Stefan Frei reaches career milestone with clean sheet against Dynamo

After starting the season with just seven points from eight matches while juggling Concacaf Champions League play, the Sounders have now taken six points in the last four days.

Seattle defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Wednesday in high heat and humidity in its second of three matches in eight days. The Sounders have looked strong since setting their sights solely on MLS play, and much of that effort has manifested itself defensively.

Despite four clean sheets in eight CCL matches, Wednesday was the Sounders’ first shutout in 10 league games and was a relatively straightforward effort.

“Pretty easy day for me,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei. “I didn’t have much to do. A couple of simple [saves].”

Houston had 14 shots, but only three on goal. The clean sheet was Frei’s 87th in his illustrious career, moving him into third all-time in MLS history.

Wednesday’s win was still a tricky one for Head Coach Brian Schmetzer & Co. The Dynamo went down to 10 men early in the second half but pushed hard for an equalizer before Alex Roldan was sent off in the 82nd minute to level the playing field at 10 apiece.

But a win is a win, especially on the road in Texas, where it is incredibly difficult to steal three points. Seattle will finish its three-match run on Sunday at the Colorado Rapids (5 p.m. PT; FOX 13+, Prime Video, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360 AM) hoping to use some of the momentum from the last two games to make it a perfect week.

“It’s a six-point swing against someone who was ahead of us and puts us in great shape to end the week on a high,” said Schmetzer. “We sang ‘Jingle Bells,’ we had a clean sheet and nobody’s gonna care in September or October how or why we won the game. That is a happy locker room. I’m a happy coach. There are happy assistant coaches. The whole club should be pleased with the result.”