LOS ANGELES — The ball pinged around the box and Jordan Morris pounced.
A corner kick in the late stages of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference semifinals at BMO Stadium on Saturday eluded LAFC before Morris, the Seattle Sounders star striker, swiveled and stuck his dagger in one fell swoop.
The American’s game-winner in the 109th minute bested goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, delivering the moment the fourth-seeded visitors had to have as they ended LAFC’s second straight 50-game season in extra time, 2-1.
Unbeaten in 10 matches against the Sounders coming into tonight, LAFC didn’t play with the poise or the patience it had displayed in four wins against Seattle this year, including knockout victories in the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup, which it won for the first time.
“In the end I think it’s fair to say we beat ourselves tonight,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Not taking anything away from Seattle, they played well, had a good game plan, but we did enough. Just couldn’t be clean enough in the final third to score one more.”
Seattle spoiled the highest-remaining seed’s playoff party by handing the Black & Gold a postseason defeat at home for the first time since the Sounders won the 2019 Western Conference final here. A third win in four postseason contests versus LAFC came on Morris’s ninth playoff goal.
“Any time we let him turn and have a chance that close in on goal it’s not going to be good for us,” Hollingshead said. “There’s no excuse for it. I think we had chances to put the game away so much earlier than that. To let a team hang around like that for too long in these playoffs, that’s exactly what can happen.”
Manifested in the frantic final frame of a contest that finished regulation level at 1-1, this was LAFC’s first extra time period at BMO Stadium since the dramatic 2022 MLS Cup final, which they won on penalties over Philadelphia after Gareth Bale saved them in the 128th minute.
Saturday’s match could have used another lightning bolt equalizer.
It never came.
During a first half that should have been skipped altogether, with neither side registering a shot on goal until the 39th minute. LAFC’s offensive leader Denis Bouanga didn’t take a worthwhile attempt until the action picked up later. Bouanga struggled to find space against a five-man Seattle backline and failed to connect with fellow attackers Olivier Giroud and Mateusz Bogusz.
As he had all season, Cherundolo switched up formations and personnel, but Seattle’s stout defending allowed the fewest goals in the regular season this year, holding up over 120 minutes.
LAFC relied on a defender to get them going early in the second half.
Ryan Hollingshead’s fourth postseason goal with the club since arriving before the 2022 championship season gave his side exactly what it looked for all season: the first goal.
After putting numbers in the box, Bogusz looked up from the right flank and delivered a pass to Hollingshead at the penalty spot, where he struck it first time past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei inside the left post.
“It was one of those feelings that as soon as we scored the opening we felt like it was over,” Hollingshead said. “We felt like it was going to be hard for them to break us down. Hard for them to create, which was true.”
LAFC had jumped ahead a league-high 21 times in the regular season, finishing 18-2-1 and when it did, the team tried to ramp up the action, hitting the gas. Centerback Maxime Chanot gifted Seattle the life it lacked.
Chanot’s own goal was shocking in that no one from Seattle was near him, and he appeared to have space to clear the ball.
Instead, it was tucked into the corner and the sight of Seattle celebrating rendered everyone silent except the Sounders supporters in the announced crowd of 22,301.
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“It just gave them a lot of belief,” said center back Aaron Long. “A lot of life to tie it up. To bunker in and push for that extra time and see if they could make one there.”
Opportunities came and went. Seattle’s Frei tied a playoff career-high with nine saves, and yet, LAFC’s inability to regroup ended its quest to reach a third consecutive MLS Cup final.
“We lost a clear chance to win another title and that’s the disappointment for the team, the guys and the staff,” Hollingshead said. “To have an opportunity like that in front of you and come up short hurts even a little bit more.”