Sounders Earn Second Clean Sheet, Notch Road Win over St. Louis
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Seattle Sounders winger Jesús Ferreira plays a ball through during a game against St. Louis City on Saturday, March 7, 2026 at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO. (Sounders FC Communications) [/caption]
A night full of pressing left both sides tired, but the Seattle Sounders prevailed 1-0 over host St. Louis City on Saturday night thanks to an early second-half goal from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. It was the first road win of the season for the Sounders (2-1-0 W-L-D), who warded off plenty of late chances from City (0-2-1) in front of a rowdy home crowd at Energizer Park.
Keeper Andrew Thomas earned that clean sheet, picking up five saves while Sounders defenders escorted five shots away on their own. Paul Arriola got his first extended run of the season, while veteran defensive pieces like Cristian Roldan and Jackson Ragen shone to hold St. Louis to a goose egg.
While points on the road are something to celebrate, as the Sounders check off game two of five consecutive MLS fixtures on the road while Lumen Field undergoes World Cup alterations, it wasn't all good.
Yeimar suffered a hamstring injury in the first half to add the worst complication yet in a saga of injured center backs in Seattle this season.
Sounders' Center Back Depth Takes Biggest Hit Yet
The beginning of the game was simply a preview of what was to come. The squads took turns imposing their deep press on one another, as contested passes made for plenty of collisions early. There was no scoring, sure, but watching the ball go back and forth as each team switched to press mode immediately after losing the ball made for a fast brand of soccer in St. Louis.
In the 23rd, Yeimar went up to try and win another ball, but came down in pain immediately. He lay on his back for a while and slammed the pitch with either hand as it was clear he couldn't go on. After the game, head coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed it was a right hamstring strain of unknown severity, as Seattle's prized center back continues to struggle with that muscle group.
Although Seattle arguably has the best center-back pairing in MLS in Yeimar and Ragen, the lack of depth has been a story all preseason.
Kim kee-Hee was just dealt an injury setback this week, while Ryan Sailor and Stuart Hawkins continue to work back from injury as well. Antino Lopez of Tacoma Defiance would be an option as well, as this Sounders coaching staff is never shy about calling up their MLS Next Pro talent.
Former Defiance man Kalani Kossa-Rienzi checked in for Yeimar as he went straight to the locker room, mirroring the sub Schmetzer made in the second half of last week's 2-1 loss to RSL.
His goal in making that sub?
Finding a timely goal.
Press Pays Off in Second Half, Kossa-Rienzi Shines
City had an opportunity in the waning moments of the first half, as Rafael Santos' free kick netted a second chance close to the net, but a handball ended the threat.
Seattle's first sustained action deep in St. Louis territory came in the 36th minute, and a 39th-minute sequence would net the Sounders’ second-best offensive moment of the game. Osaze De Rosario, looking to make an impact after winning the starting striker spot in preseason, played to his strength by putting his back to the goal near the top of the box to receive a contested deep pass from Cristian Roldan.
He then left a ball for Albert Rusnák, whose shot to the bottom-left corner forced a diving save from captain Roman Bürki.
With two teams that love to test their opponent deep in each other’s territory going at it, it seemed like the first team to capitalize on a counterattack would leave the pitch with some points.
In the opening moments of the second half, Jesús Ferreira chased down an overplayed pass to St. Louis' left corner, only for St. Louis’ Conrad Wallem to come up with it. But Seattle had the midfielder right where they wanted him, as both Ferreira and Nouhou closed in on Wallem with nowhere to go.
Wallem proceeded to make a weak pass, which Ferreira took and passed back in to Kossa-Rienzi. Kossa-Rienzi patiently gathered the ball. He let the ball go off his chest, which sent a defender flying by, and positioned himself for a shot from near the top of the box.
It was a strong strike to the bottom right corner, and just escaped the outstretched arms of Bürki for a go-ahead score.
After the game, Kossa-Rienzi admitted the goal came about from a misstep, of all things.
"My first touch kind of messed with them as much as it messed with me," Kossa-Rienzi said, as the first deflection nearly hit his arm. "I got enough space, top of the box, and then I just found the corner."
The 23-year-old then showed off his gymnastics background, doing a backflip to christen his first goal of the season.
"Here's a kid who always seems to make plays," Schmetzer said of Kossa-Rienzi. "He gives you energy, he gives you everything he has."
From there, the Sounders didn't find many more chances, but warded off some real danger from St. Louis.
A strong corner in the 60th minute (City led corners 8-1 by the night's end) put the ball mere feet away from the net with St. Louis attackers bearing down, but Alex Roldan deflected it by being just a step ahead. In the 81st, a shot from Marcel Hartel forced Thomas into a diving save to his right, which he parried to maintain the lead.
Some strong anticipatory defense from Arriola and late sub Cody Baker sealed it as the Sounders conceded just over one expected goal on a night where St. Louis possessed it for 60% of the time. Seattle ended up winning the xG battle 1.1-1.0 as Kossa-Rienzi's quality was the decider in that regard.
Takeaways: Relentless Defending Wins Road Games
"That was entertaining," Schmetzer said of the contest. "I mean, we were going back and forth, back and forth in the first half. So that's credit to (St. Louis head coach Yoann Damet), St. Louis plays a little differently than they did last year."
Indeed, the pressing and counter-pressing made for some open play at times and forced moments of brilliance from either defense. To Seattle's credit, the much smaller Kossa-Rienzi subbing in early for the team's best duelist was a tall task on paper, but Schmetzer said he made no adjustments and just let his team play it out. He had high praise for his midfield pairing of Cristian Roldan and Hassani Dotson, as the duo played just their third game together. He especially praised Nouhou, who "didn't put one foot wrong defensively" by his account.
While the Sounders had a historic season in 2025 in terms of scoring, Schmetzer was always open about how foreign the concept of playing that way was. On Saturday, his team's commitment to counters and pressing high left Seattle susceptible to corresponding St. Louis runs in space — shades of 2025. But to the credit of veterans like Arriola, who tripped a man late to stop a dangerous counter and picked up a yellow card, they made every play necessary to keep the net clean.
When they let a few through, Thomas was a brick wall on a night of few, but real threats. While City's strikes weren't always great, a diving parry in the 81st minute highlighted a solid fundamental night for the man hoping to replace the legendary Stefan Frei long-term. Of course, Frei still maintains an active voice on the practice pitch and will start the team’s upcoming Concacaf Champions Cup games as Schmetzer lives his recurring sentiment that he has “two starters” in the net.
Striker Osaze De Rosario received his third start in as many games, upping his usage to 27 touches in 64 minutes this week. Still, he hasn't been able to show the league the promise Seattle saw in his five-goal preseason. With leading scorer Danny Musovski looking solid as always off the bench, the pressure is starting to set in for De Rosario to produce despite his strong hold-up play on Saturday.
Last week, Schmetzer took some of the onus for not getting De Rosario involved, but considering Musovski's career year in 2025, it's hard to imagine thoughts of a change aren’t starting to creep into the coaching staff's mind at striker.
As for Paul Arriola, who played over 30 minutes after playing 13 in the first two games combined, Seattle has a versatile piece to work with in the 31-year-old coming off a 2025 ACL tear. His defensive activity fits Seattle well and he caused fits for St. Louis throughout the late second half.
With his fitness progressing at about the pace Schmetzer suggested in the preseason, he could figure into this lineup earlier and earlier in games in the coming months.
"If he can continue to perform like that, he's going to push the starters," Schmetzer said. "He's going to push me more importantly to find a way to put him on the field. He was intelligent … he's got that veteran kind of composure."
Again, this game was all about who could take advantage of the press. Sure, Seattle seized its chance in a big way with a goal, but the Sounders were consistently better at passing through City's press in compromising positions than St. Louis was against Seattle's defense deep in its territory.
Up Next
The Sounders are rounding out into Concacaf Champions Cup time with a road contest against MLS Western Conference Champion Vancouver set for March 12 in the first leg of their Round of 16 matchup. From there, Seattle will head down to San Jose for a March 15 date with the Earthquakes before hosting Vancouver in Spokane for the second leg on March 20.
