Jordan Morris scored his 87th career goal in all competitions, breaking the franchise record, as the Seattle Sounders defeated visiting Los Angeles FC 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Albert Rusnak had a goal and two assists and Paul Rothrock had one of each for the Sounders (1-1-1, 4 points). Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Cristian Roldan also tallied for the Sounders.
Nathan Ordaz and David Martinez scored for LAFC (2-1-0, 6 points), which hadn’t allowed a goal in its previous two MLS matches.
Morris’ record-setting goal came in the 77th minute. Rothrock got the ball at the top right corner of the 18-yard box and made a short pass to Morris, who was making a diagonal run through the penalty area. Morris put the ball through goalie Thomas Hasal’s legs from the right edge of the 6-yard box. Morris broke a tie with former teammate Raul Ruidiaz for the franchise scoring mark.
The Sounders scored four second-half goals to pull away after a 1-1 halftime tie.
They took the lead in the 57th minute on a 25-yard blast by Rothrock after taking a pass from Rusnak.
Following Morris’ goal, Roldan curled a low, 20-yard shot just inside the left post in the 84th minute and Rusnak redirected a pass from Georgi Minoungou after a run down the right wing in second-half stoppage time.
The Sounders opened the scoring in the 11th minute as Jesus Ferreira played a long ball for Kossa-Rienzi down the right wing. Kossa-Rienzi got to the top of the 6-yard box, spun and blasted a left-footed shot into the far side netting. Kossa-Rienzi, a first-round pick last year out of the University of Washington, was making just his second career MLS start as both teams rotated their lineups with CONCACAF Champions Cup matches Tuesday.
It was the first goal LAFC had allowed in the past 381 minutes in all competitions.
LAFC tied the score in the 38th minute. Andrew Thomas came off his goal line in an effort to grab Artem Smolyakov’s corner kick from the right wing, but ran into teammate Jackson Regan. The ball fell to the turf and L.A. had multiple attempts in a scramble just inside the top of the 6-yard box before Ordaz knocked the ball into the net on the third try.
L.A.’s other goal came in second-half stoppage time as Martinez stole a pass along the sideline at midfield, dribbled through half of the Sounders’ lineup and scored on a left-footed shot from 10 yards out.
Sounders midfielder Pedro de la Vega suffered a right quadriceps injury just past the half-hour mark. Rusnak, among the starters getting a break, came off the bench to replace de la Vega in the 36th minute.
–Field Level Media
