Cristian Roldan has been a stalwart for the Seattle Sounders in the center of midfield and on the wing across the last ten years. His name has been one known amongst American soccer fans for quite some time. In the 2012-2013 high school season, Roldan was named California's Gatorade Player of the Year for his absurd 54 goal and 31 assist season to go along with the Division 1 title. At the University of Washington, Roldan scored 10 goals and assisted 7 in his 41 appearances. Come 2015, the Seattle Sounders selected him with the No. 16 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. In his first MLS season, Roldan started in 11 of his 22 appearances. He assisted Obafemi Martins in a September match, marking his first and only goal contribution of his first MLS season. Roldan was asked to play many positions, including fullback.
In year two, Cristian Roldan found more stability in his role, as he paired up with Osvaldo Alonso in a double pivot for the Sounders. He appeared in all but one regular season match. Roldan's first MLS goal took place on July 13th, when he scored Seattle's fifth goal of the match on a set piece header. On Decision Day, Roldan secured an important win for the Sounders, claiming fourth place in the Western Conference with another set piece goal. In the playoffs, he played 90 every match en route to an MLS Cup victory. Seattle defeated Toronto FC 5-4 in penalties after a 0-0 stalemate in regulation. It would not be the last time we saw these teams face off in MLS Cup.
In 2017, Roldan scored 6 goals, which is still tied for his career-best. He has done it on three occasions. He earned Sounders Team MVP for his 2017 performance. During this year, Roldan also made his first cap for the USMNT, he now has 37 total since then. One again, he played all but one game during the season. In a July 23rd match against the San Jose Earthquakes at CenturyLink Field, Roldan made club history. He provided two goals in as many minutes to earn the club record for the shortest time between goals. The first goal hit the back of the net at 53:35, while the second went in at 55:12. During this season, Roldan led all MLS players in important defensive stats, such as 90 tackles won and 229 duels won. For the second consecutive year, he played every minute en route to MLS Cup, but this time Toronto FC exacted their revenge in a 2-0 win.
The next year, Roldan finally appeared in all 34 matches for Seattle, becoming the first player in club history to reach 3,000 minutes in one season. He played all but seven minutes, when he was substituted out a single time on October 8th. Roldan assisted a career-high 9 goals, which is still by far the most he's had in his career. Five of those assists were passed to game-winning goals. Unfortunately, Roldan's ironman streak ended in the playoffs when he suffered a hip flexor strain in the first leg of the Western Conference Semis against Portland. For the first time in three years, Seattle went out prior to MLS Cup, falling in penalties after a 4-4 aggregate draw.
In 2019, Cristian Roldan once again hit six goals, for the second of three times. On September 1st, he scored a crucial brace in a chaotic 4-3 win against LA Galaxy. The first of his goals was a pretty left footed strike into the top corner. His second goal, while less gracious, proved far more important. His back post run provided the game-winning fourth Seattle goal to give his team all three points. Roldan returned to ironman status in the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, playing every single minute and getting revenge of their own on Toronto FC in the final. This time, it was a more comfortable 3-1 win. The lone TFC goal was a Jozy Altidore consolation goal at 93'.
In the strange 2020 season, Seattle still managed to get back to MLS Cup, it was becoming quite normal. He mustered 5 assists in a shortened season, with 2 goals. As we'd come to expect, Roldan was on the field for every minute of Seattle's cup run. They did fall this time, to Lucas Zelarayan's Columbus Crew, in a 3-0 scoreline. In 2021, Roldan scored 6 goals and assisted 6. He was named an MLS All-Star, as were a whopping five of his teammates. Seattle had less luck in the 2021 playoffs. They were a first-round exit, defeated by Real Salt Lake. RSL has a history of playing slow as a heavy playoff underdog, and coming up victorious In the end.
For the first time in club history, the Seattle Sounders failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2022. They held a league-record 13 straight appearances in the postseason. Regardless, Sounders fans will not care much. In classic Sounders fashion, they still captured arguably an even more important trophy, the CONCACAF Champions League. Seattle became the first MLS team to win the competition. Roldan still had a solid 4 goal and 5 assist season. He became the third Sounder to cross the 250 appearance threshold, behind Osvaldo Alonso and Stefan Frei. In addition, Cristian Roldan made the 2022 USA World Cup roster.
After an incredible record of not missing games, Roldan has unfortunately struggled to stay healthy lately. Late in 2022, he suffered a groin injury. In 2023, he has fought through multiple concussions. He did not play from April 10th-June 2nd. He played four Sounders matches after that, but has not appeared since July 22nd as we currently stand. All we can do is hope that the iconic Sounders midfielder can fully recover from his head injuries and avoid any major damage. Cristian Roldan has done it all for the Seattle Sounders since 2015, winning a multitude of trophies. He is our #95 on the list.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | SEA | 802* | 2* | 1* |
2022 | SEA | 2,102 | 4 | 5 |
2021 | SEA | 2,360 | 6 | 6 |
2020 | SEA | 1,890 | 2 | 5 |
2019 | SEA | 2,538 | 6 | 5 |
2018 | SEA | 3,053 | 4 | 9 |
2017 | SEA | 2,960 | 6 | 3 |
2016 | SEA | 2,632 | 4 | 3 |
2015 | SEA | 1,114 | 0 | 1 |
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