COMMERCE CITY, COLO. – A brace from Will Bruin propelled Sounders FC (4-9-3, 15 points) to a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids (4-10-3, 15 points) on Wednesday evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. After taking the lead early in the second half, the Rave Green staved off Colorado’s attack down the stretch, highlighted by Stefan Frei’s diving save to deny Shkëlzen Gashi’s wide open shot in the 82nd minute. Seattle now heads to New England to wrap its two-match road trip this Saturday, July 7 at Gillette Stadium (4:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, YouTube TV, Univision-Seattle, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Seattle struck fiist in the 19th minute courtesy of Bruin’s team-leading fourth goal of the season. VÃctor RodrÃguez attempted to play a through-ball to Nicolás Lodeiro on a run into the area, but his ball was deflected by a Colorado defender directly to the feet of Bruin, who calmly slotted a shot past Tim Howard to give the visitors an early lead.
The home side evened the match in the 40th minute, with Sam Nicholson finding the end of an Edgar Castillo cross to head home an equalizer and send the teams into the locker room level at 1-1.
Bruin completed his brace in the 59th minute to give the Rave Green a 2-1 lead, on a play that began with a Cristian Roldan tackle to gain possession in Colorado’s defensive third due to a risky pass from Howard. The ball fell to Lodeiro, who fed RodrÃguez for a first-time chip to Bruin at the penalty spot for his fifth goal of the season.
As Colorado pushed for a goal down the stretch, Frei preserved the three points for Seattle with a highlight-reel save in the 82nd minute. The Rapids caught Sounders FC on the counter-attack, with Jack McBean picking out a wide-open Gashi with a long, low cross to the far side of the area. Gashi’s first-time shot appeared to be the equalizer until Frei dove fully extended to his left to deny the attempt with his outstretched hand.
Following Wednesday's match, Brian Schmetzer's side heads across the country for a matchup at Gillette Stadium against the New England Revolution on Saturday, July 7 (4:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC is now 4-9-3 on the season, currently in 10th place in the Western Conference with 15 points, level with Colorado but currently holding the edge via tiebreakers.
- The Rave Green move to 16-5-2 all-time against the Rapids, the most wins for Seattle against any MLS opponent. Sounders FC is 7-3-1 all-time in Colorado. Seattle has now won five straight matches against the Rapids across all competitions.
- Will Bruin’s brace gives him a team-leading five goals this season. His 66 career MLS goals are seventh among active players, two shy of Dom Dwyer for sixth. It marked the 10th multi-goal game of Bruin’s career, and second with Seattle (October 15, 2017 vs. FC Dallas).
- VÃctor RodrÃguez recorded his first assist of the season on Bruin’s second strike. The Spaniard has four goals and four assists in 17 appearances for Sounders FC in MLS play (including postseason).
- Seattle improves to 2-5-1 on the road this season. The club is now 3-0-0 when scoring first.
- Stefan Frei returned to the starting XI for Sounders FC after missing Saturday’s match vs. Portland with a concussion. The veteran goalkeeper made four saves, including a diving stop in the 82nd minute to preserve the victory.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 – Colorado Rapids 1
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Venue:
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Referee:
Fotis Bazakos
Assistants:
Peter Manikowski, Cory Richardson
Fourth Official:
Robert Sibiga
VAR:
Alex Chilowicz
Attendance:
16,374
Weather:
80 degrees and partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA
–
Will Bruin 19’
COL –
Sam Nicholson (Edgar Castillo, Dominique Badji) 40’
SEA
–
Will Bruin (VÃctor RodrÃguez, Nicolas Lodeiro) 59’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
COL –
Yannick Boli (caution) 43’
COL
–
Edgar Castillo (caution) 48’
COL
–
Sam Nicholson (caution) 65’
COL –
Dominique Badji (caution) 66’
COL
–
Micheal Azira (caution) 70’
COL –
Joe Mason (caution) 87’
SEA –
Wolff Eikrem (caution) 90’+5’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Jordan McCrary, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Waylon Francis; Cristian Roldan, Jordy Delem; Harry Shipp (Alex Roldan 73’), Nicolás Lodeiro, VÃctor RodrÃguez (Magnus Wolff Eikrem 86’); Will Bruin (Clint Dempsey 60’)
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Tony Alfaro, Henry Wingo, Lamar Neagle
Total shots: 12 (Lodeiro/RodrÃguez, 3)
Shots on goal: 2 (Bruin, 2)
Fouls: 10 (Francis/Roldan, 3)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 5 (Lodeiro, 5)
Saves: 4 (Frei, 4)
Colorado Rapids – Tim Howard; Kortne Ford, Axel Sjoberg, Tommy Smith; Deklan Wynne, Shkelzen Gashi, Micheal Azira (Enzo Martinez 75’), Edgar Castillo (Joe Mason 55’); Dominique Badji, Sam Nicholson; Yannick Boli (Jack McBean HT)
Substitutes not used: Zac MacMath, Johan Blomberg, Bismark Boateng, Marlon Hairston
Total shots: 10 (Badji, 3)
Shots on goal: 5 (Badji, 2)
Fouls: 23 (Gashi, 4)
Offside: 1 (Wynne, 1)
Corner-kicks: 7 (Gashi, 7)
Saves: 0
