CHAPTER 1 BRINGING IT HOME One by one fans scanned their tickets and made their way into CenturyLink Field Most were wearing the electric blue and neon green colors of the home team the Seattle Sounders By the time the players lined up to start the game nearly 70,000 fans had filled the stadium The Sounders had played in front of big home crowds before In fact their home games often had some of the biggest crowds in Major League Soccer MLS This one was different though On November 11 2019 the Sounders were hosting Toronto FC It was Seattle’s third appearance in the MLS Cup but the first time the game was at their home field before their raucous fans Seattle Sounders fans were ready to celebrate when they arrived at the stadium for the 2019 MLS Cup 4
It was something of a surprise that the Sounders had reached the MLS Cup Two fan favorites had left the team after the previous season Clint Dempsey who had also been a star on the US men’s national team retired Meanwhile the Sounders chose to let longtime team captain Ozzie Alonso leave They hoped to build around a younger generation of players including forward Jordan Morris and midfielders Nicolás Lodeiro and Cristian Roldan But Seattle started the season well The Sounders lost just one out of their first 13 matches Then they managed to survive two major blows In May star defender Chad Marshall retired And in August defender Román Torres was suspended for 10 games But the team kept rolling all the way to the MLS Cup The opponent was a familiar one Seattle and Toronto were facing off for the MLS Cup for the third time in four years The teams had split the previous two finals both played in Toronto EARLY JITTERS The visitors controlled the action early on Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei was forced into action several times In the 36th minute Toronto forward Nicolas Benezet had the ball in the 18-yard box He drilled a low shot that rocketed toward the 6
Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei encourages his defenders to keep pushing 7
