Any time the Timbers come to town, there is a chance for the best of heroic excellence. Instead, the Sounders delivered the worst of mind-boggling, titanic failure.
It was a game many previous iterations of the Sounders would have let fall to a draw or even a disastrous loss. And yet the Sounders held out the win, even without Cristian Roldan.
Had he been a little more selfish, Cristian Roldan could have logged a hat trick by the 50th minute in Lumen Field on Saturday night. But as he showed why the USMNT needs him come June, his whole team showed why they're among the best in MLS.
Despite a two-goal loss in the first leg and a road score for Tigres UANL, the Sounders nearly came away with a semifinals berth in CCC. But the final cherry on top evaded them in the end, and though there were plenty of silver linings, it was an early exit for the dynasty-aspirant Seattle.
VANCOUVER - Sometimes the lesson you need to learn comes at a time when everything seemed to be going the right way. Sometimes you need a moment of adversity to understand what not to