The Seattle Sounders sure are glad Paul Rothrock decided to stay home.
The midfielder, a Seattle native, decided to re-sign with the Sounders in the offseason when he was a free agent. He replaced an injured Jordan Morris (quad strain) in the eighth minute of the season opener against visiting Colorado on Sunday and had a goal and an assist in a 2-0 victory.
Rothrock and the Sounders (1-0-0, 3 points) are headed to Sandy, Utah on Saturday evening to face Real Salt Lake (0-1-0, 0 points).
With Morris expected to be sidelined for a month, Rothrock will likely move into the starting lineup.
Known in Seattle as “Paulie Primetime,” Rothrock assisted on Albert Rusnak’s goal in the 15th minute, hustling to keep the ball inbounds and then delivering a perfect cross to the top of the 6-yard box for a header. Then, in the 62nd, he blasted a left-footed shot from the top left of the 6-yard box over Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen and into the far-side netting.
“He’s always ready. That kid is always ready,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said of Rothrock. “That could have been a statement to me, like, ‘You know what, Coach, I should be there.’ And I admire that. I appreciate that. He had a really, really good performance (Sunday).”
Rothrock had five goals and nine assists in 48 matches across all competitions last season, helping the Sounders win the Leagues Cup title over Inter Miami.
As for re-signing with Seattle when he had more lucrative offers elsewhere?
“I just still felt like my heart was here and I haven’t given everything here yet,” Rothrock said. “I haven’t won a (MLS) championship here yet, and still would love to do that.”
RSL’s season debut didn’t go as well, with a 1-0 loss at Vancouver. The lone goal came when a cross deflected off defender DeAndre Yedlin and fell to the Whitecaps’ Aziel Jackson, who volleyed it home in the 57th minute.
RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made four saves.
Midfielders Zach Booth and Luca Moisa and forward Sergi Solans each made their RSL and MLS debuts, with midfielder Aiden Hezarkhani making his first start for the club.
“There’ll be challenges about that, but I feel like the experiences that we had last year should really present themselves heavily in the forefront as to how to manage games, what it takes to win and then just bringing in these new guys and being excited about what we can potentially be as a team,” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said.
–Field Level Media
