The Seattle Sounders capped off a busy week before the international break with a 1-0 away win over Colorado Rapids. The victory was the team’s third win and third shutout in eight days. Albert Rusnák scored the winning goal at the start of the second half, his tenth goal of the season and his 15 assists.

The Sounders immediately prevailed against the Rapids and created a dangerous counterattack in the 2nd minute by Cristian Roldan and Paul Rothrock. Rothrock’s attempt to play the ball from the end line back to the penalty spot is cleared and ends up causing no real danger, but the intent was made clear. Seattle continued to threaten throughout the half and everyone in the front four and midfield joined in the fun, but there was no breakthrough.

The Rapids had their chances, perhaps most notably a look from Oliver Larraz in the 27th minute after the Sounders failed to clear their lines. His use from outside the box never bothered Stefan Frei, which proved problematic for Colorado. Despite seven shots in the first half, Frei only had to make one save.

Seattle found the opener shortly after the start of the second half, which turned out to be the winner. As Colorado tried to play through Seattle’s press, Oliver Larraz reached out to get to a loose pass from Keegan Rosenberry, but didn’t quite make it and ended up firing the ball backwards. Jordan Morris jumped on the loose ball, rounded Lalas Aboubakar with a touch on the way into the penalty area, and only a shot save from Zack Steffen prevented a goal. The rebound fell kindly to Rusnák, who ran into the penalty area and hit his shot first time. Andreas Maxsø had one touch but could only change where the ball went in the back of the net, and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute.

The Rapids hoped for an equalizer, but despite a slight lead in shots (6:4) after the goal, they didn’t create any particularly dangerous chances. The Sounders had their best look at goal when Paul Rothrock and Morris combined to create a great chance in the 76th minute, but Morris couldn’t get around the ball enough to finish at the far post and decide the game. Seattle left the ball to Colorado for much of the second half, looked for opportunities at the back, and ultimately escaped with another goal and three points against one of the best attacking teams in the league.

This win gives Seattle home-field advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs, as they now cannot drop below 4th place in the West. They are also currently in position to clinch a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup, but will need to finish ahead of at least one of FC Cincinnati or Real Salt Lake to stay there. They have two weeks to rest and prepare for their final regular-season game, a home game against the Portland Timbers on Oct. 19 that will decide the Cascadia Cup and potentially send them into the playoffs with some serious momentum.

Key moments

2 – Counterattack! Seattle regains the ball near their own penalty area and quickly switches as Cristian Roldan plays a through ball for Paul Rothrock. Rothrock reaches the finish line, but his cutback to the penalty spot is cleared.

9 – Shot! The Sounders end up in a half-court situation after a turnover and Rothrock gets a ball to the left of Morris that goes out of bounds. Rothrock finds Albert Rusnák, who goes for a shot, but his attempt is blocked.

25 – Chance! Pedro de la Vega rounds Sam Vines with a great touch after a clever pass from Alex Roldan. De la Vega plays a good ball to the near post, but it ends up going past Obed Vargas for a goal kick.

27 – Shot! The Sounders fail to clear as Colorado keeps gaining possession of the ball in the penalty area, which eventually leads to a shot from Oliver Larraz, which Stefan Frei never bothers.

30 – Shot! Rothrock moves in from the left, but his shot from the elbow of the penalty area goes high and wide.

43 – Cross! Alex Roldan passes the ball to de la Vega, who creates some space and hits a ball in that Andreas Maxsø almost sends into the net, causing an own goal, but instead shoots for a corner.

48 – GOAL! Jordan Morris jumps in a bad spot on a back pass and goes around Lalas Aboubakar, but Zack Steffen parries the shot. The rebound falls to Rusnák, who shoots it into the net despite a deflection! 1:0 sounder

76 – Shot! Rothrock takes a break with Morris for social reasons. They shoot at goal and Rothrock plays the ball across to Morris, and Morris just can’t get around the ball enough to get it into the net.

83 – Defused! The Seattle defense is sleeping a bit when Rafael Navarro gets to the ball in the penalty area and almost hits Kimani Stewart-Baynes for a clear look, but Alex Roldan comes in at the last second and pushes the ball away for Frei to clear it high.

90+4 – Reggie Cannon gets a late shot for Colorado as a ball gets to him through traffic into the box, but his first attempt flies over the goal.

Short thoughts

The MVP of our hearts: Albert Rusnák won’t get any MVP juice, and that’s not entirely unreasonable. He’s having an incredible season, but unless he actually goes Super Saiyan against Portland, he’s not really in the same statistical conversation as the guys in contention this year. But that shouldn’t mean that he doesn’t intervene in the conversation. His 25 goal involvements in MLS play are nothing to sneeze at – 10th in the league – but his candidacy depends largely on how important he has been to a Sounders team whose resurgence comes with giving him the Keys were given to the car. While he won’t receive as much recognition across the league, this season will still go down as one of the best individual performances ever for a Sounder. His goal tonight makes him only the fourth player to record a double-double for Seattle in the MLS regular season, allowing him to reach heights previously achieved only by Fredy Montero (2010, 10g, 10a) and Clint Dempsey (2014, 15g) reached , 10a; 2015, 10g, 10a) and Obafemi Martins (2014, 17g, 13a).

Obed Vargas is ready for his El Trí debut: In the last league game before his first senior national team appearance in Mexico, Obed Vargas quietly prepared one of the best games of his career. With the ball at his feet, he performed almost flawlessly, completing 46 of 52 passes and going 4 for 5 on long balls. He completed both dribbles he attempted, created two chances, blocked a shot, and had only 73 touches of the ball expropriated twice. On the other side of the ball, he went 4-for-4 tackles, had 5 interceptions and 11 recoveries, while also winning 8 of 14 ground duels. In an important game in a difficult environment, he showed that he is ready for what comes next as he gets the chance to win his first cap for the Mexican senior team.

Let‘Let’s talk about this defense: The Sounders just posted their third shutout in just about a week, their fifth in the last six games. Over the course of eight days they played 270 minutes plus stoppage time, try as they might, their opponents couldn’t find even a small morsel to satisfy themselves. The fact that two of those three (and three of the five) shutouts came against playoff teams is even more encouraging. The Sounders had to prove themselves against quality opponents, and as much as it would have been more fun and a bit more encouraging if they had scored a lot of goals in a few of those games, it’s hard to say they did anything but To prove this they have what it takes to be a problem in the postseason. They have the best defense in the league in terms of goals allowed per game and have conceded just 34 goals in 33 – just two more than last season’s incredible 32 goals allowed. They weren’t perfect in this game, but teams very rarely are, and they did a very good job of cleaning up the mess they made. If the defense wins championships, Seattle has as good a chance as anyone to win the MLS Cup. Stefan Frei is now just one goal away from his career best of 14, which he set last season.

Remarkable quote

Players in the spotlight

Paul Rothrock – Paul Rothrock was once again a problem. He had 3 shots, 2 chances to score and a dribble success rate of 100% on 3 attempts. 9 of his 51 ball contacts ended up in the opponent’s penalty area, and he also won 3 of 4 tackles and 7 of 8 ground duels.