Paul Rothrock scored in his first MLS start, Jackson Ragen leveled six minutes later with his first career goal and the Seattle Sounders rallied from two down at halftime to a 2-2 draw against the host Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Stefan Frei made three saves to keep Seattle (5-7-7, 22 points) in the game on a night the final score didn’t match the number of chances.
Houston (6-6-6, 24 points) outshot Seattle 17-9, and also made the more dangerous moments across 90 minutes and especially before halftime. But the Sounders ensured they would continue a stretch of improved form; they have lost only twice in their last 10 matches.
Latif Blessing scored his fourth and fifth goals for the Dynamo, all coming inside his last five matches after arriving in a trade from Toronto.
He was nearly in perfect position to score a third, but Frei intervened to keep a cross from reaching him at the back post early in the second half.
Moments later, Rothrock gave the Sounders a lifeline in the 57th minute on an attack that began on the left flank near midfield.
Steve Clark denied the striker’s initial attempt from close range, but the rebound fell kindly for Rothrock to guide into an open goal with Clark well off his line.
The Sounders were level six minutes later when Houston lost its focus defending a set piece. Albert Rusnak provided the service from the right flank to the back post, and Ragen met it with a lunging, one-touch finish with the outside of his right foot that nestled back inside Clark’s left post.
Blessing opened the scoring in the 30th minute, when he took Amine Bassi’s cross from the right and, despite reaching him at an awkward height, contorted his body to make enough contact with his torso to guide the ball across the line.
He added a much more emphatic goal 10 minutes later, powering a header past Frei after Ibrahim Aliyu’s excellent cross from the left.
–Field Level Media