Sounders rally to 3-3 draw with Revolution

SEATTLE – Osvaldo Alonso scored Seattle’s third goal in a 13-minute stretch late in the second half to help the Sounders rally for a 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution on Saturday night.

Trailing 3-0 with 15 minutes of regulation time remaining, Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro scored to spark the comeback. Will Bruin cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 85th minute, and Alonso tied it in the 88th. Joevin Jones was credited with assists on two of the three goals, while Lodeiro and Gustav Svensson both helped on the final tally.

Rare is a result so dissatisfactory for both sides.

New England (2-3-4) let what once looked like a sure win get away. Seattle (2-2-4) dropped two points most would have heavily favored to get at kickoff.

“What I’m most frustrated about is that those guys put so much effort and so much of themselves into the team and into the game,” Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said, “and they cannot reward themselves with a performance that gets us all three points. I’m disappointed that we (didn’t) take three at home.”

Revolution forward Juan Agudelo scored twice. The Revolution took the lead in the 15th minute courtesy of a gaffe by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Daigo Kobayashi’s shot from well outside the penalty box was tame, but the ball was still able to sneak through Frei’s body before rolling into the back of the net.

“I didn’t take my eye off the ball,” Frei said. “It moved. I made a blunder. I gifted them a goal. . An error on my part. It’s as simple as that.”

Agudelo scored on a header 11 minutes later, then made it 3-0 early in the second half when he finished off a New England counterattack.

Seattle finished with 74 percent of the possession and a 26-8 edge in shots. The Sounders scored three times, taking their league-leading total in that category to 10 in eight matches.

“It’s definitely a good feeling coming back and getting a point, but at the end of the day, we’re at home. We can’t be giving away three goals and be down 3-0 at home,” Bruin said. “That’s as a collective, as a unit, being tough to play against.”

The result extends Seattle’s home unbeaten streak to 14 in regular season and playoff action dating to last year, which ties the longest such mark in club history. New England is winless in five matches away from home.

“We’re gutted in there,” Revs coach Jay Heaps said. “We had it in our hands. We let two points slip away. That said, it’s good for rallying. It’s tough to come here. We focus on the positive, but we have to correct the negative. This is one of those where I think we’ll spend a lot of time reviewing it.”

The Revolution return to action next Saturday at Columbus, while Seattle hosts Toronto FC in a rematch of last season’s MLS Cup final.