Every sports team has a rivalry or two, another club that forces them to grow and play in new, creative ways, a push and pull that always guarantees a good game. The Loons might not have one as tried and true as the Vikings and the Packers — sure, we have the “nicest rivalry in sports,” but if it’s nice, is it really a rivalry? If you ask me, one of the biggest threats to the Black and Blue has consistently been the Rave Green.
It’s no stretch to call the Sounders one of the most successful teams in Major League Soccer history. They shut out the New York Red Bulls in their very first match way back in 2009, and since then, they just haven't stopped winning. In their 17 seasons in MLS, they’ve never had a losing season, totaling 256 wins and 829 goals. They’ve won MLS Cup twice and been runners-up twice, took home the Leagues Cup this year, and won Concacaf Champions Cup in 2022, the only MLS team to win the tournament in its current format.
Nobody should be taking Seattle lightly, least of all the Loons.
The Head-to-Head Stats
The only thing stopping this from being a real rivalry is that Minnesota has never posed much of a threat to Seattle. Until now. 2025 might just change that for good, but first, let’s take a brief detour back in time, shall we?
In my early days of MLS fandom, one of the first names I latched onto outside of the Loons’ roster was Raúl Ruidíaz. Because when he showed up, I knew it was bad news for my team. It wasn’t just him, of course — there was Jordan Morris, Yeimar, Stefan Frei — but Ruidíaz, to teenage me, meant Sounders, and Sounders meant we were going to lose.
Seattle and Minnesota have met a total of 19 times in Major League Soccer. One of those matches was in the Leagues Cup group stage. 17 of them were in the regular season. And one of them was in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, the farthest Minnesota United has ever made it in the playoffs. Who won, you ask? I know you know.
The Sounders beat the Loons 3-2 in that fateful final, scoring all three goals in the final 20 minutes of play. Yeah, they went on to lose the Cup to Columbus, but the damage was done. Entering this season, Minnesota had won only one time against these raving Sounders, logging two draws and a whopping 14 losses. The Loons have 16 goals to Seattle’s 37 in their all-time head-to-head matchups.
But never fear, folks, I’d never stay so negative about the beloved Black and Blue on mnufc.com. This is where things turn around. Two of the club’s three all-time wins came in this glorious year of 2025. In fact, your Loons were the only team to beat Seattle at Lumen Field in regular-season play this year. It was the shattering of a years-long curse, and to make it even better, the Loons doubled down when Seattle came to Saint Paul in August.
This season has easily been the best one yet for Minnesota all across the board, with regular-season club records of 58 points and 16 wins. Keeper Dayne. St Clair is up for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, defender Michael Boxall is in contention for a spot on the best XI, and two more Loons are up for Goal of the Year. This team has never been better. Watch out, Seattle.
An Underdog Story?
The Loons may be above the Sounders in the Western Conference table, but take a moment to put yourself in the Sounders’ boots: Imagine this club you’ve been driving into the dirt for years, showing up in 2025 like a cyclone and becoming the first team all season to beat you with a whopping three goals on your home turf. Then you go to their place, and they beat you there too. Now you’re pitted against one another in the playoffs. Everything is on the line. The Loons look like a real threat. Are you quaking in your Rave Green yet?
This year might just mark the beginning of a long-standing one-sided affair becoming a true rivalry. A two-way push-and-pull in which both sides respect one another, in which a game — a series — could truly go either way. I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly never been this stoked about a game against Kansas City.
There is nothing Minnesotans love more than a good underdog story (yes, fine, I love Miracle on Ice). And the Loons have been flying under the radar for years. It doesn’t matter that this is the best season we’ve had to date; Matt Doyle’s power rankings still dismiss the Black and Blue, nobody on MLS 360 has mentioned the Loons as a contender to go all the way. What better way to prove everyone wrong than beating out one of the most successful franchises in Major League Soccer history?
