The mood at halftime was a somber mix of introspection and firebrand motivation.
The Portland Timbers held a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead at the interval in Seattle’s last match on Aug. 28. As the Sounders listened to interim coach Brian Schmetzer rally the troops in an attempt to close the gap, the mental view of the mountain the team needed to climb must’ve spired endlessly into the sky.
“Obviously, everybody was disappointed,” Sounders captain Brad Evans said of the mood at half. “Schmetzer came in and said, ‘We’re going to do one thing.