140 days after the Seattle Sounders’ agonizing playoff miss, they returned to the field on Sunday, Feb. 26. As the sun set below the horizon at Lumen Field, the Sounders kicked off their 15th season in Major League Soccer playing the Colorado Rapids. Even with the chilly temperatures in Seattle, the Sounders fanbase showed up, with over 30,000 supporters in attendance.

The game started off fast, with both teams hitting the crossbar within the first five minutes. Slowly Seattle gained more and more control of the game until Cristian Roldan opened Seattle’s 2023 scoring account in the 25th minute. An inch-perfect cross from winger Jordan Morris landed right on the head of Roldan who scored from close range, bringing all 30,000 supporters to their feet. 

Morris doubled the Sounders’ lead off of a corner kick in the dying minutes of the first half. The sounders went into the locker rooms up 2-0 against a Frazzled and shocked Colorado team. 

The second half started off with a bang, as Sounders newcomer Héber Araujo dos Santos scored his first goal for the club, and gave Seattle a 3-0 lead. The Sounders weren’t done just yet, as Morris slotted home his second goal of the night, and gave Seattle a whopping 4-0 lead in the 83rd minute. As soon as the final whistle blew all of Lumen field cheered. Even after an agonizing playoff miss the year before, the Seattle Sounders were able to bounce back and put themselves atop the standings. 

“It was amazing, it was a great win for us,” Araujo dos Santos said in a post-match interview. 

“It was great to be back out in front of the fans and putting in a performance like that feels great,” Jordan Morris said in his post-match interview. “Our goal this year is to keep pushing forward and win some trophies.”