KANSAS CITY, KANSAS - A Dom Dwyer brace led the way as Seattle Sounders FC (6-12-2, 20 points) fell 3-0 to Sporting Kansas City (9-10-4, 31 points) Sunday afternoon at Children's Mercy Park. Jacob Peterson also added a strike in first-half stoppage time as the Rave Green were out-shot 16-1 and dropped their third straight match across all competitions. Sigi Schmid's club returns home next Sunday with a nationally-televised, full-stadium match against the LA Galaxy on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field (1:00 p.m. PT / ESPN, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Sporting took the lead in the 21st minute of play, as Dwyer made a knifing run through Seattle's area, rising to meet a Roger Espinoza cross at Stefan Frei's far post. The Englishman headed home his attempt, netting his ninth goal of 2016. Espinoza's left-footed cross came from the right flank, his fourth assist of the year.
Peterson cemented the home side's lead in first-half stoppage-time, as the MLS veteran hit his shot first-time inside Seattle's 18-yard-box, drilling it into the far-side upper corner of Frei's net. Saad Abdul-Salaam and Ike Opara assisted on the goal, as Peter Vermes' side went into the break with a two-goal lead.
Schmid adjusted his squad at the beginning of the second half, moving captain Brad Evans into midfield and bringing on centerbacks Zach Scott and Tony Alfaro to push Seattle into a 3-5-2 formation.
Dwyer completed his brace in the 79th minute, intercepting a Seattle pass along the backline and slotting a shot past Frei to secure a 3-0 final score and his 10th strike of the season.
After a three-match road swing across all competitions, Sounders FC concludes a packed month of July with its second full-stadium contest of the season at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, July 31. ESPN is broadcasting the match nationally at 1:00 p.m. PT, with KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM providing regional radio coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. PT.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 - Sporting Kansas City 3
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Venue: Children's Mercy Park
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistants: Jeff Muschik, Peter Manikowski
Fourth Official: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: Sunny and 96 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SKC - Dominic Dwyer (Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi) 21'
SKC - Jacob Peterson (Saad Abdul-Salaam, Ike Opara) 45+3'
SKC - Dominic Dwyer 79'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SKC - Roger Espinoza (caution) 23'
SEA - Herculez Gomez (caution) 43'
SEA - Joevin Jones (caution) 57'
SKC - Soni Mustivar (caution) 65'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans - captain, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones; Cristian Roldan, Erik Friberg (Tony Alfaro HT), Clint Dempsey; Herculez Gomez (Zach Scott HT), Jordan Morris, Andreas Ivanschitz (Michael Farfan 64')
Substitutes: Tyler Miller, Oniel Fisher, Nelson Valdez, Oalex Anderson
Total shots: 1 (Jones, 1)
Shots on goal: 0
Fouls: 5 (5 players, 1)
Offside: 2 (Dempsey, 2)
Corner-kicks: 0
Saves: 3 (Frei, 3)
Sporting Kansas City - Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam (Seth Sinovic 85'), Ike Opara, Lawrence Olum, Jimmy Medranda; Benny Feilhaber, Soni Mustivar, Roger Espinoza; Jacob Peterson (Cameron Porter 77'), Dominic Dwyer, Graham Zusi (Connor Hallisey 41')
Substitutes not used: Alec Kann, Kevin Ellis, Emmanuel Appiah, Diego Rubio
Total shots: 19 (Dwyer, 6)
Shots on goal: 6 (Dwyer, 3)
Fouls: 7 (Feilhaber, 2)
Offside: 2 (Abdul-Salaam/Dwyer, 1)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Zusi, 3)
Saves: 0
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC falls to 6-12-2 on the season and remains in ninth in the Western Conference with 20 points. The Rave Green have now lost three of their last four league matches and four of their last five across all competitions.
- Sporting Kansas City is now unbeaten in its last five matches against Seattle (3-0-2), including a pair of wins against Sounders FC this season. Sunday's result also marks the first time in 14 all-time meetings between the two clubs decided by more than one goal.
- Stefan Frei recorded three saves on Sunday and now sits just eight short of Kasey Keller's career franchise record of 270.
- Joevin Jones registered the lone shot for Sounders FC in the 88th minute, marking a new franchise low for shots in single match. The previous low in a match for Seattle was two shots, last recorded on June 22, 2013 at RSL.
