Surging Seattle aims to even season series vs. San Diego FC

If the Seattle Sounders needed a wakeup call this season, it came April 5 at San Diego FC.

The Sounders were blanked by host San Diego 3-0 to drop their record to 1-3-3.

Since then, the Sounders (6-4-5, 23 points) have gone 5-1-2 entering Wednesday night's rematch with visiting San Diego (8-4-3, 27 points) at Lumen Field.

"Obviously when you play an opponent a second time, you watch some film and remind the players," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "Don't fall asleep on set pieces and (need) active defending in midfield to prevent transition. They're good enough to make you pay if you make a mistake."

The Sounders defeated visiting FC Dallas 1-0 Saturday as Albert Rusnak scored on a penalty kick in the 86th minute, his fifth goal in as many games.

"Starting off on the front foot, setting the tempo like we did against Dallas, we need to do the same thing," Sounders defender Alex Roldan said of Wednesday's match.

San Diego suffered three straight losses after its victory against Seattle but has bounced back by going 4-0-1 this month. That includes a 2-1 victory Saturday against the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy as Hirving "Chucky" Lozano scored the winner in second-half stoppage time.

"Everybody should take note of this moment in time," San Diego coach Mikey Varas said. "It's a big moment for the club. These are moments that clubs are built on. These are moments nobody will forget, that will inspire an entire region and make the club real."

Lozano has five goals and six assists this season. Teammate Anders Dreyer is second in MLS with seven assists in addition to his team-leading six goals.

Schmetzer confirmed that the Sounders will be without center back Yeimar Gomez Andrade, who suffered a right hamstring strain against Dallas and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

-Field Level Media