Editorial (November 29, 2017) – Last Word on Soccer got to sit down with Seattle Sounders FC Goalkeeper Stefan Frei recently. We talked about a number of items going into Thursday’s Leg Two match against Houston Dynamo. Frei is also teaming up with Allstate to help protect youth soccer. For every save Frei or his fellow MLS GK’s make during the Conference Championships and the MLS Cup final, Allstate will be donating two new nets to local youth fields in need.
Hamstrings, Seattle Sounders Focus, And Much More With Stefan Frei
Frei missed the first leg of the Western Conference Finals with a hamstring injury. He should be good to go for Leg Two on Thursday though.
“I feel optimistic. I would argue that most players keep complaining that the MLS Playoffs are so dragged out, but for once I feel like it will work out in my favor,” Frei told Last Word on Soccer. He went on to say the international break did him some good. He’s optimistic he’ll be in goal on Thursday.
Frei was confident in his back up, Tyler Miller: “Great, honestly he looked like a veteran out there. Credit to our Goalkeeper Coach Tom Dutra, they way he prepares the unit collective and not just focuses on one guy.”
The locker room was very happy with the result, a 2-0 victory (with road goals) over the Houston Dynamo in Leg One. They were happy with the performance, but Frei thought they could have done a bit more.
“We’re ecstatic with the result [in Leg One]. At the same time, we’re a bit disappointed that we couldn’t find a third or a forth [away goal]. We’re confident, we’ve shown that we have a really good home record in front of our die hard fans.”
The Sounders are just one result away from going to back-to-back MLS Cup Finals. They’re looking better than last year with Clint Dempsey, Nicolás Lodeiro, and Will Bruin flying high. They’re 100% not thinking about MLS Cup yet:
“Houston is a wounded animal and they’re going to come out fighting,” adding “[we are] totally focused on the second leg right now. They are a dangerous team,” “this only half way done. We’ve put ourselves in a great position with that 2-0 result in Houston. We’re expecting a fight.” They’re not taking their opponents lightly for a second.
Frei thought the club was bit lucky in the style of opponents they’ve faced this year in the playoffs: “We’ve benefited from playing Vancouver and now Houston. It’s not that they are weak teams, but they are similar teams. They both like to counter, so our preparation for Vancouver transferred over to Houston.”
The Seattle Sounders take on Houston Dynamo on Thursday night. Kick off is scheduled for 10:30 PM EST on ESPN.
