LAFC's MLS Cup hopes shattered in loss to Seattle: 'We beat ourselves'

Forty-five minutes wasn’t nearly enough time for LAFC captain Aaron Long to find the words to describe a season that was both magical and maddening, one that reached new heights yet ended in disappointment and dismay.

So he didn’t even try.

“It's tough right now, in this moment,” he said after Saturday’s 2-1 extra-time loss to the Seattle Sounders in an MLS Western Conference semifinal at a sold-out BMO Stadium. “It’s going to leave that bitter taste in your mouth.”

LAFC made the finals of the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup, winning the latter. It finished atop the conference table in the regular season, winning 19 games. Only one team won more.

Those are great achievements. But what LAFC really wanted was a trip to a third straight MLS Cup final, something no team has done in 17 years. Seattle’s Jordan Morris, however, dashed those hopes four minutes into the second overtime period, sending the Sounders on to next weekend’s conference final.

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Seattle will play the winner of Sunday’s second conference semifinal between the Galaxy and Minnesota United.

“Just looking at this season — making two finals, winning a trophy, winning the West — I think any team signs up for that season, right? It’s a great season,” Long said. “But we're so greedy as footballers and we always want more. We’re going to want this one back.”

Especially since LAFC dominated in virtually every phase of the game, taking 26 shots, twice as many as Seattle, and putting 10 of those on goal. But few of them caused problems for Seattle keeper Stefan Frei, who tied a playoff career high with nine saves.

“You did enough to win the game,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Created enough chances, plenty of set pieces as well, which were close a few times. So in the end I think it's fair to say we beat ourselves.”

And in the wake of that, Cherundolo had trouble turning the page as well.

“We're disappointed for our fans that we couldn't play a couple more games at home,” said Cherundolo, whose team had the home-field advantage through the MLS Cup. “It was a really great opportunity for us this season, but that's sports. Sometimes you lose. You can’t always win.

“We'll regroup, we will assess this season, which I think overall was extremely positive. That's what I just told the guys. It was a fantastic season again, and we'll try to do the same thing next year with a better ending.”

The end of this season felt like a dagger between the shoulder blades, and for that credit goes to the scrappy Sounders. As they’ve done throughout the playoffs, they bent often but never broke. They swept Houston in the first round, winning both games on penalty kicks, and they looked to be headed back to a tie-breaking shootout Saturday before Morris, whose participation was considered doubtful earlier in the week, stepped up.

The forward came out of Seattle’s playoff opener last month with a hamstring injury, but with the MLS postseason pausing for the FIFA international break, the Sounders had three weeks off, which proved enough time for Morris to heal. LAFC, playing for the 50th time this season, went 15 days between games, long enough for some players to complain of lost momentum and rhythm.

After a scoreless first half in which it didn’t put a shot on goal, LAFC took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Hollingshead’s goal in the 50th minute. That appeared to be a good omen since LAFC had lost just twice in 23 MLS games when it scored first. But defender Maxime Chanot gave the lead back nine minutes later, sticking his right foot in front of an Obed Vargas cross aimed at no one in particular and deflecting it into his own goal to even the score with a half-hour left in regulation.

That mistake gave life to the Sounders, who didn’t put a shot on goal from the 39th minute until just before Morris scored in the second extra time.

“We were limiting them really well in that moment. So it just gave them a lot of belief,” Long said of the own goal. “It's no different than any other goal that you give up. It just gives a team a little bit of life on the other side. You want that momentum.”

LAFC kept the pressure on, but Frei wouldn’t be beaten.

LAFC hadn’t lost to Seattle in the last 10 tries — including all nine with Cherundolo on the sideline; the Sounders' only previous win at BMO Stadium came in the 2019 Western Conference semifinals, which was also the last time LAFC lost a playoff game at home. But Frei was evening those odds by himself, making a sprawling one-handed save on a shot from Long in the 87th minute to keep the game tied.

That set the stage for Morris’ deciding score, which came after LAFC’s Ilie Sánchez headed a corner kick to the top of the box. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan volleyed it back into the penalty area where LAFC’s Kei Kamara unsuccessfully battled a Seattle defender for the ball, deflecting it toward Morris, who spun to his left and drove a right-footed shot just inside the far post. The goal was his ninth in the postseason, tying him with teammate Raúl Ruidíaz for most among active MLS players.

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It also kept the Sounders unbeaten in their last 10 games and sent them to the conference final for the first time since 2020. For LAFC, their second loss in three playoff games means they won't be playing in an MLS Cup final for the first time since Cherundolo took over after the 2021 season.

“It hurts. It’s disappointing,” the coach said of the loss, which left looking ahead not to the next playoff game but to next season instead.

“We feel good where we're at right now,” he continued, beginning to finally turn the page. “We are looking forward to, you know, fielding a stronger team next year.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.