Paul Rothrock led the Seattle Sounders with the lone goal in a 1-0 home victory over the Houston Dynamo Saturday night.
Both sides clinched a playoff berth before the match started after FC Dallas’ loss on Saturday and Austin FC’s draw on Friday.
Seattle (14-9-8, 50 points) broke through in the 22nd minute following a heads-up play by Rothrock on a rebound off an Albert Rusnak attack on goal. Rusnak went up against two defenders on the left side of the 18-yard box, but lost the ball.
The ball didn’t stay loose long, with Rothrock sprinting toward it, hitting it one-time with a curling effort around the outstretched arms of Steve Clark and into the bottom right hand corner of the net. It was Rothrock’s fourth goal this season.
Rothrock almost helped double the advantage eight minutes later when he sent a cross into the box toward Jordan Morris.
Morris slid and tried to put the ball into the back of an open net, but the pass had too much pace as Morris sent the ball off the post and out of play.
Both attempts for the Sounders came after Houston (13-9-9, 48 points) controlled the momentum from the start of the match. Seattle’s defense settled after the lone goal, and the Dynamo could not conjure enough creative attacks to challenge veteran Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Frei faced just one shot on goal as Seattle tallied its 11th clean sheet this season. Clark saved three of four shots for Houston.
The Sounders moved into fifth place in the Western Conference and are tied in points with the fourth-place Colorado Rapids with three matches remaining. Seattle would guarantee at least one home playoff match with a top-four finish.
The Dynamo have yet to defeat the Sounders in the Pacific Northwest since Seattle’s first season in 2009 (0-13-3).
–Field Level Media