Coming to you live from our Relliot Avenue studios of Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
This is Sounders Weekly with your host Jackson Felts.
Good evening, everybody, Welcome into Sounders Weekly. Jackson Feltz here with you for the next hour here on ninety three point three KJRFM, talking all things Sounders FC Soccer.
We are in a good mood.
We are celebrating a playoff series win for your Sounders, back to back penalty kick wins. Obviously, it was last Monday, what nine days ago, out at Lumen Field with the Sounders won the penalty shootout against the Houston.
Dynamo in Game one. We had all five five r for ours.
Whitting penalties from Ruy Diaz, Rusnak, Reagan, Christian rolled on and Alex rolled on, all hitting Eric's Fiatchenko. Center back for Houston missed his fourth kick and Sounders advanced to Game two one nothing via five four. Well, we all took the trip down to Houston, Texas for game too. We took the whole broadcast. It was an awesome trip. I saw a good number of Sounder fans in the stands. It was raining off and on for most of the game.
Houston fans, who would you know, leave and go to the concourse where some would have ponchos on, some would have towels over their heads, which was an interesting choice Sounder fans. We were born in the rain, and I saw many Sounder fans just sitting in it enjoying it because that's how we do. And we all enjoyed another Sounder penalty kick win. There is a lot to talk about from this game, and we're gonna cover it from
kind of three different angles tonight. I'm gonna give my two cents on a game from a Seattle perspective now on the Sounders game to win. We're gonna get the local perspective in Houston once again. Joining us will be Heesu's Osceveto Junior from the Bayoucidian. He writes and covers
the Houston Dynamo for that publication. I want to talk to him about how Houston is reacting to the game two loss and this series loss, because it did come down to pks, which as we know, are quite random at times, very much could have been the Houston Dynamo advancing, and there's obviously red cards in each.
Of the game one and Game two.
I want to talk to him about how Houston is reacting to one of their leaders spitting at a referee. I'll get into that here in a few minutes if in case you didn't see that. So we'll get the Houston perspective on that game to win for the Sounders, and then we'll get the national perspective Ari Lillienwall of
Mlsoccer dot Com. I want him to kind of share how the Nationals people are reacting to everything that happened in this series, the Sounders moving forward, and especially what we are watching in the other side of the bracket, which is LAFC and the Vancouver white Caps. Because the Sounders advanced to the Western Conference semifinal. I'll tell you right now you can stay tuned for more information regarding the specific day and time. SOUNDERSFC dot com will have
all that information. I'll put that out there on my Twitter at Jackson on Radio. We'll have it on this show as soon as we know, so just stay tuned. But really we are waiting right now for the Western Conference semifinal opponent because on the other side it's LAFC and Vancouver and the Vancouver Whitecaps who lost Game one, stormed back at BC Place in Game two with a three to nothing dominant win over LAFC. So thus, unlike Seattle and Houston, that series is going to a Game
three that will be on Friday night down in Los Angeles. Now, the situation is this, if LAFC wins, Sounders will be going to Los Angeles on I believe this is just a guess, and again we'll have more broadcast details as we know, but my guess for that game in Los Angeles would be on either Saturday, November twenty third or
Sunday November twenty fourth. Now, if the Vancouver white Caps pull the upset, that would mean that they the white Caps would come to Seattle for the Western Conference Semifinal, which by the way, is a one off in either case, no three game series. We're now just one offs the rest of the way in the playoffs. And the interesting thing about that if the white Caps were to come to Seattle is the fact that the Seahawks have a
home game on Sunday the twenty fourth. So just we kind of look at what just happened with Game one where the Seahawks had a home game against I believe it was the Bills just a week and a half ago, and I don't think they wanted to have soccer play before football. So the game was played, of course, last Monday. Just based on how that happened, I don't have any information.
This is just a guess.
I would take a guess that might follow again and we might be looking at another Monday night game for the Western Conference semifinal against what would be the Vancouver white Caps, and that would be on Monday, November twenty fifth. All of that's just a guess, but I'm just kind of logically following what we just saw in the Dynamo series with Game one. So again we are waiting to either host the Vancouver white Caps or go to LAFC in a one off Western Conference semifinal. That is where
the Sounders sit right now. And we'll get into that with Ari Lellinwall and talk all about white Caps LAFC Game three ahead. Lots of stuff to cover with him later on. We're also going to go inside the locker room. I mentioned we were down in Houston after the game was over, after the postgame show, I went down into the bowels of Shell Energy Stadium out there, and you know, just disgusting weather of Houston, Texas.
We'll get into that as well.
But I went down into the bowels of the stadium and had a chance to sit down and chat with Paul Rothrock after the Sounders pk Win So I chat with Paul. We'll hear that later on in Tonight's Sounders Weekly. But let's start tonight, and before we really start digging into this Houston game, I will quickly let you know that Sounders FC Soccer is presented by Providence Swedish, the official healthcare partner of Sounders FC. So this game was a bit boring. Honestly, for the first forty five minutes,
not too much happened. I don't have too many notes. There was a couple moments I thought, you know, you look at the expected goals at half. It was something like Sounders had zero point one four, so not that much. Offensively, There was one really nice long ball from Jackson Reagan over the top to Paul Rothrock. He talks about it in the interview later on tonight, where he felt like he had a chance to chip the goalkeeper Steve Clark
and put it in the back of the net. He hit it a little too hard, that was a big moment for Seattle. There was also a really big collision in the forty first minute in front of goal where you know, Steph goes down a bit, argust goes down. Looked like it could have been dangerous, but very thankful it was not serious and Fry was able to get back up and stay in there because we obviously needed Stephan Fry for penalty kicks later on. For first half,
not that much to talk about. Then came the busy second half where it looked like there were many more chances for both teams. That started early in the fifty third minute where there was a ball from I believe to Ezekiel Ponce right across the front of goal. His shot was saved by Stephan Fry, a big save. There another big save from Fry in the sixty second minute, and then Brian Schmitzer realized, all right, I see the way this is going. I need to make a couple
of changes. You had Jp come out, Jul Poulo come out of this game. We knew kind of all right, this is gonna be a big test for him in the humidity of Houston, Texas. Because I mentioned it before, I'll quickly mention again. It was sticky hot, the most sticky heat you can imagine. Folks who traveled down there know it. It was just a disgusting heat. I hated it just walking out in Houston, Texas and going to restaurants and you know, just you know, making your way
around the city. It was, you know, off and on rain for you know, ten to fifteen minute spurts throughout the days, and it just kind of stayed and you just sweated like heck when you walked outside.
Even in the game.
Over the course of the night, there were rain spells and it was just this sticky, humid heat that was really I mean, as a seattleite, as somebody who grew up in Kirkland, just miserable, to be honest with you. So listen, JP, you know, I had to come out of that game in the sixty third minute, and Danny Leva came in straight swapped there in the midfield, and then we hit the sixty fourth minute when once again in game one, we saw Coco Karskia, perhaps Houston's best player,
the twenty twenty four CONCACAF Player of the Year. He's got a red card for violent conduct there in game one at Luminfield. Well almost in the exact same minute, you have the other, tremendous, the other best player for Houston, Hector Herrera. He gets a red card. Well first he
gets a yellow card. And as he gets the yellow card and the referee is holding the card up, he and the referee are kind of walking past each other if you can imagine with your mind's eye, and Hector Herrera turns to his right and spits right at the general direction of the referee walking right by him. He spits at the referee, which is one of the absolute most boneheaded things you can ever imagine.
I mean, what an idiot.
If I have to just be blunt about it, that is so ridiculously dumb. Obviously, the referee picks up on what's happened. He goes to the monitor, sees that Hector Era spat at him. There goes the red card. He's ejected and I mean, Hector Herrera, I tweeted this as well. He's gonna get a big suspension. Hector Herrera is gonna be out for a long time when the next season starts, because their season is of course over. He's gonna find a gigantic amount of money for spitting at a referee.
Just wildly dumb there from Hector Herrera. And then obviously Houston has to play a man down. We see Georgie Manongoo, come on, we see I believe read Baker Whiting.
Come on.
It seems like it's gonna be you know, Sounders pushing, pushing, pushing for a goal. We saw a goal. Then eventually in the eighty seventh minute, a really nice interchange from Georgian Knew who knew who crosses to a trailing Christian Roldan in the middle top of the box. Christian Roldan perfectly places at bottom right corner. It's in the back
of the net. Your Sounders lead one nothing. But you know, we knew Houston had to throw the kitchen sink at Seattle, and they did a cross in the ninety third minute, came across the face of goal and a Christian Roldan tracking back taps it into his own net. So Christian Rolldan gets both goals for the teams in a one to one ninety minutes as the own goal went into
the back of the net. And then we went to penalty kicks, and obviously, I mean you can imagine Shell Energy Stadium was wildly quiet after the Sounders went up one nothing in the eighty seventh minutes, but then it turned into an absolute madhouse. In the ninety third it was, you know, lumin Field if you can shrink it to you know, twenty thousand seats stadium and fill it, because
it was a packed night there in the stadium. Houston fans definitely came out in full force and that place went crazy when it became one to one after the own goal. But we went to penalties, and that is where once again Steve Clark decided to not show up and the Sounder shined because you have Christian hitting Jackson Reagan, who hit third in game one, steps up second in
game two. It's a great penalty by the way, Christian role Don's penalty, My god, I mean, Christian role don might be the best penalty kick taker on the entire team right now.
Geez.
So Alex Roldan comes up third, he hits, Danny Leva hits fourth, Rowel hits fifth, all of them making their penalty kicks. Then we go to sudden death, where it is, you know, one by one the teams got Georgie Manoongo biggest moment maybe of the kid's life, certainly of his soccer career. He hit sixth and hits a good penalty that goes into the back of the net O. Bet Vargas came up seventh, he hits seven. Sounders were seven for seven and overall twelve for twelven penalty kicks against
Steve Clark. Again, he just decided not to show up and all the antics. P Afeuing went into it on the postgame show, and I love him for doing that. Steve Clark is a little bit of a clown in that regard for his antics, and I think the Sounders just, you know, you didn't need to say anything.
You just made him pay with.
Your feet, and boy, they sure did in twelve for twelve fashion. And then Tate Schmidt, a defender I believe, a full back for the Houston Dynamo, stepped up seventh because they had gone six for six as well.
He stepped up seventh.
He went kind of middle left, Stephen Fry chose right and predicted right. He dove right and which is in the right direction, and Stephan Fry got a foot to it, a kick save and a beauty, and the Sounders could celebrate a seven to six penalty kick win in Game two. How freaking exciting, and Stephan Fry, I mean, right now, back to back PK wins as this team doubles their overall PK record in terms of wins in the MLS era.
They only got into this series winning one PK shootout in the MLS era of the club's history, that of course, being twenty sixteen against Toronto. We all remember that. So this marked numbers two and three for PK shootout wins, and boy, it was fun to be there and watch the celebration. You're gonna once again hear it from Paul Rothrock later on tonight after the win.
But overall for us, it's now it's smiles.
It's a little bit nervy, but I hate that we could win one nothing in regulation, but.
Here we are.
All's well, that ends well, and we're moving forward to the Western Conference semifinal, either in Los Angeles against LAFC or hosting the Vancouver white Caps. We'll talk to Ari lillionool about that in a little bit, but really quickly, I need to get the Houston reaction to this, because we're all happy. I want to hear how the city of Houston, Texas, and fans of the Dynamo are reacting to this loss in back to back PK shootouts, so joining us right now here back on the line. He
was with us a couple of weeks ago. He's back with us again. It's our good friend, he writes and covers the Houston Dynamo for what's called the Bayou City, and it's a publication down there in Houston, Texas. It's our good friend. Heyesus Oscevedo Junior. Heyesus man PK shootout losses in back to back games to end your season? How are you and how are Dynamo fans feeling down there?
You know? I I hey Jackson. First of all, Hey, you know it was good to meet you in person. You know that you're a real person. You were just a person on Twitter and then you're just the boys. But now I'm like, okay, he's real. Jackson is real.
But you know, I I and I wrote this as my headline for my story for the Baya City is now Dynamo Dejabu because it feels like both games were.
Exactly the same thing. You know, both pread cards, oddly enough.
Happened on the sixty six minutes, both red cards and the sixty six minute, and you know, I feel like fans are like kind of like, how can I describe almost like like a missed opportunity because both games were there for the taking. You know, you scored, won't going either game changes the whole game, But I mean both games were there for taking. And even Griffin Dorsey when I talked to him back in the game and he's like, look.
Up to the sixty and minute and both games weren't great shape, great shape. Obviously six minutes later we know what happened in each game to just kind of do the game apart. But even with that, you know, going into penalties, uh, it's a crack crack you.
Know, you can say it's a crap shirt. Yeah, not super.
But you know, and you're now worth speaking about this in the press box when you asked me how Dynamal fans feel about Steve Clark, and I told you they love Steve Clark except when it comes to put in the shootouts.
You said that's you said that exact phrase, and then we had that conversation in like the first ten minutes of the game. Hayes Suis and you said we don't like him in PKS and then what do you know, he goes you know, zero for twelve and saving him.
Yeah, and you know, I think.
I saw stad that he has his last sixteen penalties, he hasn't had a stop, you know, so so that doesn't vote well right now during the game.
He's a great shot stopper.
But as we've seen in this league, you need to have a go keep.
But again, someone maybe stop one of the six, one of the ten, one and a eight or something.
So so, you know, I know, Donald fans are fineling like this was a miss best opportunity. They had a great season, the most points in club record, most away points in clubrecer club history, so they definitely it definitely feels like like there was more to this team.
Uh.
But even with all that said, you know, the season, as great a season as they had, there were a lot of injuries. So the future is promising for Dynamo.
But I know from from what I've seen online and then speaking to the Dynamo fans, they feel like this series was.
There for the taking.
In speaking to those fans and having those conversations and then looking at Dynamo Twitter, how are people reacting to karski Is read in game one and Herrera's redding game two. Obviously very different circumstances, both dumb decisions that the players brought on themselves. But our players are fans looking at the players? Are they looking at an overall issue with the way Ben Elsen is running the team? How are
fans reacting to what was? You know, back to back bone had moments by Dynamo players.
Undescribable, you know, especially from those two players, two of the most important players.
I mean you could put you could say they're one and two and three, and I.
Mean one and two for sure, top five most important players and kids in Dynamo over the past of the season. Obviously Hector Arera the captain. That's not a good example. How he left right, He sped towards the referee. You know, whether he intended it or not, he still spent towards the referee. And that, you know, I think even mentioned you know, I wouldn't be surprised if he does get
some games suspended going into the next season. We know that, you know, he has to serve the one game suspension, but I wouldn't be surprised to give him a two.
Or three or four.
You know, that's very unspormed, unsportsmanlike conduct. So so definitely, you know, the thought process from the fans online that I've seen and even something that I talked to that the stadium is just undescribable, like like what are we doing, like you know at at that moment in that game.
To to to lose your your cool, especially for Coco kind of scared.
He was just in Concha Cup.
Player of the Year a couple of weeks ago, so you know what for a player of that statue to kind of lose his cool in that moment.
Same for Hector error he wasn't naven Coca Cup Player of the Year, but still like.
The weight that he has with this team to pull that off, you know, it's just it's unundescribable, you know.
I mean that's not to say that fans want them gone. You know there's some that are.
We like Coco to be sold, and I judge you to not be re signed because the money is you. But you know, when they're on the on the on the pitch, they're difference makers. And you know, we saw how different the team looked when Coco wasn't there After the sixty six minutes in game one, and how Houston wasn't the same after Hector left in the sixty six minutes.
So would you say it's any reflection to to Ben Olsen and the job he's doing as head coach or is it just two individual mistakes.
I definitely think it's two individual mistakes.
You know, having't been around Ben Olsen in the past couple of seasons called until Minningham one on one inter him and the press conferences.
You know he runs the tight ship. You know, he lets him run loose on the field and in the locker room.
But I know that's that, you know, just two bone headed mistakes, two individual bone headed mistakes, you know, and you know maybe the emotions got to them or you know, I will say Ben Olsen.
And I'm back now on the other player. But they did say how they wished the referee in game two had reft the game a little bit better in the first half, so the.
Second half didn't kind of I don't want to say he lost control because he didn't. But to what eventually led to hector expulsion in getting two in the sixty six.
Minute, heyesus Ossivado Junior is our guest, he writes and covers the Houston Dynamo for the Bayou City and down there in Houston. By the way, thank you for the recommendations. I didn't end up getting out to Manchi's. Heyesus, I ended up having to find somewhere closer to walk from the hotel we were staying in.
Uh.
But you got some damn good barbecue down there and then great food. I was just I've been complaining all night about the weather because it's just the stickiest heat in the world. Hey, Sus, I do want to talk to you about the perspective going forward, because for us Sounders, I think we expect to be, you know, in good
contention next year too. We'll have Pedro de la Vega, as you and I talked about in the press box, going into his second year, hopefully becomes more of an established offensive threat and we see him kind of coming into his own for Hey, for you guys down there in Houston, Ezekiel Ponse your DP that you just picked up also going into his second year. You know, it's
very early. I imagine loss of roster changes ahead in the next few months, but from the early season just ended reaction you know where's Dynamo fans heads at for next season.
They're definitely excited just for the point that they'll have a they'll have a couple of players coming back that were lost, you know for.
Most of the season.
You Knowltons, a young Colombian winger, was kind of breaking through last season, not a lot, but the expectation was for him to kind of break through this season and be an impactful player. He got hurt in the preseason, so they were without him.
The whole season. Then they signed Lawrence and Nali uh twenty one year.
Old German winger, speed and dribbling, but of course he got hurt in his third game, so they were hoping he was going to beat that different maker as well with Bones.
So just having those two wingers coming.
Back, you know, I know, especially in Natas, he'll be there with the team at the beginning of the season I think, and Nali maybe towards a Pril May June from what they're saying. Uh So those two players, just loan will add some offensive input to the team. I briefly mentioned Hector Herra. There is a team option whether he comes back or not. All indications, at least from his Instagram post, you know, is that he wants to
come and run it back. You know, he did apologize to the fans and to the city and to the club for how he let his emotions get to him.
So I indicage. I was like, he does want to come.
Back, he may have to make take a bit of a pick cut if he wants to help this this team, maybe you know, make some more roster moves to.
Help this this team, you know, keep standing during ben as An era.
Interesting.
All right, well, it sounds like Houston's going to be a team that we definitely see in contention next year. Maybe we'll see another Dynamo Sounders playoff series in twenty twenty five. Would love to come back down there and see you again. As you mentioned, it was so many years where we've done these interviews and so many years of talking to you. Is great to see you for the first time. So thanks for having us down there, and we'll talk to you soon, buddy.
Thank you Jackson.
Hey sus Oscevedo Junior. Love talking to him and love having on Sounders weekly. I'm sure we'll chat again in next year before the Sounders in Dynamo play their games. And yeah, sounds like it will be a team contending next year. Ezekiel Ponse going into his second year. So I mean, listen, if you're a betting man, some sort of four five, three six game that could absolutely be
in the cards. But we could kind of continue to develop this fun I don't call a rivalry, but obviously Steve Clark is there, and we hate Steve Clark based on his days with the Pearland Timbers and based on his antics and penalties. So we'll see what this thing turns into. A great Houston perspective there from haesus osceveto Junior. But now I want to get the national perspective. How is the national media reacting to the Sounders playoff series win?
Also LAFC Vancouver, let's get an insight on Game three Ari Lillianwall from MLS Soccer dot Com. He will give us a preview of Game three there and talk some more Sounders on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM.
Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders fc Celes Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Welcome back, Sounder's Weekly. Good to have you here.
Your Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM our miner that we're gonna hear from Paul Roth about coming up later tonight. We'll talk to the midfielder in the locker room after the Sounders penalty kick win in Game two.
Down there in Houston, Texas. Weather here much better than the weather down there, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, and once again thanks to our friend Hasius ossveto Junior for joining us in that previous segment to talk about the Houston reaction to their loss and their season ending. But now from you know, my reaction local side to his reaction the Houston side, we now kind of also get the national reaction from our good friend from MLS
Soccer dot Com. He's a writer and editor there. He's also host of the podcast Lobbing Scorches Ari Lillian Wall back here on Sounders Weekly.
Ari, how you doing, my friend.
I'm good, Jackson, how are you doing.
I'm good. I'm good.
Happy to be out of Houston, Texas and back here to the non humid weather.
Man.
Let's of course start with the Sounders Houston Game two. I want to get dig into l EFC Vancouver in a few minutes. What we're seeing in the rest of the playoffs as kind of you know, game threes approach for the first round. Let's start with game two. It is a win for the Sounders, and penalty kicks probably would have loved to have won it one nothing in regulation. Your just initial reaction to the Sounders winning back to back PK shootout wins to advance to the next round.
Yeah, I'm kind of the mine that any playoff series victory, a win is a win in that scenario, no matter what it looks like to an extent, and I think, you know, you would have liked to have seen them score more goals in this series obviously. I think more specifically, you would like to have seen them take advantage of those red cards more than they did on the score sheet. But overall, I mean, I think it was a relatively professional performance to get them advancing, which is all that
can at this time of year. And I mean, it's that's kind of stuff is definitely not a given in the playoffs. Just look at what happens to LAFC and Inner Miami, both of whom got had games three forced against teams that they're way way better than, and they're considered much better than Seattle, so these things are guaranteed.
Yeah, exactly. And I agree with you on that professional performance.
I think, especially you know, going up a man and outside of just you know, the own goal, it really was complete in conversing and in talking with you know, and you are part of the national media, but also you're you know, national people. You're obviously based in Seattle, but in the national perspective, Sounders getting by Houston is the national perspective around sort of just you know, all right, Seattle eked it out, but now they're gonna have to maybe face LFC.
Is that all right?
This is a dominant defensive team that you know, should be able to be a four. See what's the perspective nationally on the Sounders getting through to the next round.
I think nationally people realize that this is a team that has a lot of playoff and has made a lot of deep playoff runs, even in years where you might not necessarily expect them to based on their regular season form. So I don't think anyone necessarily doubts Seattle or counts them out anymore. But I will say for most of the season, the national perspective on Seattle was pretty low. They were considered a mid to average team
from the outside, I think it's fair to say. And then down the stretch when they heat it up, they started to kind of get attention for living up to their old reputation. But I definitely think, especially with how LAFC looked in their game, I don't think Seattle's considered a front runner to come out of the West, but I feel like people consider it more of a possibility now than they did even a week ago.
Ariy Lillian was our guest. He writes, and he also is an editor for MLS Soccer dot Com. He hosts the podcast Lobbing Scorchers, which you can all listen to wherever you get your podcasts, including the iHeartRadio app. Ari How big of a suspension and how big of a fine will Hector Herrera get for spitting at a referee?
Yeah, that was a crazy red card. I kind of couldn't believe he did that, and when when I saw him do it on the broadcast, I thought that that might have been a red card offense, So really kind of surprising to see him lose his head like that in that moment. They got two really costly red cards in that series with Coco Karskia getting one in Game one too. Who knows how different the series could have been if those guys could have just maintained their composure in those situations.
Absolutely wow.
To follow up on that, though, I mean, assuming that he's with Houston Dynamo to start the next season, I mean we've seen, you know, we remember what happened with Vanny Sartini up in Vancouver when he criticized referees and he got a massive fine in suspension. I would imagine that the fine, We're not talking about thousands of dollars. We're talking about maybe tens or one hundred thousand dollars. And I set the bar. I think in the postgame
show at like five games. Does that sound a route right for you for Herrera?
I think it might be more like one to three games based on just based on past president. But I do definitely think he's going to get some game, at least a couple games tacked on retroactively.
Yeah, that would certainly make sense to start the next year. But just a wild situation there. All right, Ari, it's time to talk about what could be the next Sounders opponent, and this is kind of going to be our little makeshift Sharp Vision opponent out look. We don't know if it's going to be LAFC or the Vancouver white Caps yet, but I'll tell everybody that each week our opponent Alex are presented by Sharp Vision, Modern LESC and Lens, the
official Lasik provider of Sounders FC. So what we saw after the Sounders game ended was Vancouver Whitecaps just dominating LAFC three nothing win. Game three coming up on Friday night down in Los Angeles. So first question is what did you see if you did catch any of LAFC Vancouver Game two in the white Caps domination, and then maybe we can talk about Game three ahead down there in LA.
I mean, I think we saw an LAFC team that might be more vulnera than people think. I think they're pretty far and away considered the number one favorite to come out of the West. I think you got to throw the Galaxy in there. But I think most people see it as those two teams as the odds on favorites to come out of the West, and I think them losing Game two in Vancouver isn't necessarily the most
shocking thing. The playoffs can be long, and googling you can drop games like that, But you really don't see LAFC get played off the field like that very often, even when they take negative results. So I think that could be a sign that fatigue is finally setting in for them a little bit with all the games that they have played in the last couple of years, which presents an opportunity not only for Seattle, but really anyone else.
In the West.
How do you think Game three shapes up, because it seems like LAFC is gonna be playing with a few nerves playing at home obviously, you know, all of the pressure is on them not to blow it at home to you know, Vancouver of all teams.
How do you kind of look at Game three playing out?
Yeah, look, I definitely would not take Vancouver to win. I think LAFC is the heavy favorite playing at home and being considered one of the main contenders. But I mean, we just saw the Columbus Crew go down in their series in two games. Who I consider them about on the same tier in status as LAFC this year, so it's not out of the question that an upset could happen.
I have a hard time picking against a team as good as LFC in their own building but Vancouver they're gonna have They're gonna be quietly confident going into that game. And they have a player with Ryan Gallad Scottish MESSI who can we saw what he did in Game two, what he can do. He dominated that game. If he has another game like that, I could see a scenario where the white Caps take the result.
In that game.
Oh, let's go.
Obviously, a white Caps win in Game three on Friday means they would come to Seattle for the Western Conference Semifinal LAFC. If they do take care of business, it would be Sounders at LAFC. We'll talk about that in a couple of weeks because we won't have a shown next week, so we'll have a specific preview for whoever that is. But obviously here in Seattle we're all saying go white Caps.
Ari.
Meanwhile, the other side of the bracket, Minnesota United, much like the Sounders back to back penalty kick wins, and then they're facing an LA Galaxy team you mentioned right there, that are just rolling right now, just destroyed Colorado to advance to the next round. Is it as simple as seeing LAFC just continue to roll, or does Minnesota have some magic behind them.
I mean I would pick the Galaxy in this series. Anyone who has listened to my interviews on here or my podcast throughout the season knows how high I am on the Galaxy, and I think that was validated with how they played in the first round against the Rapids. That was the most one sided series, and I think you could argue that based on how the playoffs are going so far, that's a team that's in the best
form in MLS right now. So I like Minnesota. I picked them to win that series, which I think was kind of a minor upset, But the Galaxy's firepower there just seems to be a big differential between them and a lot of the mid table teams in the West now, and they're just they're rolling, So I think they man honestly have a case as the cause on favorite.
I think you're absolutely right right now looking at how LAFC is playing.
Listen.
I don't want to say the Sounders don't have a good shot to win the West. I think they do. But right now, if you're a betting person, you're probably betting on Miami and LA and the LA Galaxy to be MLS Cup. But beyond that front, the Eastern Conference really quick before we let you go, Gotta get a thought from you on the fact that in the East we have a Game three between Atlanta and Miami. We have the Columbus Crew out of the playoffs after getting
eluminated in PKS at New York Red Bulls. What are your impressions of what's going on there in the Eastern Conference.
I was definitely surprised to see the Crew go out to the Red Bulls. I don't think I don't think there's a single person in the entire country who had that one. Columbus was widely considered the second best team, not just in the East, but in all of MLS this year. I think behind Inner Miami, they were predicted to make at least get close to making the final, So definitely that's probably that's definitely the most surprising result
so far. As for Inter Miami getting pushed to a Game three, I'm not really buying that they're in all that much danger yet. I mean, fair play and good work by Atlanta to get the result in Game two to force that, but over three games, I think Messi and the Barca Boys just have way too much quality for Atlanta to threaten them. But that could be that's at least in play as another crazy upset.
It could be in you never know. In one off soccer games, We've seen crazy, crazy things happen, so you never know what will happen. We'll talk to you about all the conference semifinals ahead in a couple of weeks on the next show. But I'm sure you'll cover all of it and more. We only got, you know, twelve minutes with you. We'll get a lot more on the Lobbing Scorches podcast. I'm sure my friend have a great show there with Noah. We'll be listening and thanks for tonight.
Thanks Jackson, appreciate it.
It's great stuff with with Ari Lill, MLS soccer dot com writer and editor. Always love having him on the show. We'll talk again in a couple weeks.
Well.
For the Sounders twenty twenty five season memberships are on sale now, so join the Sounders FC Legacy and secure your spot with the best fans in MLS. Becoming a member is the best way to gain access to the club World Cup. We are working closely with FIFA to get our season members access to tickets, including three Sounders matches. Members also have access to MLS season pass ticket flexibility, our training facility and clubhouse, plus more. Learn more at
soundersfc dot com, Backslash tickets, Backslash memberships. All right, we've gotten the local reaction to the Sounders win. We've got the Houston reaction to the Sounders win and Houston loss. We've got the national reaction to the Sounders win. Now it's time to go inside the locker room there down in Houston, Texas. I was able to sit down with Paul Rothrock after the PK win. You'll hear from Paul Rothrock next here on Sounders Weekly on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFL.
Now back to Sounders Weekly on your home for Sounders FC Seles Sports Radio ninety three point three kjr FM.
Welcome back Sounders Weekly.
Jackson Felt's good to be with you here on ninety three point three KJRFM, spending the hour reacting to a Sounders series win over the Houston Dynamo back to back penalty kick shootout wins game one nine days ago at lumin Field and then last Sunday, just a few days ago, we were down in Houston, Texas. It was awesome to
be there down in there Shell Energy Stadium. The weather, as I mentioned throughout the night, it was just a really sticky and gross so much humidity there in Houston, just about an hour north of the coast there in Texas, the southern coast and the golf But I tell you what, it's still made for a dramatic atmosphere, rain occasionally coming down, Sounder fans enjoying it. As we came home with a
series win there in penalties. Well, you know, after that win, went down to the locker room after the postgame show. Everybody was in a pretty good mood, obviously you'd expect after a series win, and I was able to sit down with Paul Rothrock. He was sitting in his locker and we caught up talking about the win, talking about the emotions after it. I also, at the end of this asked him about Hector Herrera spitting at a referee.
I was interesting to hear last segment already say that you only expect a one to three game suspension for Herrera.
I disagree.
I think that's going to be more just looking at what they suspended the head coach of Vancouver, Vanni Sartini for last year. I think Herrera is gonna get probably, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if it's somewhere in the range of five with a giant suspension. I mean that that was horrible. Spitting at a referee, I mean, that's that's wild. So I asked Paul Rothrock about that and if he's ever seen anything like that. A really good conversation here with Paul, who was in a great
mood after the Sounders penalty kick win. Here was my sit down with Paul Rothrock penalty kick win.
I'm sure the vibe in here is a little bit relief, Yeah, for sure.
I think the guys showed a lot of grit tonight, a lot of composure. I think it was a difficult game, right, we found a way to get a goal, and then we think the game's over. They equalize, even the penalties, shootout, momentum changes, stuff makes the same, they call it back. You know, so many like momentum shifts. But then the real credit to everybody tonight for pulling out the win.
I'm sure you're you're young, you're a young man, but how many years do you estimate that took off your life?
At least one?
Yeah, just like the back.
I mean, let's let's talk about that, right, because, like you're obviously on the side, you're watching this whole thing happen. When Christian scores in the eighty seventh minute, you got to be feeling good. But at that point, you know, I imagine the nerves are pretty high and you're just kind of you're everybody's yelling to defend, defend, defend.
Yeah, for sure, I think you know. I was definitely feeling in control after Christian scored, And it's difficult when you're on the side, like you have no control over the app come.
You just have to trust the.
Guys and and credit to them, credit the guys who finish out the game, and then taking the penalty twice for some of those guys Christian Alex Jackson.
Yeah, really just a gutsy.
Win and like sets us up well, right, I think it gives us some more belief. And I don't know how the La Vancouver series is gonna shake up. Looks like Vancouver's up right now, but either way, it's gonna be a really fun opponent, right Either Do you prefer one of them? I would I want to play them both for different reasons.
I think we'll let's walk through La f C.
I'd love to play them because I think, you know, we've got to get their number at some point, and I feel good about playing them away on the road. I think it suits us more in a lot of ways. I think they're gonna be like feeling a little cocky about that matchup, and.
We've got you know, we've we've got a lot of.
Revenge to to fuel us in that matchup. And then Vancouver obviously is a whole different ball game, but that would be a home match right against them, against our Cascade arrivals, which historically we've done pretty well against them too, and they match up good against their formation, So both of them would be really fun games to play here.
You know, the funness of here being here in Houston.
You know, we don't get to travel that many for road games, right, so like being here you know with the am or we saw you, you know, I come out and saw you a few minutes before before you guys hit the locker room for the first time. I mean, you know, obviously playoff atmosphere here in Houston.
What was it like to night out there?
Yeah, I'd use the word rambunctious you know, they were the crowd was pretty chippy. The players are really chippy with us. They were trying to get under our skin. You know, the matchups I had, they were really trying to get under my.
Scale in some ways. And what ways were they doing, just like little things off the ball and.
Little sly stuff. And you know, credit to them, they played the crowd well.
I thought.
I thought they were able to shift momentum in their favor and some some key moments. But you know, our defense really helped us definitely, some huge saves in some moments. We were kind of treading water for a minute there and in both halves, and uh, you know, I would have liked to put my chance away early in the game. I think that that yeah, that one over the top and I've actually scored that goal before and I just
put a little bit too much on it. But yeah, I mean this one gives us a lot of confidence.
At the same time, you have to wait three weeks to play. That's that's it's a good thing, you get healthy. But also it kind of you know, drank the momentum though, doesn't.
It Yeah, in a way, But like I mean, I think we can take a lot of positives from it. You know, Jordan and Alber both nursing stuff. I think some other guys have a little bit of you know, niggles at the moment as well.
So that gives us.
Time to get fully healthy and fully ready to go. And you know, we'll know our opponent. We this other series goes to game three, we all get to watch that game. Really take some more time. Man together.
One go to sleep over, you watch it, your pizza and pillows and watch it all together.
I see, believe in. So we'll wrap it up with this. And if you.
Don't give me an honest answer, that's completely fine. Have you ever seen a player spit it a referee before? I have not, And how weird was that? You know, I actually didn't see it. But you know, it's unfortunate for them. I think it's it's a silly mistake.
It It's now been a couple of games against them where they've given us some positive momentum and some moments you know where maybe you know, they seemed like they had a good handle on the game at that moment, and Matt really turned the tide for us, and I'm glad he did it in some ways. Sorry for the referee, but like again, it was like sixty sixth minute or something, almost exactly the same as Karskio last week. So we'll
take it. But yeah, I haven't seen that before, and I'm surprised that from such an experienced player that that that occurred.
All right, well, let's get out of here. Let's have a good flight back home. I'll see back at longer. Yes, thanks man, And it was a good flight home, enjoyable by all. Got in late Sunday evening. I didn't know what Monday morning at that point, like twelve thirty, and then got home and slept at one o'clock. Woke up at five am. Watched the horrible Seahawks game at five am. I'm not sure why I got up to do that, but I did to be able to get into KJR and take the take the air at noon in with
Ian Fernesz and talk about that Seahawk game. But it was much happier reacting to the Sounders win than it was watching that Seahawks loss.
I'll tell you what.
So, it's been a little bit of a whirlwind here over the last what four days of five days being you know, traveled to Houston, and back and forth. But this is why we do it. And I mean listen, you know, to pull back, Curt and I love what I do. I love this so much and the traveling down there. I thanks to everybody with the sounders and of course our broadcast director Keeley Dunning for making that happen, because it was awesome to be down there in Houston.
J and M Barbecue, by the way, if anybody's ever in Houston again, Jay and M Barbecue, we got a little private tour of what goes on in the back down there and had some way too much brisket, but that brisket was sensational. I posted some pictures, by the way, on my Instagram. I don't do Instagram much, but at Jackson on Radio if you are so inclined to check that out, because that was an awesome time out there
in Houston, J and M Barbecue as well. Overall, fantastic time being there in Houston, Texas and seeing the sounders get that penalty kicks shootout win. That will do it for our show tonight. Want to thank all of our guests. Heyes, who's osceveto Junior who gave us the Houston reaction to their loss. Ari Lillinwall, who gave the national reaction to the Sounders win, really good insight into LAFC and Vancouver because listen, the Sounders, they're heading to the Western Conference
semi but we don't know who we're playing yet. We're either going to be hosting the Vancouver white Caps or we're going to be going to Los Angeles to face LAFC. So stay tuned for more information regarding the time and date. Whoever the opponent is will know on Friday night, but learn more at soundersfc dot com. I'll tell you we have been relentless since seventy four and the Sounders will be relentless going into the Western Conference semifinals coming up.
We are all white Caps fans on Friday night, will all be tuned in for that game on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, So make sure you are tuned in for that Go white Caps.
Have a very good rest of your Wednesday evening.
Everybody, no show for Sounders Weekly next week, because of course, we are through, so we will talk to you in a couple weeks as we preview the Western Semifinal against whoever that may be. So have a good couple weeks everybody, we'll talk to you soon. Go white Caps and Fox Sports Radio is up next.