July 2, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Seattle Sounders FC News Release
SEATTLE, WASH. – In the first matchup between the two sides since 2019 MLS Cup, Sounders FC (8-7-2, 26 points) defeated Toronto FC (5-10-3, 18 points) 2-0 on Saturday at BMO Field. Dylan Teves scored his first career MLS goal in his first league start, while Fredy Montero added to his all-time franchise goal lead as Brian Schmetzer’s side kicked off a busy July stretch with three points on the road.
Seattle got on the board first in the 39th minute. Léo Chú streaked down the left flank after he received a one-time pass from Jimmy Medranda. Chú then beat a Toronto defender and crossed a ball right in front of goal, finding Teves for the one-time shot to take the lead. It was Teves’ first MLS goal, becoming the first Homegrown player in Seattle history to score in their first start.
The Rave Green doubled the lead in the 60th minute via a nice piece of team play. Montero received the ball at the edge of the area, passing it off to Lodeiro and running into space, where the Uruguayan found Montero again with a through ball, leaving the Colombian one-on-one with Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westburg, who Montero beat easily for the 2-0 lead. The goal connected Montero, the club’s all-time goal leader, with Lodeiro, the club’s all-time assist leader.
Sounders FC now returns home ahead of a pivotal matchup next Saturday, July 9 with the first matchup of 2022 against archrival Portland (1:30 p.m. PT / FOX, FOX Deportes, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH NOTES
Sounders FC currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference with 26 points after today’s win, moving up from seventh to start the day. The club is now four points above the line in the race for the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Seattle now has a 10-3-2 record against Toronto FC in regular-season matchups. Seattle is also 1-1-1 against Toronto in the postseason, with all three matches being MLS Cup finals.
Sounders FC deployed a 5-4-1 formation with five changes from Wednesday’s match vs. CF Montréal: Stefan Cleveland, Jimmy Medranda, Danny Leyva, Dylan Teves and Léo Chú replaced Stefan Frei, Kelyn Rowe, Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris.
Coach Schmetzer exercised some squad rest and rotation for today’s match, as Frei, Morris, Roldan and Rusnák did not travel with the team to Toronto.
Cleveland made his fifth appearance of the year across all competitions (fourth in MLS play) and his first since a May 11 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match vs. San Jose.
Teves made his first career MLS start after signing this offseason following a standout career at the University of Washington. The Homegrown Player has two substitute appearances this season across all competitions, first against San Jose on May 11 in U.S. Open Cup play before appearing against Vancouver in MLS play on June 14.
With his goal in the 39th minute of play, Teves became the first Sounders FC Homegrown player in club history to score in his first start for the Rave Green.
Fredy Montero’s goal in the 60th minute marked the connection between the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in all competitions and all-time assist leader in Nicolás Lodeiro.
Montero now has 74 goals in Rave Green, five strikes ahead of current teammate Raúl Ruidíaz for the all-time club lead.
Saturday’s game marked the first matchup between Sounders FC and Toronto FC since the 2019 MLS Cup, which Seattle won 3-1 at Lumen Field. It was the third MLS Cup matchup between the two sides over the course of four years, with the teams splitting the 2016 and 2017 titles at BMO Field.
Today’s win gives Sounders FC a 3-4-1 regular season record on the road.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 – Toronto FC 0
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Venue: BMO Field – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistants: Andrew Bigelow, Lyes Arfa
Fourth Official: Ismir Pekmic
VAR: Geoff Gamble
Attendance: 23,594
Weather: 78 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Dylan Teves (Léo Chú, Jimmy Medranda) 39′
SEA – Freddy Montero (Nico Lodeiro) 60′
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Léo Chú (caution) 14′
TOR – Carlos Salcedo (caution) 31′
SEA – Nouhou (caution) 34′
SEA – Nico Lodeiro (caution) 70′
SEA – Danny Leyva (caution) 90’+2′
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou, Jimmy Medranda (Kelyn Rowe 60′); Danny Leyva, Nico Lodeiro, Dylan Teves (Ethan Dobbelaere 59′), Léo Chú (Josh Atencio 72′); Fredy Montero (Reed Baker-Whiting 86′)
Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez
Total shots: 11
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 16
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 2
Toronto FC – Quentin Westberg; Kosi Thompson, Chris Mavinga, Carlos Salcedo, Luca Petrasso (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 46′); Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonathan Osorio, Michael Bradley; Jayden Nelson, Ayo Akinola (Deandre Kerr 46′), Jesús Jiménez
Substitutes not used: Lukas MacNaughton, Ralph Priso-Mbongue, Jordan Perruzza, Kadin Chung, Jacob Shaffelburg, Alex Bono, Shane O’Neill
Total shots: 13
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 9
Offside: 3
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 2
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.