Paul Rothrock bags late winner

The Seattle Sounders closed out their run of road games to start the MLS season with a gritty 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. Houston outshot their guests 13-6, but an 83rd minute strike from Paul Rothrock proved to be the only shot that mattered in the end.

Seattle had a tough start to the game as Houston came out of the blocks with a sense of urgency. That urgency allowed them to create dangerous opportunities in the 4th and 9th minutes with a giveaway from Snyder Brunell providing the start for the 4th minute chance. That giveaway led to a shot from Agustín Bouzat that never troubled Andrew Thomas, while in the 9th minute Nouhou had to make a sliding attempt to close down Mateusz Bogusz inside the box to block his shot from the edge of the 6-yard box out for a corner.

The Sounders forced Jonathan Bond into his first save of the match in the 20th minute when Brunell found Jesus Ferreira in a pocket of space, and he played a quick give-and-go with Danny Musovski that allowed Ferreira to wiggle into the box before getting a good shot off, but Bond was able to keep him off the scoresheet. Then, in the 29th minute Houston’s newest star Guilherme looked like he’d almost certainly gotten his side a goal with a fantastic shot headed for the top corner, but Thomas was able to rise up and get a strong hand to the ball to push it over for a corner.

Seattle created one more dangerous moment during the first half when Rothrock drove into the box down the left side in the 39th minute, but an excellent tackle from center back Antonio Carlos denied him the ability to get a shot or cross off, and the ball went out off of Rothrock for a goal kick. Seattle kept the majority of possession throughout the opening 45 minutes and limited Houston’s ability to create much of a real threat in the process with some big time defending, but only managed a single shot of their own before the halftime whistle blew.

The second half was more even in many respects. Both sides took five shots, and after Seattle held 57% possession in the first half they saw that number drop a little to 54% for the second half, but the Sounders made sure that Houston couldn’t create any real threat. Although Thomas had to make two saves, only one of them really made him work for it. Guilherme was once again the source of the threat as he drove into Seattle’s box. Antino Lopez provided him with a shadow all the way and limited his shooting options so that Thomas was able to close down and block his shot. Ten minutes later Seattle had their best chance of the game up to that point when Cristian Roldan played a beautiful ball over the top to Paul Arriola who was running in behind down the right wing. Arriola got a touch just before Bond closed him down to collect the ball, and his pass looked like it was setting up perfectly for Danny Musovski to put into an empty net but whether it was Musovski or a defender providing the touch the ball went wide of goal.

There was plenty of activity, hustle and bustle after that, but nothing much really happened until the 83rd minute. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi sent in a cross from the right side and Jordan Morris rose up over a jumping defender and flicked the cross on towards the back post where Rothrock was arriving totally unmarked and put his first-time shot out of the reach of Bond and over the head of a defender in goal to put Seattle in front! Andrew Thomas had to come up with one more crucial play in the 2nd minute of stoppage time when Ondrej Lingr sent in a cross that looked like it might float in just under the bar, but Thomas tipped it up over the goal for a corner. Seattle went on to hang onto the shutout, the team’s 5th of the regular season so far and their 4th on the road.

The Sounders now turn their full attention to their Concacaf Champions Cup tie with Tigres. They’ll start with the road leg down in Monterrey on Wednesday at 6 pm.

Lineups

The Sounders make five personnel changes from their starting lineup against Minnesota United. Danny Musovski gets the nod up top while Paul Rothrock starts on the left, Jesús Ferreira in the center and Paul Arriola on the right as Osaze De Rosario and Albert Rusnák are available from the bench and Georgi Minoungou has moved to the Colorado Rapids. Snyder Brunell starts alongside Cristian Roldan in midfield with Nikola Petković out for the season, and Antino Lopez and Jackson Ragen start at centerback after Alex Roldan came out of the Minnesota game with an injury.

Key moments

4 – Miss. Brunell gives the ball away with a loose pass and Houston work their way into Seattle’s end, but the eventual shot from Bouzat goes harmlessly wide.

9 – Block! Nouhou’s initial attempt to clear a ball falls to Bogusz, but he slides in to block the shot out for a corner.

20 – Chance! Ferreira and Musovski play a quick 1-2 to get Ferreira into the box and he gets off a dangerous shot, but it’s saved!

29 – SAVE! Guilherme drives into the middle of the box and has the top left corner picked out with his shot, but Thomas makes a huge leaping save to deny him!

33 – Wide! A loose touch from Rothrock gives Houston the ball in the Sounders half. A couple passes later and the ball’s on the foot of Bogusz at the edge of the box, but his shot is well wide.

35 – Deflection! Bouzat with a dangerous shot from outside the area, but it takes a touch on the way in that sends it out for a corner.

39 – Tackle. Rothrock drives into the box with the ball, but Antonio Carlos makes a fantastic sliding tackle and the ball goes out for a goal kick with the last touch coming off Rothrock.

HT – Sub. Franco Negri leaves the game, replaced by Agustín Resch for Houston.

47 – Save! Guilherme drives towards goal with Lopez for company and eventually gets a shot off, but Thomas is able to block it.

57 – Chance! Roldan plays a spectacular ball over the top to Arriola who gets a touch to send it across to Musovski, but he can’t get the touch to put it in the empty net.

61 – Subs. Hassani Dotson, Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak all enter the game for the Sounders as Paul Arriola, Jesus Ferreira and Danny Musovski come off.

72 – Jackson Ragen dribbles into some trouble and is dispossessed, taking down Ezequiel Ponce to stop the counter. In the process, he steps on Ponce and the play is reviewed only for referee Ismail Elfath to stick with his original yellow-card decision.

75 – Sub. Duane Holmes is replaced by Ondrej Lingr for Houston.

81 – Sub. Peter Kingston comes on to replace Snyder Brunell for Seattle.

83 – GOAL! Paul Rothrock arrives at the back post to put away Morris’s flick on from a Kossa-Rienzi cross, and the Sounders are in the lead! 1-0, Sounders

88 – Subs. Ibrahim Aliyu and Hector Herrera come on for Houston as Lawrence Ennali and Diadie Samassekou come off for Houston, while the Sounders swap out Paul Rothrock for Alex Roldan.

90+2 – Save! Lingr sends in a looping ball that looks headed for the back of the net, but Thomas is able to tip it over!

90+2 – Sub. Agustín Resch comes off for Houston as Sam Vines enters the game.

Quick thoughts

Just what you wanted, if not how you drew it up: Ahead of a huge pair of games against Tigres in CCC and closing out a five-game road stretch in the league, a win and a shutout with no injuries is about as much as anyone could reasonably ask for. The game was grueling for long stretches, but no one in the locker room is going to mind that much. Not only did the Sounders claim all three points while keeping yet another clean sheet, they did it while being able to rotate substantially. Jordan Morris, Alex Roldan and Albert Rusnák all came off the bench, while Paul Arriola and Jesús Ferreira were both able to come off after an hour to keep their legs fresh ahead of Wednesday. Morris showed why he’s the starting striker when healthy, and got the first league goal contribution from any of Seattle’s strikers in the process. The list of positives continues, and the Sounders will be able to take some confidence from this one.

Road warriors: It can be easy to overlook how valuable the performances during this five-game stretch of road games to start the season have been. The 3-1-1 away record puts them just two wins behind their season total from last year, when they didn’t claim their third road win until Match Week 21. In fact, the Sounders have four league wins so far including the home game they opened the season with, and it took until their 11th game of the season to record four wins. The Sounders only had two road shutouts in the league last season, and they’ve already logged four of them during this stretch of games. The fact that they’ve done it with a rotating cast along the back line only makes the feat more impressive. We’re still waiting to see the attack get rolling consistently, but these road performances have put the team in great position for a very exciting season.

Paulie Primetime: The Sounders have had to make do without the kinds of performances you’d expect from their biggest players in attack so far this season. Ferreira has stacked up assists, but for a variety of reasons Morris’ assist tonight was just the third goal contribution from a DP in league play so far. The exception here has been Paul Rothrock. When the Sounders need a special moment, so far in 2026 the odds are that it’s going to come from him. He’s got 3 goals and 1 assist in MLS play from 6 games, and he’s added a pair of goals in CCC play. He’s only failed to provide a goal or assist in just two appearances, and is averaging 1.1 goals+assists per 90 minutes. It’s hard to imagine a stronger case that he was worth the raise he got this offseason.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Antino Lopez – 59/60 passing, 3/4 ground duels and a handful of defensive contributions may not be all-star material, but Antino Lopez did everything he was asked along the way to earning that shutout.