Sigi Schmid was delighted his Seattle Sounders side managed to keep a clean sheet in their 2014 MLS season opener on the weekend.
The Sounders recorded a 1-0 victory over reigning champions Sporting Kansas City in front of a healthy crowd of almost 40,000 at CenturyLink Field thanks to Chad Barrett's late winner.
After the match, Schmid spoke glowingly of his side, in particular their defensive efforts against a very dangerous Sporting outfit.
"Obviously I am happy we got the win," he said.
"One of the things we talked about going into the season was we wanted to be a team that would fight, scratch, and do everything we could until the end of the game and today was a good snapshot of that. The guys continued to fight and battle.
"I am very pleased we got a shutout. Shutouts were a little harder to come by at the end of last year than they normally are for our team, so I was pleased with that. I was pleased we played them to zero and pleased we came out with the victory."
The Sounders will next take on Toronto FC with another home fixture next weekend.
