Paul Rothrock scored the only goal in the 83rd minute, leading the Seattle Sounders to a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in a Western Conference match.
This was Rothrock’s third goal of the season, the highest on his team. He received a well-placed pass from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi on the right wing. Jordan Morris outjumped a Houston defender to head the ball down to Rothrock, who was waiting unmarked at the back post.
This goal secured the win, supported by Seattle goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who made four saves and achieved his fifth clean sheet out of six matches this year. He has now gone 403 minutes without conceding a goal. The Sounders (4-1-1, 13 points) have not allowed a goal since losing 2-1 to Real Salt Lake on February 28, their only loss so far this season.
Seattle has now gained points in nine consecutive games against Houston, winning seven of those matches.
The game took place amid steady rain, which followed a thunderstorm that delayed the kickoff by half an hour.
Seattle had the first chance to score when Jesus Ferreira’s right-foot shot from the center of the box was easily saved by Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond in the 20th minute.
Houston responded shortly after in the 29th minute. Guilherme Santos fired a shot at Thomas from the center of the box that was also saved. Following that, Houston pressured Seattle with three more shots before halftime, but none forced Thomas into a significant save.
Guilherme had Houston’s best chance in the 47th minute, but his shot, with a 26% expected goal chance, was stopped by Thomas.
Thomas secured the shutout by saving Ondrej Lingr’s low-percentage shot in the first minute of stoppage time.
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