The Seattle Sounders defeated Sporting Kansas City 2-0 on Sunday afternoon with goals behind Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock.
The visiting side were inches away from taking the lead in the 16th minute, but midfielder Cristian Roldan was there to clear the ball out off the goal line.
From there, it was Seattle’s match for the taking.
In the 19th minute, Ragen came up clutch for the home side. Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia made an initial save off Jordan Morris’ header attempt, only for Ragen to be there for the rebound, burying the ball into the back of the net.
In the 22nd minute, Rothrock nearly extended the lead to two with a shot attempt wide-right of the goal after winning a 1v1 battle down the left flank.
Cristian Roldan was also close to adding to the score in the 24th minute with a header toward the right corner of the goal, but it was called offside.
Rothrock’s efforts on offense came to fruition in the 40th minute when Albert Rusnák laid the ball off with his head for the Seattle native to finish one-time at the top of the six-yard box.
Rusnák had an opportunity at the spot to push the score to three after a foul was called for Obed Vargas in the box, but the attacking midfielder’s penalty kick was denied by Melia.
The Seattle side’s strong attacking performance continued just minutes into the second half when Jordan Morris' one-time shot attempt from Rothrock's driven ball into the box skimmed the top of the crossbar.
Sporting Kansas City had a chance to make a significant play off a free kick near the eighteen in the 85th minute, but it wasn’t enough to surpass the Sounders defense and reduce the deficit to one.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Stef earns shutout milestone
With tonight’s 2-0 win, Stefan Frei moves to second all-time for regular season shutouts with 113. He is 41 shutouts behind first place goalkeeper Nick Ramando.
Hometown heros
Local players Rothrock and Ragen were the two goal contributors in the club’s win over Kansas City. Rothrock now has six goals all-comps while Ragen has four.
Quick turnaround
The Sounders only have two days of rest before they have to face the San Jose Earthquakes at Lumen Field. The last time the team faced the Earthquakes, they fell 3-2 at PayPal Park on March 23.
