Seattle Sounders Win MLS Cup
December 15, 2016
On Saturday, December 10, Seattle Sounders FC (Football Club) won its first Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup, defeating Toronto FC 5-4 on penalty kicks after the game ended in a scoreless tie. It was the first championship for the Sounders, who won despite being the first team in history to finish an MLS Cup final with zero shots on target. The Sounders managed three shots total (the fewest in MLS Cup history), but it was their cool and luck in the penalty shootout that brought the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy home to Seattle for the first time.
At BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Román Torres hoists the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy shortly after his penalty kick won the MLS Cup for Seattle Sounders FC on Dec. 10, 2016. Credit: © Dan Poss, Seattle Sounders FC Communications
The Sounders’ victory disappointed most of the 36,045 fans crammed into BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario—a buzzing scene all season that saw the hometown Reds finish third in the Eastern Conference. Toronto forward Jozy Altidore led the Reds’ romp through the playoffs, scoring in every match until being shutout in the final by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei—a worthy recipient of the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player award. Altidore and Toronto star Sebastian Giovinco pressed the Reds’ attack, taking 10 of their team’s 19 shots.
Seattle finished fourth in the Western Conference before taking down the top two teams in the west—FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids—during a dominant playoff run. The Sounders’ offense sputtered in the final, however, and the championship fell on the strong shoulders of Panamanian defender Román Torres during the fourth penalty shootout in MLS Cup history. After the high tension of back-and-forth hitting, saving, and missing, the entire season came down to a penalty kick by Torres—delivered deftly up and to the right of Toronto goalie Clint Irwin, hitting the back of the net to win the title for Seattle.
