SEATTLE – If you told the Seattle Sounders before Saturday night’s match against the San Jose Earthquakes that they would score 18 seconds in and then be the beneficiaries of a second-half red card on their home turf, they probably would have liked their chances.
But in the end, the Sounders couldn’t parlay the fastest start in franchise history after Clint Dempsey's opener or one-man advantage into a victory – or even a tie – falling 3-2 to the Quakes at CenturyLink Field.
One takeaway for Seattle is that there is still a learning curve for Brad Evans, who was switched from the midfield to Seattle’s new starting center back as an experimental move to start the season.
Evans was victimized twice on goals from San Jose star forward Chris Wondolowski after missing headers in his own penalty box. He also fell down while attempting to defend Innocent Emeghara on his 70th-minute tally that gave the Quakes a 3-1 lead.
Brian Schmetzer, filling in for head coach Sigi Schmid who was away from the team attending his son’s wedding, explained his choice to stick by his captain despite the struggles to reporters after the game.
“[Evans] is the captain of the team,” Schmetzer said. “He’s an important part of the team. He’s a tremendous soccer player and a tremendous human being. If I had to second-guess myself I probably would have done the same thing. [Pulling him] did cross my mind to be honest with you, but you give veteran guys a little bit of leeway. … Brad is a great soccer player, and my gut said, ‘Let’s keep him in there.’”
Seattle defender Tyrone Mears said it would be also be unrealistic to expect every game to go as smoothly as last weekend’s 3-0 blowout of New England, adding that early season adversity can be used as a positive part of a team’s growth process.
“The last game was great, and everything went well for us,” Mears said. “But that doesn’t happen week in, week out. You’ve got to come up against games like this where it’s not going for you and you [figure out] how to win the game.”
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Mears exited the game in the second half with what he referred to as a small hamstring tear and said he could be sidelined for a couple of weeks, a loss that would be a big blow to Seattle’s backline.
On the positive side for Seattle, Schmetzer did say he was very pleased with the performance of rookie first-round SuperDraft pick Cristian Roldan, who received his first extended MLS action on Saturday after subbing on in the 80th minute.
“[Roldan was] very good, very good – you saw what he does,” Schmetzer said. “He is a sturdy guy, and he can shield the ball, he turns quick, he can play and move. Some of the balls he put in were decent crosses, so I was very pleased with him, very happy. He’s got a bright future.”
