SEATTLE — When the clock finally ran out on the Seattle Sounders 2022 season, it came with more of a whimper than a wail. The Sounders had just endured probably the strangest season in their history — becoming the first MLS team to win Concacaf Champions League only to miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history less than six months later — and it probably made sense that the end was met with some degree of resignation.
Understandable as that might have been at the moment, that was not the kind of reaction that was going to drive the team forward.