As San Diego is on an 8-match winless streak, with their last win in league play being back on March 7th against Sporting KC, the team is just looking for positive results. Their next matchup is against the very consistent Seattle Sounders. The Sounders have only missed the playoffs once in their entire history in MLS, and they are back to being a top-4 team in the conference. San Diego, who is crawling with injuries as they head towards the World Cup break, will have their hands full with the Seattle Sounders. Getting a win or a point away at Lumen Field will be difficult for San Diego. What else do they need to show that this team is heading in the right direction?
Last Season
In the first match playing Seattle, San Diego really took it to the Sounders. The scoring happened quickly, as Jeppe Tverskov scored a goal within the first 90 seconds of the match. Then later in the half, San Diego scored two more times with a 41st-minute goal by Anibal Godoy and then a stoppage-time goal by Chucky Lozano. As much as San Diego likes being a possession-heavy team, this was probably one of a couple of matches in 2025 that San Diego did not have the majority of possession. It’s pretty obvious why: when getting an early 3-0 lead at the half, you just have to play solid defense in the second half to close the match out. The second-half numbers in that match showed Seattle had 60% possession, 7 total shots, 2 on target, and 10 touches in the opposition’s box.
San Diego played the Seattle Sounders during a midweek matchup at Lumen Field. This was right after a high from winning a match late against the LA Galaxy. With that win, San Diego had won 4 out of their last 5 previous matches. But Seattle was a tough team to play at home. In 2025, the Sounders had a 10-6-1 record for 36 points, the best home record in the conference and tied for the third-best record in the league alongside Inter Miami and Nashville. The Sounders also had the second-best goal differential at home with +18.
San Diego, in their match at Seattle, played their style of attacking football. San Diego had 63% possession, 15 total shots, 7 shots on target, and 24 touches in the opposition’s box. A real standout of that match was goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who stopped all shots on target and made the difference in San Diego getting zero goals out of them, even though the xG was at 1.08. The Sounders went ahead on a goal by Jesus Ferreira on a Paul Rothrock assist in the run of play. If anyone remembers what happened prior to the goal, Alex Alvarado went down with an apparent injury and asked for assistance. Play continued and the Sounders capitalized, moving the ball downfield into Rothrock’s feet and having Ferreira finish the run with a goal. From May 3rd to the end of June, the loss to the Sounders at home would be San Diego’s only loss during a 10-match stretch.
This Season
This season, Seattle is picking back up where they left off last season. The Sounders come into this match 4th in the league with 6 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss for 20 points in league play. Seattle has been able to accomplish a high number of points while playing the fewest matches in the league with 9. At home, Seattle is undefeated in three matches, winning all three. The Sounders do like playing with the ball and having possession, as they have over a 52% possession rate. When it comes to attacking, the Sounders have 13 goals from 108 shots this season. Their shot-on-target rate is second in the league at 44.4%, and they are 6th in the league in shots on target per 90 with 5.33.
Seattle, like San Diego, is also a really good passing team. The Sounders have an 86% passing completion rate and are successful in getting passes into the final third over 75% of the time. When it comes to passes per sequence, the Sounders are at 4.17 passes, which is tied for 7th in the league. San Diego leads the league in passes per sequence at 5.40. This means that both teams will be patient and methodical when it comes to possession and finding the right areas to attack.
Defensively, having only played 9 matches, the Sounders have allowed 5 goals and an xG of 9.47. This season, in 5 home matches across all competitions, the Sounders have allowed 4 goals. No team has scored more than 1 goal against the Sounders at Lumen Field. The Sounders have scored 13 goals in those matches and have at least 2 goals per match. The Sounders are 6th in the league in ground duels won at 51% and are in the middle of the league at 49% for winning aerial duels. Seattle is tied for 4th in the league with 27 clearances. On the goalkeeping side, Andrew Thomas has 33 saves and a save percentage of 86.8%. Thomas is also tied for third in the league with 5 goals prevented. This is a well-balanced team on both attack and defense that is also a juggernaut at home. San Diego having their hands full might be an understatement.
Players to Watch
Cristian Roldan: Coming off being listed on the MLS Best XI in 2025, Cristian Roldan is having a pretty strong 2026 season. Last season, Roldan had 1 goal and 2 assists in league play. He led all defensive midfielders in progressive receptions with 192 and had 178 progressive passes and 115 progressive carries. These are all high marks in each category for his position. This season, he has played over 600 minutes and has 3 goals. Roldan has completed 88.6% of his passes and has completed 83.4% of passes in the final third. On the defensive side, Roldan has 17 tackles, 8 interceptions, 1 block, and 16 clearances. Roldan has won 40 possession battles and has won over 57% of ground duels. Just like Jeppe Tverskov, Cristian Roldan is the man in the middle through whom the ball flows, which is evident by his high number of touches at 602. Given his three goals this season, Roldan is featured in all facets of the game. He is a great all-around player who is the anchor of this Sounders team.
Paul Rothrock: Another player having a great start to his season is Paul Rothrock. We saw Rothrock get an assist last season against San Diego, and this year Rothrock has 4 goals and 1 assist. Rothrock had 5 goals and 5 assists last season across all competitions, and in 4 seasons with the Sounders, he has 22 goals and 10 assists across all competitions. Rothrock is a winger who can play on both sides but has been predominantly on the left side this season. Rothrock will take the majority of his shots in the penalty area and can score with either foot. Rothrock likes to dribble the ball and take it into dangerous areas. He is second on the team in progressive carries with 53. Three of those carries have ended with a shot, one ended with a goal, and one with an assist. With Rothrock’s versatility on the pitch, it will be hard for San Diego FC to constantly keep an eye on him, and you hope that he’s not in your own box.
Roster Update
Lastly, San Diego FC announced the signing of goalkeeper Jacob Jackson to a contract. This is not a surprising development, as CJ Dos Santos went down with another head injury last match against LAFC that will take some time to heal, and Pablo Sisniega is also out with an injury. San Diego needed a second keeper and found one available in former San Diego FC player Jackson. Jackson was traded to FC Dallas in the summer transfer window when Duran Ferree came back from his loan at FC Nordsjælland. Jackson did have to come into a match against St. Louis City and played 72 minutes in that match. Jackson made 12 saves against St. Louis and allowed one goal in a 1-1 draw. His next match was a clean sheet against Austin FC; he was also the goalkeeper in a 3-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids and played in a 2-2 draw against the Portland Timbers. Overall, Jackson had an 85.2% save percentage. Jackson will be the second goalkeeper, with Duran Ferree as the starter, most likely until the World Cup break. Ferree will have a tough challenge against the Seattle Sounders.
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