Orange ousted in wake of loss
Second shutout in Western finals ends MLS season
SEATTLE — Nine months ago, the Dynamo’s Major League Soccer season began with flair, promise and panache.
Thursday night, it ended with a disheartening thud.
Various reasons forced Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera to roll out a barebones lineup in the return leg of the Western Conference finals. The performance that followed at CenturyLink Field also lacked bite.
Reigning MLS champion Seattle Sounders FC cruised to a 3-0 win to put the finishing touches on a 5-0 aggregate victory in the two-leg series.
Seattle’s win sets up a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup final between the Sounders and Toronto FC. They’ll meet Dec. 9 in Toronto.
The Dynamo talked a big game leading up to Thursday’s match, but they lacked the horses to pull it off.
They knew they would be without exciting winger Alberth Elis (yellow card accumulation) and reserve defender Jalil Anibaba (red card).
In the days leading up to the game they found out Romell Quioto, their other effective Honduran winger, had an illness serious enough to prevent him from traveling to Seattle.
They also hoped center back Philippe Senderos would recover from a right hamstring strain, but he was not deemed fit enough
to play.
The Dynamo were so depleted on defense that longtime left back Dylan Remick started at right back.
The makeshift lineup produced several promising moments, but they all evaporated.
Seattle, on the other hand, made quick work of its opportunities. The first goal came in the 22nd minute, when Victor Rodriguez finished a nifty sidefooted pass into the box by former Dynamo player Will Bruin.
The Sounders scored again in the 57th minute when Clint Dempsey slid for an easy finish on Joevin Jones’ crossing pass.
The series was virtually over in that moment, but the Dynamo’s task became virtually impossible in the 66th minute, when midfielder Tomas Martinez was sent off and the Dynamo had to play the final 24 minutes with 10 men.
Seattle’s Jordy Delem jumped over Martinez for a header, and both players fell to the turf. When Martinez got up, he reached down and shoved Delem in the back of the neck. After a review, Martinez was ejected for violent conduct.
The Dynamo were reminded one more time of how effective Bruin has been for Seattle when he scored the third goal in the 73rd minute.