Paul Rothrock scored the only goal in the 83rd minute to lead the Seattle Sounders to a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in a Western Conference match.
This was Rothrock’s third goal of the season, assisted by Jordan Morris following a pass from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. Morris headed the ball to Rothrock, who was unmarked at the back post.
Seattle goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made four saves, achieving his fifth clean sheet in six matches and extending his scoreless streak to 403 minutes. The Sounders (4-1-1, 13 points) have not allowed a goal since losing 2-1 to Real Salt Lake on Feb. 28, which remains their only loss this season.
The Sounders have now gone nine consecutive games against Houston without losing, with seven of those resulting in victories.
The match took place in steady rain after a thunderstorm delayed the kickoff by 30 minutes.
Seattle had the first chance to score in the 20th minute when Jesus Ferreira’s shot was easily saved by Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
Houston (2-3-0, 6 points) responded nine minutes later with a shot from Guilherme Santos that Thomas also saved. The Dynamo pressed the Seattle defense in the first half and took three more shots but were unable to force Thomas into a challenging save.
Guilherme had Houston’s best chance in the 47th minute, but his shot was blocked by Thomas.
Thomas secured the win by stopping a shot from Ondrej Lingr during added time.