The Seattle Sounders look to be in fine goal-scoring form, with striker Raul Ruidiaz and midfielder Cristian Roldan getting on the scoresheet in a hard-fought 3-3 draw away at Charlotte FC.
Ruidiaz, who was out for a couple of months due to a right hamstring strain suffered during their 4-1 loss against the Portland Timbers on Matchday 8, made his first start for the Sounders since then, scoring a brace. Roldan, absent due to concussion protocol, also returned to the field, where he scored for the first time since February 26th against the Colorado Rapids.
This draw brings the Sounders a point closer to Western Conference leaders St. Louis CITY, who are sitting on top with 29 points through 16 games played.
"Overall, I think the performance was good in the sense that we scored three goals away from home," stated head coach Brian Schmetzer.
"So, the attacking side was working. I thought all three of our goals were very well-taken goals. I loved Cristian's first goal: Welcome back, Cristian. Raul's next two goals, well-taken. The second one [of the match], golazo: Welcome back, Raul."
Despite all the praises about their attacking play, naturally - Seattle remains disappointed with a draw. A late header scored by Charlotte forward Patrick Agyemang in the 89th minute saw the Sounders drop three points in what would've been a valuable away win.
"We have nine shutouts, and for some odd reason we couldn't keep Charlotte off the board. Give a little bit of credit for Charlotte because they didn't quit and they put pressure on us, they sent the big guys up towards the end of the game. But certainly we felt that we should have come out of there with all three points," Schmetzer said in his post-game conference.
"Look, the draw stings because we were ahead. We let them come back on multiple occasions. But the one silver lining in a very dark cloud is the offense was clicking. Raul is back."
Roldan expressed the same feelings as his head coach, saying that losing a lead can negatively affect the morale of the team in the locker room.
"It's hard to celebrate the goals that Raul and I scored," the midfielder said.
"We were out for a really long time so it was really rewarding to score on our first starts back with the team. Obviously we would have loved to have three points, but the goals that we scored were of quality. Maybe that was something that we were lacking a little bit these last couple games, so we have to take that into account, we have to use that for momentum going into our next game."
Seattle will hope to keep a clean sheet in their next MLS match-up against a wounded LAFC side on July 21st at BMO Stadium.
This article was originally published on 90min as Seattle Sounders in goal-scoring form despite 3-3 draw with Charlotte FC .
