SEATTLE -- Raúl Ruidíaz and Nicolás Lodeiro combined for three goals and Víctor Rodríguez added a late insurance tally, pacing the Seattle Sounders to a 4-0 rout over the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference matchup at CenturyLink Field on Saturday afternoon.
Ruidíaz scored in the 22nd minute and added another for a brace in the 73rd, with Lodeiro and Rodríguez adding a pair of tallies in the second half to pace Seattle. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Rave Green, moving the club to 14-11-5 with four matches left to play in the regular season.
The Sounders put the pressure on early and were rewarded in the 22nd after Lodeiro found Ruidíaz with a cross that the Peruvian lashed into the Colorado goal past goalkeeper Tim Howard, giving the Sounders a 1-0 lead they would take into the halftime locker room.
Seattle doubled that lead shortly after second-half kickoff when Colorado’s Kellyn Acosta was whistled for clipping down Lodeiro in his own penalty box, allowing the Uruguayan to bag his eighth goal of the season with a finish from the spot. Ruidíaz added another and Rodríguez capped it off in the 80th, sealing the 4-0 scoreline.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
BACK ON TRACK
Seattle was coming off a pair of disappointing results in a home loss to the Philadelphia Union that was followed by a road defeat to the LA Galaxy, so it was imperative for Brian Schmetzer’s men to get back on track as they continue to jostle for Western Conference playoff positioning. They did just that against a struggling Rapids side, moving their record to 10-2-0 over their last 12 matches.
ATTACKING DUO SHINES
Lodeiro has been on fire for much of the second half of the season and he continued his blistering run on Saturday. The Uruguayan playmaker is closing in on what would be his first 10-10 season in MLS, as he’s now scored eight times and tallied 11 assists in 2018. Ruidíaz, meanwhile, has been the goal-scoring force he was expected to be since signing with Seattle in July, as the Peruvian now has seven goals in 12 games.
Raúl Ruidíaz and Nicolás Lodeiro celebrate after the third goal of the match | Lindsay Wasson
HOME STRETCH
The victory moved Seattle up to 47 points on the season through 30 matches as they look to move up the Western Conference table. They’ll get to stay in the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field to start the stretch run with a seldom-seen Monday night matchup against the Houston Dynamo on Oct. 8, before hitting the road for a date with Eastern Conference foe Orlando City on Wednesday, Oct. 17.
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz (Nicolás Lodeiro, Cristian Roldan) 22'
SEA - Nicolás Lodeiro (PK) 52'
SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz (Nicolás Lodeiro, Víctor Rodríguez) 73'
SEA - Víctor Rodríguez (Kelvin Leerdam) 80'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
COL - Kortne Ford (Unsporting Behavior) 25'
SEA - Osvaldo Alonso (Review) 33'
COL - Tommy Smith (Unsporting Behavior) 38'
COL - Jack Price (Unsporting Behavior) 40'
COL - Enzo Martinez (Unsporting Behavior) 54'
