VANCOUVER, B.C. ā You could say that the Seattle Soundersā 2-1 Cascadia Cup victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place on Sunday was a mixed bag for Brad Evans.
After missing the clubās last four matches with back tightness, Seattleās 31-year-old captain made his return to the field as a second-half substitute in dramatic fashion, scoring the game-deciding goal on an 84th-minute penalty kick.
But Evans will now be suspended for Seattleās next game. The versatile veteran picked up a late red card for whipping his head at Whitecaps defender David Edgar after the two were jostling for position on a corner kick, a sequence that Evans expanded on in his postgame comments to reporters.
āCorner kick comes in, Edgarās pulling me back,ā Evans said. āItās definitely a PK. So I get up, he says itās not [a PK] and he leans in and puts his head on mine. Look at the replay. I mouth, āYou canāt do that. [Expletive] off.ā I never made contact with him.
āThen he turns around and asks for a red card and, sure enough, [referee Ricardo] Salazar brings the card out of his pocket and says āOK, hereās a red.ā No contact made. He makes contact with my face first. So not really much to say there.ā
Evans wasnāt the only one Salazar handed an early exit. The Sounders played much of the second half a man up after Vancouverās Pedro Morales was ejected in the 53rd minute for a high elbow on Seattle midfielder Cristian Roldan, in what turned into an all-around wild affair at BC Place.
Seattle were also playing without midfielders Nicolas Lodeiro (suspension) and Andreas Ivanschitz (neck strain), two of the teamās most relied-upon creative attackers.
āThere were a lot of deviations [from the original plan],ā Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said. āBut a winās a win. The guys are in a good mood, good spirits and credit to them. They found a way to win after taking the first goal.ā
Theatrics aside, Sundayās victory continued Seattleās remarkable late-season turnaround. They've skyrocketed from the Western Conference basement into playoff position with 44 points on the season, with a home matchup vs. the last-place Houston Dynamo next on the docket.
āWe just need to keep that momentum going,ā said forward Herculez Gomez. āI think everybody here knows what weāre fighting for. Nobody believed we were the worst team when we were in that slump, nobody thinks weāre the best team now. Weāre even-keeled. We just want to do our job.ā