Sounders F Bruin out due to foot injury

[May 18, 2018]  The Seattle Sounders sit in last place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference, and their woes grew Thursday.

Forward Will Bruin is sidelined due to a partial plantar fascia tear, coach Brian Schmetzer announced Thursday at practice.

"You guys know by now that I kind of use 'tough kid' as a euphemism for there to be a little humor in our media scrums," Schmetzer said. "But Will actually is a really tough kid. ... It's another considerable injury. We're not talking about days. We're talking about weeks."

The injury occurred May 9 as Seattle won 2-1 at Toronto FC. Bruin was not on the Sounders' 18-man, match-day squad Sunday for a 1-0 loss to the Timbers in Portland.

Schmetzer will be looking for answers in the attacking third with Bruin out of action. Winger Victor Rodriguez remains out due to a knee injury.

"Clint (Dempsey) certainly can play up there, but we need to give him help," Schmetzer said. "We need to make sure we give him the help he needs to be effective. Lamar (Neagle), Henry (Wolf), Handwalla (Bwana), those guys need to be goal-dangerous. Magnus (Wolff Eikrem) needs to be goal-dangerous. If Victor can come back, he can provide something for us. ...

"There will be some different tweaks in there, but we're confident that we can create goals."

Bruin, 28, has three goals and two assists in seven games (all starts) this season. Last year, he appeared in 31 games for Seattle, starting 20 times, and he produced 11 goals and two assists. Bruin played the previous six seasons for the Houston Dynamo.

In 216 career MLS games, Bruin has 64 goals and 24 assists. The St. Louis native has made two appearances for the U.S. men's national team.

--Field Level Media

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