Albert Rusnak scored his 10th goal of the season and the visiting Seattle Sounders continued their second-half surge with a 1-0 victory over the struggling Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Rusnak joined Jordan Morris as the only double-digit goal scorers for Seattle this season and reached the mark for the fourth time in his MLS career.
It was enough to preserve Seattle’s third consecutive victory and 11th in 14 games, and ensure that the Sounders (16-9-8, 56 points) enter the final game of the season in third place in a tight battle for Western Conference seeding.
The win also guaranteed Seattle will finish no worse than fourth, meaning it will have home-field advantage in Round 1 of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Colorado (15-13-5, 50 points) edged Seattle in shots on goal (3-2), but rarely mounted a serious threat against Stefan Frei, who kept the clean sheet with three saves.
The Rapids lost their third straight and fourth out of five to remain sixth in the West and only one point in front of seventh-place Minnesota.
Rusnak put Seattle in front in the 48th minute after a misplayed Colorado pass in its own half.
Morris was first to it, and he took an excellent touch to evade defender Lalas Abubakar and create a one-on-one against goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Morris shot low and Steffen made the save with an outstretched leg, but Rusnak reached the rebound, composed himself and guided a low finish into the net despite a touch from defender Andreas Maxso attempting a desperate clearance.
Colorado struggled to mount pressure for an equalizer and probably should’ve trailed by two after a 76th-minute counterattack.
Paul Rothrock engineered an excellent run down the left and used his pace to create a two-on-two opportunity, then at full sprint, he rolled a pass to Morris across the box.
Morris lunged at the ball but couldn’t get enough of it to send it goalbound, instead seeing his one-time finish attempt fly just wide of the target.
–Field Level Media
