Sounders now face elimination after dropping 3 games to the Loons this season

The Sounders are facing elimination in the first round of the playoffs, and will have to break Minnesota's 3 game winning streak against them to return to Minnesota and continue their playoff run.

The two teams have different strategies to win games. The Sounders crave possession and work as a team to provide chances and hopefully goals. Minnesota plays by the old tradition of American Soccer.

They hunker down on defense, play physically, and blast the ball upfield in hopes of a foul or some way to get a shot off. Their attack doesn't rely on passing or a buildup, but on the off chance that a ball bounces in their favor or the official bails out a player diving to get a call. Until this year, this has not yielded positive results against Seattle, but the Sounders have not been on the winning side, having lost 3 games by a goal differential of 2 goals.

Unlike in the previous games, the Sounders defended well, giving up only a really good scoring opportunity. In the other games, they had to come from behind, only to come up a goal short each time. The shoot-out is always a bit of luck, but the Sounders came up on the short end of the stick for that one.

The Sounders have traditionally performed well in shoot-outs, and according to Brian Schmetzer, after the game, they have been working on penalty kicks over the past couple of weeks, and he was a bit surprised when their best and most reliable shooters missed.

As well as the Sounders played, you can name the cliché, but they must win the next 2 games in order to advance. They have their back against the wall, they are facing elimination, it is win or go home for their match on November 3rd.

The Sounders did have their best defenders on the pitch, at the same time, for the first game in some time, and they performed well. The loss of de la Vega loomed large in the match, and it will be interesting to see if Ryan Kent makes a return appearance after Georgi didn't have his usual impact, mostly due to a lack of opportunities for him to take players on.

Brian Schmetzer said he will be looking at the lineup in case he wants to make changes, will their season be on the line, but if the Sounders want to advance, their best bet is to score multiple goals during the run of play. Hopefully, the Rave Green can rely on their supporters at Lumen Field to urge them on to another home victory.