The Seattle Sounders are pleased that Paul Rothrock chose to remain with the team.
The local midfielder re-signed with the Sounders during the offseason as a free agent. He stepped in for the injured Jordan Morris (quad strain) in the eighth minute of the season opener against Colorado on Sunday, contributing a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win.
Rothrock and the Sounders (1-0-0, 3 points) will travel to Sandy, Utah, on Saturday evening to take on Real Salt Lake (0-1-0, 0 points).
With Morris likely out for a month, Rothrock is expected to take his place in the starting lineup.
Known as “Paulie Primetime,” Rothrock assisted on Albert Rusnak’s goal in the 15th minute, managing to keep the ball in play before delivering an accurate cross for a header. He then scored in the 62nd minute with a left-footed shot from the top left of the 6-yard box, finding the net past Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
“He’s always ready. That kid is always ready,” said Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer about 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).”
Last season, Rothrock recorded five goals and nine assists in 48 matches across all competitions, contributing to the Sounders’ Leagues Cup title win over Inter Miami.
Regarding his decision to re-sign with Seattle, despite more lucrative offers elsewhere, Rothrock stated, “I just still felt like my heart was here and I haven’t given everything here yet. I haven’t won a (MLS) championship here yet, and still would love to do that.”
RSL’s season opener didn’t go as planned, ending in a 1-0 loss to Vancouver. The only goal came in the 57th minute when a cross deflected off defender DeAndre Yedlin and fell to Aziel Jackson of the Whitecaps, who scored with a volley.
RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made four saves during the match.
Midfielders Zach Booth and Luca Moisa, along with forward Sergi Solans, made their RSL and MLS debuts, while midfielder Aiden Hezarkhani had 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 help us manage games, know how to win, and bring in these new guys to build excitement about our potential as a team,” said RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni.