Sounders play to draw with Sporting Kansas City in duel of goaltenders
A change had to be made.
Sporting Kansas City keeper John Pulskamp ceded 25 goals in nine MLS matches this season. First-year coach Raphaël Wicky needed to do something different and picked SKC's match against the Sounders to put a former Sounders keeper in goal.
After greeting some of his former teammates, Stefan Cleveland took his spot between the sticks for his debut start. After an early bruising, Cleveland frustrated the Sounders like he did on the training grounds years ago when draped in Rave Green.
In fact, as the match grew at Sporting Park in Kansas, it was an ode to Sounders goalkeeping coach Tom Dutra as Cleveland and current Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas made acrobatic saves throughout the second half to play to a 1-1 draw on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
It's like we lost two points," Sounders midfielder Snyder Brunell said of not getting the outright win. "It's not easy winning on the road, it's always hard. But we know our quality, we know our standards, especially what a great team we are and how well we started on the road. We have to put away our chances."
Cleveland last started a match in 2023 when he played for the Sounders. He stopped a curling beauty from Sounders forward Jesús Ferreira in the 81st minute and a header from Osaze De Rosario at the mouth of goal in the 82nd minute to preserve the tie. The keeper finished with seven saves in the match.
Thomas had a kick save against Capita Capemba's attempt in the 65th minute and denied a dribbler from SKC striker Dejan Joveljić in the 82nd minute. Thomas had six overall saves against Sporting (1-7-2).
"Tommy is the best goalkeeping coach in the league," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. Cleveland was with the team from 2019-2023. "That's a tight group - Stef Frei, Stef Cleveland, Andrew - they were all together. We all wish Stefan Cleveland the best of luck, just not in the games he plays against the Seattle Sounders. To Cleveland's credit, he had a good performance."
Sounders defender Alex Roldan ignited the opening goal with a long ball to the head of Ferreira. The headed pass landed in space for Sounders winger Paul Rothrock to pick up and angle a left-footed shot past Cleveland.
It was Rothrock's sixth goal of the season, across all competitions.
A sloppy backward pass to Thomas from Cristian Roldan led to SKC netting the equalizer in the 18th minute. Joveljić jumped on the ball at the top of the box and knocked it home for his team-leading fifth goal in MLS play.
"He didn't see him," Schmetzer said of Cristian Roldan not spotting Joveljić in his periphery. "Vision is the key. You cannot make a good decision unless you see the entire field. He never saw Joveljić coming and Cristian knows better. I'm holding him accountable and he's holding himself accountable in front of his teammates."
There was still approximately 70 minutes of time for the Sounders to find a winner. But the goal was a gifted confidence builder for SKC and the bulk of the 16,378 fans in attendance.
Suddenly it didn't matter that Sporting was on a five-game losing streak, ceding 18 goals during the downward spiral. They hung with the Sounders in combo plays to generate chances, only getting outshot 9-7 in attempts on target despite being limited to 38.6% possession in the match.
Cleveland wasn't SKC's only Seattle tie on the field. Defender Ethan Bartlow is a former University of Washington standout who played the past five seasons for Houston.
Bartlow blocked two Sounders attempts off the line in the 52nd minute.
More Sounders players are returning from injury, but there was only one change to the starting lineup. Cristian Roldan replaced Hassani Dotson in the midfield and wore the captain's armband.
Sounders midfielders Albert Rusnák (hamstring) and Paul Arriola (adductor) were available off the bench after missing last week's home win against Dallas. They were Schmetzer's first subs in the 67th minute for forward Jordan Morris and Rothrock.
Danny Musovski stayed up top with Ferreira orchestrating the attack. Rothrock (left) and Morris (right) manned the wings.
The Sounders (6-1-2) are back at Lumen Field next week to kick off a three-game homestand. They'll host San Diego first then have a midweek clash with Supporters' Shield leader San Jose (May 13) and close with a match against the LA Galaxy (May 16).
"For us to be a great team this year, to make a run for the Supporters' Shield, games like (this) are games we gotta win," Rothrock said. "We're all left with a disappointing feeling in our gut at the moment.
BOX SCORE
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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 4:54 PM.