Sounders claim title over Toronto on penalty kicks
TORONTO — Roman Torres scored in the sixth round of penalty kicks to give the Seattle Sounders their first MLS Cup title, 5-4 over Toronto FC after 120 scoreless minutes Saturday night.
It was the first MLS Cup final to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a tiebreaker.
After Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Alvaro Fernandez for Seattle had their shots turned back in the fifth round, the game went to sudden-death spot kicks. Toronto’s Justin Morrow could only clatter his shot off the crossbar, setting the stage for Torres to win it with a high shot down the middle.
Seattle keeper Stefan Frei was named the game’s most valuable player.
Seattle became the first team in MLS Cup final history to fail to produce a shot on target throughout the game. Additionally, the Sounders’ three shots overall were the fewest in an MLS title game, the first to feature two expansion franchises. Toronto was the first Canadian MLS Cup finalist.
After a subdued 90 minutes of regulation, extra time produced a number of opportunities, but even with Toronto enjoying a 7-0 shot advantage in the 30-minute period, no breakthroughs were forthcoming.
Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer became the first coach in MLS history to take charge of a team midway through the season and lead it to a championship.
Sigi Schmid (Galaxy) and Steve Nicol (Revolution) took their teams to the title match, but both came up short.
The temperature at kickoff was 28 degrees, making it the second-coldest MLS Cup on record. That distinction goes to the 2013 edition at Sporting Park in Kansas City, where the game kicked off at 22 degrees.