Paul Rothrock came off the bench in place of injured star Jordan Morris and had a goal and an assist as the Seattle Sounders opened the MLS season with a 2-0 victory against the visiting Colorado Rapids on a rainy Sunday night.
Albert Rusnak also scored, Jesus Ferreira had two assists and goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made four saves in posting the shutout.
Rothrock scored on a counterattack in the 62nd minute to make it 2-0. Ferreira dribbled down the right wing before sending a low cross to Rothrock, whose left-footed blast from the top left corner of the 6-yard box sailed over Colorado goalie Zack Steffen’s head and into the far side netting.
The Sounders took a 1-0 lead after a ragged first half that took 61 minutes to play because of injuries, a pair of video reviews, 17 fouls (12 by Colorado) and four yellow cards against the Rapids.
Seattle scored in the 15th minute after some great hustle by Rothrock, who replaced injured forward Morris (thigh) in the eighth minute. Morris, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, has dealt with shoulder and hamstring injuries in the past year.
Ferreira sent a pass over Rothrock’s head into the left wing corner, but Rothrock chased the ball down just before it went out of bounds and sent a cross to the top of the 6-yard box, where Rusnak put a glancing header inside the far post.
It appeared Seattle had doubled its advantage in the 22nd minute following a free kick from about 35 yards out on the left wing. Rusnak’s cross was headed away to Alex Roldan, whose volley from 20 yards forced Steffen to make a diving save. Seattle’s Hassani Dotson hammered the rebound inside the left post. A video review determined the Sounders’ Osaze De Rosario had committed a foul on Colorado’s Darren Yapi on the original free kick and referee Malik Badawi waved off the goal.
Rapids defender Noah Cobb was originally issued a red card in the 30th minute on a high challenge in the air against Rothrock, but that was downgraded to a yellow following another video review.
Dotson suffered an apparent concussion in first-half stoppage time in a collision and had to be replaced by Snyder Brunell.
Steffen finished with three saves. The Sounders had the edge in shots (14-7) and shots on target (5-4) as well as possession (58%).
–Field Level Media
