Sounders allow late goal, remain winless on LAFC's home field in regular season

In a flash, a respectable defensive showing was marred by Los Angeles FC.

The Sounders had a breakdown that allowed the precious seconds winger Tyler Boyd needed to send a cross into the box for LAFC teammate Timothy Tillman to redirect into goal. The shot in the 86th minute was all the Black & Gold needed to defeat the Sounders 1-0 on Sunday at BMO Stadium.

LAFC snapped its current four-match losing streak, through all competitions, and kept the Sounders winless on its field during regular-season matches (0-8-1).

The margins in this league are so small," said Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, whose team has lost their past two matches. "We took some heat in the first half, made some adjustments, evened the game out and then just couldn't find that (goal). … There's a part of me that wants to stay calm, stay steady, we're a good team. This hurts, but overall, we'll try to execute on the margins like we were in the beginning of the year."

The Sounders were patient in their defending in the opening half to not allow a desperate and active LAFC (7-5-3) to sneak a goal past.

LAFC forward Son Heung-min is hunting for his first goal of the season and had five shots fly every way but into the net in the first half. His team outshot the Sounders 12-4 overall to enter the break goalless.

The Sounders (7-3-3) carved better opportunities to score in the second half. Cristian Roldan didn't have enough power on a right-footed attempt in the 62nd minute. Snyder Brunell, who subbed on for Hassani Dotson in the 63rd minute, had a left-footed chance from deep saved by LAFC keeper Thomas Hasal.

Sounders forward Danny Musovski, who subbed on in the 69th minute, tagged the crossbar with an attempt in the 76th minute.

Son had his best opportunity in the 77th minute. Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas dug low to deflect the right-footed shot from the top of the box.

"It's frustrating not coming away with at least a point," Sounders defender Antino Lopez said. "It's a very bad feeling."

Sunday's match marked MLS's last until July due to the FIFA Men's World Cup. For the weekend's games, the league adorned jersey numbers with flags from across the world and each player had a patch on the front of their jersey of their country's flag or two like the Canadian American Kalani Kossa-Rienzi or Colombian American Jesús Ferreira.

Roldan is the only Sounders player expected to make a World Cup roster. Reports have him as part of the U.S. men's national team, but the official announcement is Tuesday.

Per negotiations between the league and MLS Players Association, the remainder of the Sounders team will have an 18-day break before regrouping for a stretch of training and another four-day break.

The Sounders will resume MLS play with a Cascadia derby against Portland on July 16 at Lumen Field. The club wanted the return to be a run for the league's Supporters' Shield, which the Sounders haven't won since 2014. But after only winning once in May, the team dropped to 10th place with 24 points. Nashville leads the race with 33 points.

"Couldn't think of a better way to start the second half of the year than playing Portland," Schmetzer said. "If the guys aren't up for that, then I'm doing something wrong."

Sounders center back Kim Kee-hee made his debut start Sunday. He reaggravated a calf injury during preseason training camp and has recently returned to form.

Kim was one of five lineup changes for Schmetzer.

Alex Roldan became a mainstay at center back because of Kim, Yeimar (hamstring) and new acquisition Ryan Sailor (knee) being unavailable. Alex Roldan was on the bench Sunday after missing last week's loss to the LA Galaxy due to a hamstring injury.

The league's seven-week hiatus should be enough time for Schmetzer's roster to completely heal. Yeimar and winger Pedro de la Vega (knee) are expected to return to full training. De la Vega has been out since fracturing his right patella in October.

"The locker room is very quiet, people are upset," Brunell said. "We have to reset and find that form that we were once in. Overall, we each have to improve our game and be able to, first of all, get the first goal and keep going.

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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 11:43 PM.