COMMERCE CITY, COLO. – Lamar Neagle scored a first-half brace as Sounders FC (3-2-1, 10 points) defeated the Colorado Rapids (1-3-2, 5 points) 3-1 Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Obafemi Martins added his fourth goal of the season as Seattle earned three points on the road for the first time this season.
Neagle put Seattle on the board in the fifth minute when he curled a shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box inside the far post for his first goal of the season. Three minutes after the Rapids equalized, he completed the brace, getting behind the Rapids defense courtesy of a lofted through ball from Marco Pappa. The Federal Way-native struck a first-time shot that was saved by Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin, but Neagle knocked in the rebound for his third career multi-goal game.
Martins added a late tally in the 73rd minute when he collected a long pass from Andy Rose with a deft first touch before spinning away from the defense for a one-on-one with Irwin. The 2014 Volkswagen MLS MVP runner-up calmly slotted a shot past the Colorado netminder for his team-high fourth goal of the season.
Colorado scored its lone goal in the 22nd minute when Dillon Powers played Gabriel Torres behind the defense for a calm finish inside the area.
Stefan Frei tied a career-high with nine saves to earn his third win of the season in his 40th career start as a member of Sounders FC.
The Rave Green return to action next week with a home fixture against the Portland Timbers in the first Cascadia Cup match of the season. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, with the match being broadcast nationally on FOX Sports 1.
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MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 3 – Colorado Rapids 1
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistants: Jeff Hosking, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Younes Marrakchi
Attendance: 13,134
Weather: Cloudy and 43 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Lamar Neagle (Clint Dempsey) 5’
COL – Gabriel Torres (Dillon Powers) 22’
SEA – Lamar Neagle 25’
SEA – Obafemi Martins (Andy Rose) 73’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Chad Marshall (caution) 14’
SEA – Andy Rose (caution) 66’
SEA – Tyrone Mears (caution) 74’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans - C, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Marco Pappa (Cristian Roldan 81’), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose (Leo Gonzalez 89’), Lamar Neagle; Clint Dempsey (Gonzalo Pineda 70’), Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Zach Scott, Micheal Azira, Chad Barrett
Total shots: 17 (Neagle, 6)
Shots on goal: 9 (Neagle, 5)
Fouls: 18 (2 players tied at 4)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 4 (Pappa, 4)
Saves: 8 (Frei, 8)
Colorado Rapids – Clint Irwin; Bobby Burling, Drew Moor, James Riley (Dillon Serna 80’), Michael Harrington; Dillon Powers, Juan Ramirez, Lucas Pittinari, Marcelo Sarvas, Vicente Sanchez (Nick LaBrocca 66’); Gabriel Torres
Substitutes not used: Zac MacMath, Axel Sjoberg, Ben Newnam, Jared Watts, Shane O’Neill
Total shots: 27 (Torres, 6)
Shots on goal: 9 (Sanchez, 3)
Fouls: 13 (Pittinari, 7)
Offside: 1 (Torres, 1)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Sarvas, 3)
Saves: 6 (Irwin, 6)
MATCH NOTES
- Lamar Neagle scored his first goal of the 2015 campaign in the fifth minute of play. He netted another goal in the 25th minute for his third career multi-goal game (last occasion: two goals vs. San Jose on May 11, 2013).
- With tonight’s brace, Neagle moves into third-place in club history in goals (24), passing Eddie Johnson’s mark of 23. He becomes the first player in franchise history to have five shot attempts on goal in consecutive matches.
- Sounders FC (17 shots) and Colorado Rapids (27 shots) combined for 44 shots, the highest total in a single-game in club history (previous: 42 shots at Portland, April 5, 2014). Colorado’s 27 shots are the most of any single-game opponent (previous: 26 at Montreal, March 23, 2014).
- With a full 90 minutes tonight, Osvaldo Alonso became the first player to surpass 15,000 minutes in club history. He has compiled 15,044 minutes on 175 appearances.
- Sounders FC has won 12 of 16 fixtures in the regular season against the Colorado Rapids, the most of any MLS opponent.
- The result marked Sounders FC’s first win away from home in 2015.
- Clint Dempsey has registered either a goal or an assist in all four league appearances in 2015, tallying three goals and a team-high three assists.
- Obafemi Martins is currently tied for second on the MLS scoring chart with four goals.
