Forty-five minutes were not enough time to Captain Lafc Aaron Long To find the words to describe a season that is both magical and exasperating, which has reached new heights while ending with disappointment and dismay.
So he didn't even try.
“It's difficult right now, right now,” he said after 2-1 to 2-1 Saturday defeat against the Sounders of Seattle during a semi-final of the MLS Western Conference in a BMO stadium with closed counters. “It will leave this taste bitter in the mouth.”
Lafc made the final of League And US Open Cupwinning the latter. He finished at the top of the regular season conference table, winning 19 games. Only one team has earned more.
These are great achievements. But what Laftc Really wanted was a trip to a third business match MLS Cup finalSomething that no team has done in 17 years. Seattle Jordan MorrisHowever, destroyed these hopes four minutes after the second period of extension, sending the probers to the final of the next weekend conference.
Seattle will play the winner of the second semi-final of the Sunday conference between the Galaxy and Minnesota United.
“Looking at just this season – make two finals, win a trophy, win the West – I think any team is registered for this season, right? It's a great season,” said Long. “But we are so greedy that footballers and we always want more. We will want it to come back.”
Especially since the LAFC dominated in almost all the phases of the game, taking 26 shots, twice as much as Seattle and putting 10 of them. But few of them have caused problems to the Seattle Stefan Frei goalkeeper, who equaled a career in playoffs with nine stops.
“You did enough to win the match”, ” Coach Lafc Steve Cherundolo said. “Creation of enough chances, many sets too, which were close several times. So, in the end, I think it is right to say that we are fighting.”
And following this, Cherundolo also had trouble turning the page.
“We are disappointed for our fans that we could not play a few more games at home,” said Cherundolo, whose team had the advantage at home thanks to the MLS Cup. “It was a very good opportunity for us this season, but it is sport. Sometimes you lose. You cannot always win.
“We will group ourselves, we will assess this season, which, I think that overall, was extremely positive. This is what I just said to the guys. It was again a fantastic season, and we will try to do the same thing next year with a better end.”
The end of this season looked like a dagger between the shoulder blades, and for this credit, he goes to the Sounders. As they did throughout the playoffs, they often looked but have never broken. They swept Houston in the first round, winning the two games on the kicks, and they seemed to return to a shooting that has a shooting link on Saturday before Morris, whose participation was considered doubtful earlier in the week, did not intensify.
The attacker came out of the opening of the SEATTLE qualifying series last month with an injury to the hamstrings, but with the MLS qualifying series 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, spent 15 days between the matches, long enough for some players to complain about the momentum and the lost pace.
After a goalless first half in which he did not put a shot to the goal, Lafc took a 1-0 lead on the goal of Ryan Hollingshead in the 50th minute. It seemed to be a good omen because Lafc had only lost twice in 23 MLS games when he scored first. But the defender Maxime Chanot made his head nine minutes later, sticking his right foot in front of a Vargas Obed cross did not aim to anyone in particular and deviating it with his own goal of the score with half an hour on the left.
This error gave life to the Sounders, who did not put a shot to the goal of the 39th minute until just before Morris scored in the second additional step.
The goalkeeper of Seattle Sounders, Stefan Frei, catches the pass intended for the LAFC striker Olivier Giroud during the first half on Saturday.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
“We limit them very well at that time. It therefore gave them a lot of belief,” said long about the objective. “It is no different from any other objective that you abandon. It just gives a little life to a team on the other side. You want this momentum.”
Lafc maintained the pressure, but Frei would not be beaten.
Lafc had not lost against Seattle in the last 10 tests – including the nine with Cherundolo on the sidelines; The only previous victory of the Sounders at the BMO Stadium occurred in the semi-finals of the Western 2019 conference, which was also the last time that Lafc has lost an eliminatory match at home. But Frei was in the evening of these chances of himself, making an extended backup with a hand on a shot long in the 87th minute to keep the match equally.
This prepared the field for the decisive partition of Morris, who came after Ilie Sánchez de Lafc led a kick at the top of the box. Cristian Roldan of Seattle made him fly in the penalty zone where Kei Kamara de Lafc fought a defender of Seattle for the ball, diverting him to Morris, who turned to his left and led a right foot just inside the distant post. The goal was its ninth in the playoffs, binding it with its teammate Raúl Ruidíaz for the most part among the active players of the MLS.
He also maintained the undefeated Sounders in their last 10 games and sent them to the conference final for the first time since 2020. For LAFC, their second defeat in three playoffs means that they will not play for the MLS Cup final for the first time since Cherundolo took over after the 2021 season.
“It hurts. It's disappointing,” said the coach about the loss, who left the next playoff match but until next season.
“We feel good where we are right now,” he continued, starting to finally turn the page. “We are looking forward to, you know, a stronger team next year.”
