In the darkest days of the Sounders’ season, when they were “left for dead,’’ in the words of Hercules Gomez, Brad Evans had a perverse thought.
Driving to work with teammate Erik Friberg, he mused about all the issues facing this year’s underperforming team, juxtaposed against all the near-misses by past Sounders squads in seasons when they were expected to win.
Wouldn’t it be crazy, they pondered, if, amidst the coaching change and the under-performance that was drowning the Sounders season, they finally found the elusive path to glory?
“Even in our car pool, midway through the year, we always thought, ‘Yeah, this is going to be the year that this could happen,’ ’’ Evans said.