SEATTLE, WASH. - A first-half goal from Clint Dempsey and a late strike from Jordan Morris lifted Seattle Sounders FC (4-4-1, 13 points) to a 2-0 home win over the San Jose Earthquakes (4-3-3, 15 points) Saturday night on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. With a team-leading four tallies in as many matches, Morris ties the MLS rookie record with four-straight games with a goal, while he and Dempsey are now tied atop the club's scoring chart with four goals across all competitions. The result marked the second-straight shutout for the Rave Green, who concluded their two-match homestand with six points and have lost just once in the past six matches (4-1-1).
Seattle opened the scoring in the 26th minute of play, as rookie Jordan Morris laid the ball off to midfielder Erik Friberg inside San Jose's area, with the Swede sliding a deft pass into the feet of Clint Dempsey. The Sounders FC Designated Player took a single touch with his right foot, blasting a shot past Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham to hand Seattle a 1-0 lead. The strike was Dempsey's second MLS tally of 2016, and his fourth goal across all competitions this season.
San Jose had an opportunity to level the match in the 84th minute, as Quakes defender Victor Bernardez was fouled inside Seattle's area by Sounders FC's Tyrone Mears, resulting in a penalty-kick for the visitors. Chris Wondolowski stepped to the penalty spot for San Jose, but the veteran missed his opportunity by banging his shot off of Stefan Frei's right goalpost.
Seattle doubled its lead five minutes later, as Morris added the exclamation mark for the home side, receiving an Ozzie Alonso pass before driving a long-range shot past Bingham at his far post. In addition to matching the league's rookie record with a four-match scoring streak, Morris also ties the Sounders FC single-season mark for goals by a rookie (Steve Zakuani, 2009).
Following back-to-back home victories at CenturyLink Field, Seattle heads on the road next weekend for a matchup against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, May 14. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. PT, with Q13 FOX, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM providing coverage of the match, with pre-game shows on each affiliate beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 - San Jose Earthquakes 0
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistants: Ian Anderson, Jeff Hosking
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo
Attendance: 39,570
Weather: 72 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Clint Dempsey (Erik Friberg, Jordan Morris) 26'
SEA - Jordan Morris (Osvaldo Alonso) 89'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA - Osvaldo Alonso (caution) 43'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans - captain, Chad Marshall; Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Cristian Roldan 72'), Clint Dempsey; Aaron Kovar (Nelson Valdez 64') Herculez Gomez (Andreas Ivanschitz 85'), Jordan Morris
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Dylan Remick, Zach Scott, Oalex Anderson
Total shots: 15 (Morris, 4)
Shots on goal: 8 (Morris, 3)
Fouls: 8 (Dempsey, 3)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 12 (Gomez, 8)
Saves: 1 (Frei, 1)
San Jose Earthquakes - David Bingham; Kofi Sarkodie (Tommy Thompson 81'), Marvell Wynne, Victor Bernardez, Shaun Francis; Alberto Quintero (Matias Perez Garcia 65'), Matheus Silva, Simon Dawkins, Shea Salinas; Chris Wondolowski - captain, Chad Barrett (Adam Jahn 73')
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Jordan Stewart, Kip Colvey, Fatai Alashe
Total shots: 11 (Three players tied with 2)
Shots on goal: 1 (Barrett, 1)
Fouls: 10 (Barrett, 2)
Offside: 3 (Barrett, 2)
Corner-kicks: 6 (Barrett, 2)
Saves: 6 (Bingham, 3)
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC improves to 4-4-1 on the season and is now eighth in the Western Conference with 13 points, but ranks sixth in the conference with an average of 1.44 points per game. The Rave Green have lost just once in the past six matches (4-1-1) and are now 4-2-0 at home in league play this season.
- After the win, Sounders FC improves to 7-10-3 all-time versus San Jose, including a 6-5-1 mark at CenturyLink Field. The result snaps a five-match winless streak (0-3-2) against the Earthquakes.
- Jordan Morris scored for the fourth-straight contest, which ties the MLS record for most consecutive matches with a goal by a rookie. All four of Morris' goals have come in the final 30 minutes of the match, including two in the 88th minute or later. Sounders FC has scored a second-half goal in seven straight matches. His four goals on the season also tied Steve Zakuani's club-record for goals scored by a rookie in a single-season.
- Clint Dempsey recorded the game-winning goal in the 26th minute for his second MLS tally and fourth across all competitions. On the goal, Morris recorded his first career assist, while Erik Friberg tallied his first helper of the 2016 campaign.
- Goalkeeper Stefan Frei recorded his second consecutive shutout, giving him three clean-sheets in eight appearances this season.
- Midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz appeared as a late substitute after missing last week's match versus Columbus due to injury.
- Saturday's contest featured two of the three coaches with the most wins in MLS history. Sigi Schmid earned his 226th win, while Dominic Kinnear ranks third with 156 victories.
