist from Feraria, the Sounders secured the victory that night, playing nearly 120 minutes.
After the match, Rothrock talked about how much his confidence has grown since the Leagues Cup final vs Inter Miami where he scored the game-winning goal.
“Confidence is something fickle, it’s something that comes,” Rothrock said. “I’m always trying to find ways that high. That’s the golden question as an athlete. How to find that confidence as much as possible, how to find it in dark moments.”
“As a player you’re always hoping to be in the starting eleven, and being a part of it early on in the season,” he said. “So that was a challenge itself. That moment was super special. Tonight was awesome too and it was unexpected.”
A new goalkeeper has emerged for the Sounders. Andrew Thomas got the first clean sheet of the season and his first as a Sounder. He played a crucial part in securing the win for Seattle.
Thomas has played in multiple games in his career, but that night was something special for him. He learned from veteran Sounders goalkeeper, Stephen Frie and his goalkeeper coach, Tom Duarta over his time here.
“My relationship with Stephen is great. He is as much of a coach as Tommy is. If it’s during training, he’ll give me a pointer, make a comment on a ball I dealt with,” Thomas said. “Going into games, he’s played with all these teams, God knows how many times and any tips and tricks he can pass on he does. It’s more of supporting each other whoever is out on that field. And the team feels that same success”.
The Sounders won’t return to Lumen Field until April 18. When it comes to the Conchampions League tournament, the Sounders will be hosting their game in Spokane.
Spokane fans will get to experience a CONCACAF Champions Cup match for the first time in their cities history. A continental tournament by teams that were the best from the previous season. A tournament of teams from the Caribbean, Central, and North America.
A Cascadia rivalry match will be played in Spokane: Seattle Sounders vs.Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Emerald City Supporters (ECS), a fan club organization, were electric that night, nonstop chanting under the rain. Nonstop singing throughout those 120 minutes.
In previous years, the Sounders have struggled early on in the season but 31,000 fans showed up in attendance to watch the Sounders win their first game of the regular season.
