Sounders Advance to Leagues Cup Quarterfinals With Comeback Win Over Tijuana

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The Seattle Sounders celebrate a goal during a Leagues Cup match against Santos Laguna on Aug. 3, 2025 at Lumen Field. (Maddy Grassy / Sounders FC Communications) [/caption]

The Seattle Sounders came into Wednesday night's matchup with Club Tijuana simply needing a result to advance in the Leagues Cup. And thanks to a late Danny Musovski header, Seattle walked out of the matchup with three points in a late 2-1 comeback win.

The Sounders finished the contest with 26 shots, enduring multiple injuries and a stellar performance from Tijuana's defense to advance to the League's Cup Quarterfinals.

Early Misses for Seattle, Tijuana Defense Holds

Seattle dominated possession in the early going, but a stingy Tijuana backline deflected passes and potential shots before they could pose any real danger. In a theme that would continue all night, Tijuana’s backline forced awkward angles on passes and shots as the Sounders had to work for everything they got.

Seattle broke through in the 15th as Osaze De Rosario used a back-footed pass in heavy pressure to set Albert Rusnák up for a golden opportunity on a curling shot to the right side. But Tijuana keeper Salim Hernández made a diving save - one of eight on the night - to deny Seattle early.

The Sounders had another promising opportunity on the ensuing corner as Rusnák found Yeimar for a beautiful header that went off the left post as Seattle played on scoreless.

Keeper Andrew Thomas kept Tijuana at bay with two straight saves off a close follow in the 21st as both teams made their presence felt.

Stoppage Time Scaries

Seattle seemed poised to break through in first-half stoppage time, as Club Tijuana's Jesus Vega deflected a corner with his right arm to send Rusnák to the spot in the fourth minute of stoppage.

Rusnák, Seattle's leading scorer this season, pulled the golden opportunity left to hit the post. Obed Vargas couldn't convert the follow as the Sounders were to play on scoreless.

Seattle had enjoyed its fair share of beautiful strikes recently, namely Pedro de la Vega’s beauty against Cruz Azul last Thursday, but it got a taste of its own medicine in that stoppage period. Tijuana forward Kevin Castañeda's strike in the seventh minute of stoppage blazed past a leaping Andrew Thomas to the top right bin to make Rusnák’s miss from minutes before that much more devastating.

"That first goal that Tijuana scored was a very excellent strike, I can't fault Andrew for that," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said postgame.

Seattle was in a unique spot in its Leagues Cup experience, going down a goal for the first time on the heels of a missed penalty.

Seattle's Electrifying Subs Connect

“We’re confident in our abilities. We didn’t have any worries like that, it’s just we need to be sharper in front of the net,” starting forward Osaze De Rosario said of the team’s mentality coming out of the half.

And boy was he sharp.

Ryan Kent and De Rosario have been spark plugs off the bench typically this season, but Wednesday was their chance to make an impact in the starting XI.

Kent found De Rosario in the 56th on a perfectly placed header to equalize for the Sounders, allowing the jittery home crowd of just over 17,000 to relax, if anything.

With three goals in the club's last four, Schmetzer is liking what the young forward is showing.

"Osaze was (physical) the whole game, I mean that kid took a step forward. … What he showed me, at least, was that he was able to get to the next level," Schmetzer said of the recent Tacoma Defiance call-up.

For De Rosario, building rapport with wings like Kent, de la Vega, Rothrock and more has been crucial to the recent scoring.

"It's very important to understand the players, and now that I'm playing on the pitch, I understand the tendencies a little bit more and the areas that they want to put the ball in … it's all learning," De Rosario said.

At any rate, Seattle was back in this ball game thanks to its breakout scorer.

The "Moosiah" Strikes

Danny "Moose" Musovski may have checked in in the 82nd minute, but the striker earned himself a new nickname by the end of the night.

With the game knotted at one apiece and potential penalties on the way to decide Seattle’s Leagues Cup fate, the Sounders lined up for a corner kick in the 87th. Alex Ferreira delivered a perfect lob into Cristian Roldan, who redirected the ball across the box. Musovski put himself in perfect position to score with the keeper Hernández preoccupied with Roldan.

And Musovski made that contact to put Club Tijuana to bed, as the Rave Green faithful went wild at the prospect of becoming the only team in the tournament to go 3-0-0.

When the final whistle blew, Schmetzer had plenty of praise and a new title for his striker.

"The 'Moosiah,' the Moose, Danny Musovski saved us, so there you have it," Schmetzer said.

"That's been coming from (Schmetzer) mainly, some guys are having fun with it. But I'm good with Moose," Musovski said with a smile.

Whatever they call him in the locker room, government-named Daniel Musovski's late heroics were enough to avoid overtime as Seattle got some more shots off before the night’s end - Vargas drew a straight red on Ramiro Franco as he was tackled on a late runout to seal it.

Injury Concerns

Just days after facing 22 fouls from Santos Laguna, the whistle was blown 17 times on Tijuana. That physicality took its toll.

De Rosario took a spill after a mid-air collision, but continued. Same for Alex Roldan.

Both Rusnák and Kent had to exit the contest with hamstring injuries at different points, as the former looked especially ginger walking out of the locker room after the game.

Schmetzer confirmed that both players will undergo MRIs, and an update will be provided on Friday.

Up Next

The Sounders will need to wait to see where and who they play in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinal Aug. 20, but this period of the season is over.

For now, Seattle will have a few more days to recover from the brutal three games it played in six days before it faces the LA Galaxy in MLS play on the road Sunday.