Photo by Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports Images

By JASON MITCHELL

SEATTLE– For two months, absolutely nothing went right for the Seattle Sounders. This week they can do no wrong, and have perhaps unearthed an atavistic swagger and steel of old.

On Wednesday night, the Sounders trailed 1-0 with less than a minute left in regulation, facing a gut-wrenching upset loss to Honduran side C.D. Olimpia in CONCACAF Champions League group play.

And yet a reserve-laden side somehow emerged with a 2-1 victory in front of an announced crowd of 37,106 at CenturyLink Field. This following a 4-0 thrashing of Orlando City on Sunday afternoon to snap a five game losing streak.

“I’m just very proud of what we were able to do,” said Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid. “I know I was thinking, with about 15 minutes to go, I was thinking to myself, ‘We do not deserve to lose this game. We’ve been the better team. Hopefully something will change. We need something to change and break our way.'”

Break it did.

Second-half substitute Erik Friberg began the rally in the 90th minute, heading home from close range off a throw-in that Olimpia defender Johnny Palacios redirected to the far post.

Seattle swarmed an unsettled Olimpia back line in search of a second goal, but looked likely to settle for a draw until defender Arnold Peralta scissor-tackled Dylan Remick in the penalty area with seconds remaining in stoppage time. Caribbean referee Kimball Ward awarded the penalty and late substitute Brad Evans converted past goalkeeper Noel Valladares for the stunning 2-1 win.

Olimpia players crowded Evans before he converted; scuffles (not the first of the night) and yellow cards ensued following the goal. Multiple Olimpia coaches and players left the bench as well.

Which is to say it was a CONCACAF kind of night.

Olimpia head coach Hector Vargas had his complaints with the referees, but didn’t argue the game-changing call.

“Yes,” said Vargas, “I believe it was really a penalty kick.”

After drawing with the Vancouver Whitecaps on the road last week, Seattle now leads three-team Group F, although only the Sounders have played twice.

Olimpia forward Alberth Ellis opened the scoring in just the fifth minute, heading in midfielder Oscar Salas’ re-entry pass off a cleared free kick to put Olimpia up 1-0.

Conceding possession throughout the night and managing flow through an endless series of trainers’ visits, the Honduran side nearly escaped with the win despite mustering just two shots on goal.

The Sounders controlled the game and nearly equalized on multiple occasions, but never found the back of the net without the likes of Obafemi Martins, Nelson Valdez, and Clint Dempsey.

Valladares snuffed a close-range side volley from midfielder Aaron Kovar in the 20th minute. Kovar later ricocheted a first-touch strike off the right post from 13 yards out, just missed a Lamar Neagle cross in the 53rd minute, and hit the left post on a booming free kick in the 78th minute. Midway through the second half, Gonzalo Pineda lobbed an inch-perfect pass over the top to a charging Neagle, whose 14-yard header sailed just past the right post.

Champions League group play continues through October. The tournament’s current format divides the 24 teams that qualified for the group stage into eight groups of three teams. Each team plays the other two teams in its group twice, once home and once away. The top team from each group advances to the knockout rounds, which begin in February 2016. Head-to-head results are the first group stage tiebreaker.

The Sounders next travel to Sandy, Utah, for a weekend match against Real Salt Lake (7-10-8, 29 points), which has dropped its last four league matches by a combined score of 14-5.  C.D. Olimpia and the Sounders then meet midweek at Estadio Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.