Jordan Morris Goes Down Seven Minutes In, Seattle Wins Anyway

The 2026 MLS season was exactly seven minutes old when Jordan Morris crumpled to the turf at Lumen Field and the whole thing briefly felt cursed. New year, same injury anxiety. Morris off the field, Rothrock on, and a Colorado Rapids team under a brand new head coach suddenly sensing an opening.

They didn't get one. Paul Rothrock came on and eight minutes later was already making himself impossible to ignore — whipping a cross to the six-yard box that Albert Rusnák got his head onto and directed past Zack Steffen at the far post. Fifteenth minute, 1-0 Seattle, and it stayed that way for a long time.

The first half was genuinely strange to watch. It ran 61 minutes by the time the referee was done sorting through Video Reviews and injury stoppages. Hassani Dotson — playing his first Sounders minutes since arriving from Minnesota — went down with a head injury deep in first-half stoppage time and was replaced by teenage academy product Snyder Brunell, which meant Seattle had burned through two of their three Designated Players before the break. Not ideal. <br><br>The Rapids had their moments. They looked organized and physical in a way that suggested Matt Wells has ideas about what he wants this team to be, even if the execution wasn't fully there yet. De Rosario had a shot from the top of the box in stoppage time that Steffen had to dive for, and it skipped just wide. Ojediran tested Andrew Thomas with a tame effort from 20 yards that didn't really threaten him but at least put Colorado on the board in terms of attempts.

The second half was more of the same — Seattle controlling the tempo, Colorado sitting a little deeper, both teams slightly fatigued from a first half that felt like it lasted forever. Rothrock, who by this point had already earned himself a longer leash, worked his way to the left end line in the opening minute and clipped a ball into the box for Ferreira, whose header went right at Steffen. Still 1-0. Ferreira and De Rosario both came off in the 69th minute, replaced by Minoungou and Musovski, and Seattle managed the game home without too much drama.

The second goal came in stoppage time from Rothrock himself — finishing from inside the box after a nice sequence — and made the 2-0 final look more comfortable than the game actually was. Paul Arriola came on in the 85th minute, his first action since tearing his ACL in March of last year. Lumen Field gave him a warm welcome. It was a nice moment in an otherwise fairly functional evening.

The honest assessment: this felt like a rusty season opener. Seattle were the better team and deserved to win, but they didn't really look like the team that scored 90 goals last year. The injury concerns are real. Losing Morris after seven minutes and Dotson in stoppage time of the first half is not a great way to begin a season that ends with the World Cup. Colorado, for their part, were decent on a rainy night in a road opener against a team that owns them at home historically. Wells has something to work with. Whether Paxten Aaronson earns his transfer fee this year remains the question everyone in Colorado is quietly asking.

Rusnák opened his account. Rothrock made the case for regular minutes. Andrew Thomas got a clean sheet. Seattle goes on the road for five straight while Lumen Field gets World Cup turf installed. Could be worse ways to start.

[Photography by Alejandro Sanchez Ochoa]