The mood in the Seattle Sounders locker room has rarely been as somber as it was on June 23. The Sounders had just tied the Chicago Fire 1-1, and were frankly lucky to have gotten even a point. All week, this had been billed as a virtual must-win game, especially considering that their opponent was coming off a midweek U.S. Open Cup match in which their starters were heavily used.
The Sounders, for their part, had already dropped a bunch of points at home and knew they couldn’t afford to drop many more if they were to salvage what was already the worst start in franchise history.