Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field, Marco Pappa’s first goal of the season guided Sounders FC to a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids and first place in the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings.
Pappa’s goal was the game-deciding moment – and a wonderful strike with his weaker foot – but it’s also important to note the Sounders have not given up a single goal in their last three matches. As a result, Seattle leads MLS in fewest goals allowed (nine) and total shutouts (seven).
Stefan Frei recorded four saves on the night, maintaining his spot atop the MLS leaderboard in saves (48) and save percentage (84 percent). The Rave Green kept a shutout despite two of the back four being changed, as Leo Gonzalez and Zach Scott made their first starts in over a month.
Here’s what Frei and his teammates said after the match about the defensive performance.
Stefan Frei:
“It’s great. I think it’s no small feat to get three shutouts in a row so I’m super stoked about that and really happy for the team. I think we even had chances to put the game away a bit earlier and let us breathe a bit easier, but we had good resolve defensively, bend and not break, and that’s what we showed again today. Even though we had a couple of changes in the backline and also on the wings, all the guys that stepped in did fantastic and we deserved the result today.”
Marco Pappa:
“I think the first half was much better than the second, for sure. It was keeping the ball, having more chances. In the second half we were defending our goal more but still having good opportunities to score goals. I hope we can continue and build a good team for the rest of the season.”
Cristian Roldan:
“I think we defended well. The only thing we’ll complain about is the amount of fouls we did on top of our box, but I didn’t think they had too many clear chances, so we’re pretty happy about that.”
