The little things tried to overwhelm the Sounders again.
On Saturday, it was a bad pass by Jackson Ragen and a seemingly confused back line that — poof — had FC Dallas up two goals in a matter of four minutes late in the second half.
But the Sounders meant it when they said they needed and were going to win their upcoming three-game homestand.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer made a substitution to bring on striker Raul Ruidiaz at the hour mark, and the designated player helped ignite a comeback where Jordan Morris had the game-winner in the 94th minute.
Seattle’s gritty 3-2 finish at Lumen Field extended Dallas’ winless streak at the facility to 21 matches — their last occurring in 2011.
“We just kept going,” Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnak said. “We played some games this year where we pushed and pushed and pushed and it didn’t end well for us. This could be a turning point.”
As most of the 30,093 in attendance were beginning to get frustrated at another night of defensive errors and minimal goals, the Sounders started clawing.
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Ruidiaz headed in Seattle’s opening goal in the 78th minute off a beautiful assist from Rusnak in the run of play. Joao Paulo helped set up the scoring opportunity.
Rusnak was on point again in the 88th minute, this time Morris getting on the end of a corner kick to head in the equalizer. It’s Rusnak’s ninth assist of the season, the team’s first score from the corner.
“Thank God,” Schmetzer said of the set piece score. The team whiffed on their previous 111 corner-kick attempts. “To finish the game the way we did was excellent.”
Morris’ brace was pure willpower. Teammate Obed Vargas had the soft pass to a racing Morris, who got behind the Dallas defense and beat keeper Maarten Paes to pocket the winner. Morris has seven goals this season.
Vargas suffered a knock moments before his assist and asked for a sub but was waived off by the technical staff.
“I had to stay on the field,” said Vargas, who iced his ankle immediately after the match. “It’s just part of the game, you take a hit sometimes. The game, I saw my teammates fighting, running — I wasn’t going to be that one guy limping around. I wanted to do it for my teammates. That’s what gave me the motivation to go through the pain.”
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Joao Paulo wildly flapped his arms in the air as the players got in position for the reset, the Lumen crowd increasing their howls of excitement a notch with every arm raise.
The Brazilian wasn’t as happy about 20 minutes earlier.
Ragen tried to chip a pass over his opponent to Joao Paulo, creating a moment for Dallas to jump on a game they were statistically losing.
Logan Farrington, who subbed on in the 60th minute, skimmed a pass across the front of goal to Patrickson Delgado for a left-footed tap into goal in the 66th minute.
Teammate Petar Musa gave Dallas a 2-0 lead in the 70th minute. Delgado and Farrington were credited with the assists on Musa’s left-footed shot that stunned Seattle’s defense.
“Those were individual mistakes that we shouldn’t give up,” Schmetzer said. “I don’t want to disrespect Dallas by any stretch of the imagination, but we could’ve done better on those goals.”
Joao Paulo led an active Sounders side to open the match. The defensive midfielder hit the post from distance in the 16th minute and advanced the ball twice more in the opening half-hour. Rusnak nearly whipped a right-footed shot in the 36th minute that was saved by Paes.
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The Toros (5-9-5) had less opportunities because of the time defending Seattle’s pressure, sending the teams into the break goalless.
Schmetzer went to his bench in the 60th minute. He swapped attacker Danny Musovski for Ruidiaz. It’s the third consecutive match the Peruvian was used as a substitute.
After Ruidiaz’s goal, he shook his jersey and appeared to point to his name. He leads the team with eight goals.
“He was saying, ‘Don’t forget about me,'” Schmetzer said of what he thought the club’s all-time leading goal scorer was expressing. “He’s been here a long time [2018]. This is Raul’s longest tenured at one team. We’re lucky to have him.”
Musovski started on the right wing, and Cristian Roldan moved back a line Saturday. The adjustments were made to compensate for defender Alex Roldan being under concussion protocol and unavailable to play.
It was the third start of the season for Musovski. The veteran was a free-agent pickup last winter and he’s made 18 MLS appearances overall for the Sounders, recording one goal and one assist.
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Schmetzer made four changes overall after the 2-2 draw on the road against Houston on Wednesday. The Sounders were down 2-0 at halftime against the Dynamo.
Seattle (6-7-7) will continue its three-game homestand Saturday against Chicago. The Fire (4-9-6) are last in the 15-team Eastern Conference.
“This is a big result, that’s what it comes down to,” said Morris, who’s team remains below the playoff line in 10th place. “We need to keep winning at home.”
Jayda Evans: jevans@seattletimes.com; Jayda Evans covers the Sounders and Reign. She offers observations, critiques, and occasional offbeat tales. Evans also has written a book on the Storm and women's hoops titled, "Game On!"
