Fucito bangs in his first MLS goal during stoppage time to break the scoreless tie. Jane Gershovich / NSSMichael Fucito only played nine minutes in Saturday’s match against the Western Conference leading Kansas City Wizards. By the end of his short time on the pitch, Fucito was strutting off the field to an ovation from the home crowd after scoring the lone goal in the 92nd minute to lead Seattle

On yesterday’s blog, I chronicled the remarkable success that the Sounders FC had in stoppage time throughout their inaugural season.  With roughly 5% of the goals over the last several seasons being scored in second half stoppage time, it seemed pretty incredible that the Sounders were able to keep the ball out of the net after the clock read 90:00.

“We don’t stop playing,” goalkeeper Kasey Keller said.  “We fight like hell to make sure that we keep a lead or keep a point.”

Head coach Sigi Schmid agrees, but thinks the Sounders may not have that same mentality in the early-going for the 2010 season.

“I think our fighting spirit in every game was very, very good.  We came out with a great warrior mentality and we entered each game with that warrior mentality.  Now when you had a little bit of success last year, I think we surprised some people maybe we even surprised ourselves, and sometimes like I say you drive with the emergency brake on a little bit,” Schmid said.  “You are still pushing the pedal down but you just have that little bit of emergency brake because maybe you think, ‘Hey, maybe we did OK last year.  Maybe I don’t need to make that last run or that last little bit.’  But that’s what we have got to find our way back to is just having that complete warrior mentality.”

Schmid knows that his team will make mistakes at times, but it is the recovery from those mistakes, he says, that will make or break the season.

“Everybody gives the ball away.  Brazil gives the ball away.  They don’t hold onto it forever and it’s how you react to those mistakes – that’s what determines a good team,” Schmid said.  “The teams that react in the most efficient manner are the teams that are most successful.  For us, it’s a matter of improving our transitional play, doing a better job right now of keeping the ball and still having that warrior’s mentality every time we step on the field.”

As heartbreaking as the conclusion to the streak of 32 straight league games without a stoppage time goal (43 overall, including Open Cup, friendlies, and MLS Cup playoffs), the streak itself was pretty remarkable.

“I think that’s a pretty good run,” Keller said.  “If we can go another 30-some games without doing that I’ll be very happy.”