LAFC heads to Seattle with playoffs still tight

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Lumen Field rises near the shores of Seattle’s Elliott Bay like a concrete citadel.

In previous years, the 68,000-seat stadium, home to Seattle’s football and professional teams, has responded to Qwest Field, CenturyLink Field and Seahawks Stadium. Whatever its name, it’s a horror space for Southern California’s professional football teams, all of whom struggled on its plastic turf and in its rainy, frigid weather when it comes time for the playoffs.

Only once out of seven attempts did a Los Angeles team win a playoff game there, and that victory came here thirteen years ago. Since then, the Galaxy, LAFC and Angel City have seen at least one season buried in the bayside mausoleum.

They are the only groups that haven’t won in Seattle — the Sounders are unbeaten in their last 19 home playoff games, tying the longest streak in MLS history — and they haven’t lost in Seattle in 15 playoff games under coach Brian Schmetzer. That’s the story LAFC will look to reverse on Sunday when it faces the Sounders in the MLS Western Conference semifinals on the slippery synthetic turf of Lumen Field.

“The statistics look pretty troubling,” Schmetzer said. But I don’t know. Sport is cyclical.

Not in Seattle, where the Sounders have lost two of 26 all-time playoff games. Only the Galaxy, who have been in MLS twice as long, have more playoff wins or a higher playoff win percentage at home (minimum 3 games played). ).

LAFC has only faced the Sounders twice in the playoffs, once at home and once on the road, squandering both chances. While it’s a small sample, LAFC didn’t fare much better in Seattle in the regular season with its only win there in the franchise’s first game in 2018. Since then, LAFC has gone 0-4-3 in Seattle.

If history favors the Sounders, the offer is a draw. In Sunday’s playoff match, LAFC will send its most sensible force, MVP finalist Denis Bouanga, the league’s top scorer with 20 goals, against Seattle’s enduring target, goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who has conceded a minimum of 28 goals in MLS and led the league with a 0. 88 average goals rating and 14 shutouts.

Still, frozen ghosts beyond the playoffs insist the house has the edge at Lumen Field in November.

“It’s a very difficult position to play,” said former Galaxy defender A. J. DeLaGarza, who enjoys betting (and wasting) playoff games in Seattle almost as much as the entire LAFC roster combined. “Los Angeles teams, maybe they’re a little spoiled with this weather and those grass fields. Then you go to Seattle where, especially in the playoffs, it’s cold. You also play on grass. If you put it all together, it’s a pass so that it is difficult to achieve results.

Weather will most likely be an issue on Sunday, with temperatures forecast to be slightly above freezing with a chance of rain. On average, November is the wettest month in Seattle, where snow and sleet are not unusual in the MLS playoffs.

“Normally in the MLS playoffs there are situations that can affect teams, like the heat in Dallas or the humidity in Orlando,” said Schmetzer, a Seattle native who spent 54 of his 61 years there. “I think our players are just used to the weather. “

Former Galaxy midfielder Juninho, a native of Brazil, never got used to it.

“It’s very cold this time of year,” he said. “I had gloves on. I had to check a long-sleeved [shirt] to keep me warm. You want to bundle up more than usual. There are a few points you want to consider. It’s definitely a tough position to play.

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LAFC assistant coach Ante Razov, who won the MLS championship for two seasons as an assistant in Seattle, isn’t entirely satisfied with the weather argument.

“The players love to play in the rain,” he said, probably ignoring the Brazilians. “The cold? We’re tired of the heat here, so maybe we want a little cold. “

For Razov, Lumen Field’s FieldTurf Revolution 360 playing surface, a synthetic mat made of polyethylene-blended monofilament fibers inserted into a polypropylene backing, is a much bigger hurdle for visiting teams.

“It’s very difficult to navigate if you’re not a team that plays consistently,” he said. “That doesn’t take anything away from Seattle. They’ve been very strong, but it’s a small advantage. “

The Sounders’ track record confirms this, because even in good weather, Seattle is a tricky position to play: according to MLS, of the 3 groups in league history that have the home win percentage in the normal season after at least a hundred games, two of them (Seattle and Atlanta) play on synthetic surfaces.

“It’s definitely a factor,” Juninho said, especially when it rains on the ground. The ball goes faster, you have to think than usual.

For LAFC, which is looking to become the first MLS champion to win back-to-back titles in 11 seasons, betting in bad weather on plastic turf would have been avoided if it hadn’t conceded a goal in the second half. at the end of the regular season. Without that purpose, LAFC would have finished one point ahead of Seattle in the Western Conference standings and would play Sunday at home, where it holds the most productive record at the convention in the past six seasons.

“We may beat ourselves up all day long for the issues we lost along the way,” Razov said.

Jordan Harvey, LAFC’s assistant head coach, played in LAFC’s only previous playoff game in Seattle, a 3-1 loss on a cold, rainy midweek night in 2020 in a stadium without fans due to COVID restrictions. Neglect the stage and the weather. They say the explanation for why the Sounders win playoff games is because they’re good.

“They’ve been given a playoff-oriented team,” he said. “You’ve noticed it in the past, where they possibly had slow starts, but they get there and it’s a team that, when it comes to the playoffs, is really lively, they play at their highest level and they’re all stepping up their action in the playoffs.

“I guess it just gives them confidence, and confidence allows you to play more freely, make your game more productive. “

LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo agreed. Five other MLS teams play on synthetic fields, but none are as smart at home as Seattle. Two teams, Colorado and Real Salt Lake, play at altitude but have losing records at home this season. And of the 15 or so championship cities where heat, humidity or lack of blood can make regular-season play difficult, two still have playoff brackets.

So whether it’s the terrain, altitude or weather, it’s the players that make Seattle so hard to beat.

“The main explanation is that they are just a team,” Cherundolo said. “They have many players who sense the moment. They played many important games.

Four Sounders (Jordan Morris, Nicholas Lodeiro, Cristian Roldán and Frei) were Schmetzer’s first game as Seattle coach in 2016 and have played in 4 MLS Cup finals and won a CONCACAF Champions League title since then . Add midfielders Albert Rusnak and Joao Paulo; defenders Yeimar and Nouhou Tolo, who played three games for Cameroon at last year’s World Cup; and two-time All-Star forward Raúl Ruidíaz, who is now coming off the bench, and it is a deep team.

“I mean, look, we’ve got a pretty veteran team,” said Schmetzer, whose starting lineup averages over 28. “We have players who have played great games. And yes, my team shows up in the big games.

The fact that they look like giants on synthetic turf in rainy and bloodless situations is not unimportant, but that alone doesn’t explain why Lumen Field has become the position where playoff customers of Los Angeles teams come to die. If LAFC needs to play somewhere else in MLS Cup Finals, they’ll have to break that curse because they’ll have to go through Seattle to get there.

“In the playoffs, it doesn’t matter where you play or who you bet on. If you need to win the championship, you have to win those kinds of games,” LAFC captain Carlos Vela said. “We’re in a position to move on to Seattle, do our best to get the win and move on. “

How Los Angeles’ professional football teams fared in the Seattle playoffs:

November 22, 2009, MLS Cup Final: Galaxy 1, Real Salt Lake 1 (RSL to win on penalties)

The Sounders were eliminated by the Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference semifinals, but Seattle hosted the MLS Cup final, which began with 45-degree temperatures and cloudy skies. A first-half goal through the Galaxy’s Mike Magee tied by Salt Lake’s Robbie Findley Midway through the second half, the game ended tied. In the seven-round shootout, Jovan Kirovski, Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle failed to convert their attempts for the Galaxy, giving Salt Lake its only league championship.

October 31, 2010, MLS semifinals: Galaxy 1, Sounders 0

The Galaxy beat the Sounders 4-0 on their regular-season visit, a result so embarrassing that the Sounders presented a refund to season ticket holders. The bloodless rematch of Halloween night, the first game of the two-man playoffs, much tougher. with Donovan Ricketts making six saves for the Galaxy, who won with an impressive goal by Buddle in the 38th minute. It remains the only playoff win in Seattle by way of a Southern California team. The Galaxy, winners of the Supporters’ Shield, beat Seattle at that point. stage in Carson before losing in the convention final.

November 18, 2012, MLS Conference Finals: Sounders 2, Galaxy 1

After winning the first game of the home-and-away playoffs 3-0 in Carson, the Galaxy nearly let that merit slip away in freezing rain in Seattle, trailing 2-0 early in the second half. But a penalty goal from Robbie Keane regained some wiggle room and the Galaxy managed to score goals despite the loss. Two weeks later, the Galaxy won their second consecutive MLS Cup, beating Houston 3-1 in David Beckham’s last game. Since then, no team has won back-to-back MLS titles.

November 30, 2014, MLS Conference Finals: Sounders 2, Galaxy 1

Playing in sub-zero temperatures, making it the coldest home game in club history at the time, Seattle scored first-half goals from Bradley Evans and Clint Dempsey to take an overall one-goal lead in the two playoff games. But a goal from Juninho in the 54th minute, his only goal of the season, put the Galaxy ahead in the away goal playoff. A week later, the Galaxy won their fifth and final MLS Cup, defeating New England on Keane’s goal.

October 28, 2015, MLS Round of 16: Sounders 3, Galaxy 2

The Sounders blew a one-goal lead twice before Erik Friberg scored his only goal of the season in the 73rd minute, winning the game on a cloudy night with 55 degrees. It was the Galaxy’s third direct loss in Seattle in the playoffs. , it was the first time the Sounders eliminated them from the playoffs.

November 24, 2020, MLS First Round: Sounders 3, LAFC 1

Playing on a cold, rainy night behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Sounders won thanks to goals from Nicolas Lodeiro, Raul Ruidíaz and Jordan Morris. Seattle then lost to Columbus in the MLS Cup final.

October 20, 2023, NWSL First Round: OL Reign 1, Angel City 0

Appearing in the playoffs for the first time, Angel City held Megan Rapinoe and The Reign scoreless until the 87th minute, when a Veronica Latsko header found the back of the net. The Reign reached the NWSL Finals, losing to NJ/NY Gotham.

This story appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

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