> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Sounders’ Home Unbeaten Streak Ends at 22, Pec Runs Riot for Galaxy - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-sounders-home-unbeaten-streak-snapped-la-galaxy/ - Published: 2026-05-17T06:40:59.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:14:45.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Analysis, Sounders, Brian Schmetzer, Cristian Roldan, Paul Arriola, Albert Rusnak, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2048"\] ![ Seattle Sounders forward Jesus Ferreira dribbles the ball against the LA Galaxy on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Sandra Agbotse / Sounders FC Communications) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/55275036559_63952abf35_k-format-original.jpg) Seattle Sounders forward Jesus Ferreira dribbles the ball against the LA Galaxy on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Sandra Agbotse / Sounders FC Communications) \[/caption\] SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle Sounders had been through the wringer in a three-game week, but were facing an LA Galaxy team coming off a tough loss to Kansas City to close the stretch Saturday. Seattle, on the other hand, was riding high with a win over the top-ranked San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, and set their lineup to rotate against the 11th-place Galaxy. Unfortunately for Seattle, LA found its footing in this one, as star winger Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist in transition late to bury the Sounders in a 2-0 shocker. The loss meant the end of a 22-game home unbeaten run dating back to last summer against European champion Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup. Seattle, as it has for the past few matches, spent plenty of time in LA's box with 30 touches in the 18, but couldn't cash in on 1.4 expected goals on mostly half-chances. The Sounders also took 15 shots and got five on frame with 58% possession, but the Galaxy's counterattacks late buried Seattle as LA generated 1.7 xG on nine shots. Head coach Brian Schmetzer was forced to rest some key pieces like Cristian Roldan, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Paul Rothrock until the second half, going with typical subs like Peter Kingston and Paul Arriola to start. Antino Lopez notched the start at center back as Alex Roldan deals with a hamstring injury. Albert Rusnák also had to sub on earlier than planned to account for the loss of striker Danny Musosvski, who came off after losing a tooth in a leaping challenge for a ball in the fifth minute. Musovski was evaluated for a concussion as well. "The attacking flow of the game was a little dysfunctional again due to the changes that I made," Schmetzer said. "Maybe I made one too many, two too many… I think that took a little bit of time for that particular group of players to adjust. Then you magnify that by taking a goal early… they get a little rattled." ### Sounders Struggle To Create Real Chances The theme of the Sounders’ last few games has been creating plenty of real chances to score, with Seattle breaking through against San Jose to the tune of three goals and a clutch win. On Saturday night, the team may have produced 1.4 xG, but it was more quantity than quality. Seattle's arguable best look of the night came in the fifth minute as Jackson Ragen worked in a solid ball to Jordan Morris in the middle third while Morris found Musovski streaking down Broadway in the final third. Out of options with Musovski charging rapidly, Galaxy keeper James Marcinkowski (five saves) came off his line to meet Seattle's striker about 15 yards from goal on the right side. With the keeper going low, Musovski had a chance to chip him or go wide, but shot low and straight right at Marcinkowski for a save. Musovski came off the field for that injury soon after, as he could be seen holding up one of his upper front teeth after a midair collision in the box. Rusnák came on to give Seattle a very different look — one that didn't net many chances of note. "Danny's unfortunate situation probably slowed the game down and probably helped the Galaxy because I thought we had a little bit of momentum," Cristian Roldan said. For Schmetzer, it just wasn’t the time to make a change as he wondered postgame if Rusnák was ready to come on so soon. For the rest of the first half, the Slovak star didn’t make much of an impact in his usual playmaking way. On the other end, the Sounders were giving the Galaxy problems in build-up play as Ragen made a strong tackle on Pec in the 18th. But just five minutes later, Pec got his revenge. The Brazilian winger turned on the jets as forward Marco Reus probed the field with the ball at his feet near midfield. Pec curled his run into the top of the box, as Ragen was a few steps behind. Pec looked over his left shoulder and readjusted as he realized Reus played it to his right. Once it reached him, it was a 1-on-1 with keeper Andrew Thomas. Pec wasted no time burying the chance for his fourth goal of the season. Arriola managed to win a free kick on the left side of the box in the 28th, but the Sounders ended up using that chance to put a slow header right into Marcinkowski's hands for a save. Arriola continued his theme of solid generation on the left side by drawing a forearm to the face from Galaxy defender Miki Yamane for a similarly positioned free kick, but it led to a skied Peter Kingston shot to end the half. Right out of the halftime break, however, the Sounders managed to turn a Jesús Ferreira corner kick into a real chance as Kalani Kossa-Rienzi headed the outswinger toward goal. It went off Arriola's follow-up to try to add an unexpected wrinkle for Marcinkowski to handle. But Arriola's redirect went wide right as the Sounders just weren't threatening the Galaxy consistently. In the 56th, Rusnák managed a shot from just inside the box that floated to the top right corner, but narrowly missed. Three minutes later, Ferreira chipped a ball in for Arriola at the far post, and the winger made contact on a header. Unfortunately for Seattle, Marcinkowski had his finest moment by sticking an anticipatory arm out to block the attempt. From there, the Galaxy started to take over as Seattle cycled in Paul Rothrock, Cristian Roldan and Osaze De Rosario. Midfielder Erik Thommy worked past Arriola after a Marcinkowski punch-out, leading to a shot by Reus after he finessed his way by Andrew Thomas. His shot hit the side netting in close as Seattle somehow remained just a goal down. Four minutes later, Pec continued his whale of a game in creation by holding up Ragen a mere four yards from the goal. He then did the unthinkable: He back-heeled a ball for the opposite post. Thomas was flat-footed as the ball fortuitously bounced off the right post and out for a collective sigh of relief by the entire stadium. The Galaxy had set the tone for the rest of the game. They were content to allow Seattle to try in vain to generate a chance and would push in transition for a quality chance right away. Though Rusnák troubled Marcinkowski for a save in the 75th, Seattle's last real chance came in the 89th. The Sounders had a solid and decisive build-out, perhaps cleaner than anything they had procured all night, to get Rothrock open in space with a chance to cross it in from the left side. It was a perfect ball for a leaping Morris, whose header just had no venom on it, leaping over two defenders. It was easily saved. In the 91st, Ragen gave the ball away to Edwin Cerrillo, who instantly played it for Pec on the right side. Pec sprinted down the right side all the way to Thomas, and left it for Matheus Nascimento for a dagger of a goal. ### A Rotation Nightmare On paper, it was a tough lineup to play against a rival. > “I didn’t want the streak to end tonight.”[#Sounders](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sounders?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) coach Brian Schmetzer has constantly talked about Seattle’s 22-home unbeaten run not being a given, but for it to end against a middling [#LAGalaxy](https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAGalaxy?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) wasn’t in his plans.[@EmeraldSpectrum](https://twitter.com/EmeraldSpectrum?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) | [#MLS](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLS?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/0BPClyvc7k](https://t.co/0BPClyvc7k?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) [May 17, 2026](https://twitter.com/qasimasports/status/2055872044039069935?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) Trotting out a group with Lopez, Kingston, Dotson and Arriola among the typical starters was always going to take time to get used to for the 11 on the field, and the result on Saturday night was a motivated LA Galaxy squad taking advantage of an incomplete starting squad. The starting unit looked disconnected for long stretches, as Kingston played the first 45 and looked frustrated on the right side with space to work with, but not much of the ball. Schmetzer noted that Kingston matching up with the Galaxy's Joseph Paintsil, a physical and shifty winger, was a tough matchup for a young player more accustomed to attacking. Snyder Brunell has been a routine starter in the midfield alongside Cristian Roldan, but pairing him with Hassani Dotson to start seemed to destabilize his play as the 19-year-old was dispossessed twice. "We just didn't bring it tonight," Cristian Roldan said. "Whether it's cohesion, whether it's a line of choices, we can't make excuse about any of that." This isn't a moment to hit the panic button on the Sounders, who are coming off their best win of the season, to be sure. The defense was fine, and the second goal can be attributed to leaving yourself vulnerable by chasing the game. In fact, Saturday was the third time Seattle gave up the opening goal in a game, something Roldan wasn't thrilled with. > [#Sounders](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sounders?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) midfielder Cristian Roldan on the team allowing the first strike in three straight games. > > Seattle goes 1-1-1 in a 3-game week at home after a 2-0 loss to [#LAGalaxy](https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAGalaxy?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). > > 22-game home unbeaten run snapped.[@EmeraldSpectrum](https://twitter.com/EmeraldSpectrum?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) | [#MLS](https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLS?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/xuEzJA1SME](https://t.co/xuEzJA1SME?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) [May 17, 2026](https://twitter.com/qasimasports/status/2055873418860601432?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) Long story short, the Sounders defense was missing key pieces due to rotation (not to mention Alex Roldan out with a hamstring) when it gave up the first goal, and it is still among the best in the league. The offense is the story, and it was just barely passable. Marcinkowski had a great game and was a visionary on two of his saves, but Seattle showed a level of decisiveness in their final chance on the Morris header that they hadn't shown all night. It's not a coincidence that the lineup they had on the field when that happened was a much more experienced one, more knowledgeable of one another. Schmetzer didn't rotate midweek with such a staunch opponent like the Earthquakes in town, and it led to making six subs and playing a cobbled-together XI to start this one. If the question is whether winning the Heritage Cup was worth losing Saturday's game, Schmetzer is in a tough spot. He'd probably say it was worth it, but that doesn’t change the fact that the veteran coach and two-time champ is worthy of blame in the management of this hellish week’s final fixture. Simply put, the Sounders gave back the three points they earned in their Wednesday thriller against San Jose in a game they had plenty of edges in. "We had three games at home, we should have been ready for this game," Roldan said. ### Up Next The Sounders are done with fixture congestion for a while as they get set for a duel with Heung-Min Son and LAFC next Sunday on the road. After that, the Sounders will go on a break for all of June and into July for the World Cup, putting added pressure on getting a result next week to end this mini-season of sorts before school's out for summer break.