There are bad ties, like last week’s against last place FC Dallas, and there are good ties.
This week’s 2-2 draw against the Colorado Rapids constitutes as the latter as Seattle, hampered by numerous injuries, battled back in the second half to leave Dick's Sporting Goods Park with a point.
The fourth tie in a row was ugly at times. Seattle’s normally stingy back line allowed Colorado ample scoring opportunities, forcing keeper Kasey Keller to make five saves, most worthy of a highlight-reel.
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Seattle’s goals came from both starting forwards Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua.
After an eight week scoring drought, Montero didn't waste any time finding the back of the net for the fourth time this year, putting a shot away in the 17th minute with a header off his own rebound as Seattle took a 1-0 lead.
But the trend of Seattle's inability to put away games continued as Colorado scored the equalizer nine minutes later. The Rapids then took the lead two minutes into the second half when forward Conor Casey’s shot deflected off Sounder Peter Vagenas and bounced past the sprawled out Keller for a 2-1 Colorado lead.
Vagenas was replacing Ljungberg at midfield.
Jaqua put in the equalizer in the 76th minute after Riley crossed the ball to Montero who headed it to Jaqua in the box. After a bounce, Jaqua sent it to the back of the net.
Riley, returning from a one-game red card suspension, helped set up both goals for Seattle.
However, the 2-2 tie could’ve easily been a loss if it weren’t for Keller’s efforts in goal.
Two of his world class saves came against midfielder Nick LaBrocca.
During one minute of stoppage time in the first half, Kasey Keller rejected LaBrocca in a one-on-one where Seattle's back line fell apart. Keller cut off LaBrocca's angle and dove to his right to deny Colorado a 2-1 lead. LaBrocca was denied a second time in the second half when Keller deflected his breakaway shot high.
Is it any coincidence Keller leads the league in all-star votes?
The Sounders lacked their usual early offensive spark without two of their starting midfielders with designated player Freddie Ljungberg (migraine) and Brad Evans (knee) not making the flight.
To make matters worse, midfielder Osvaldo Alonso went down in the first minute clutching his quadriceps and was replaced by Stephen King. Alonso was one of three players to not miss any game time the entire season, leaving Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Tyrone Marshall as the last two.
Seattle's lack of starting talent showed as the Rapids controlled most of first half possession in Seattle's zone.
Colorado had ample scoring opportunities, with 12 shots, including six on goal.
Montero was involved in both Seattle goals and created a few other chances. The performance marks a return to offensive prominence for Montero, who had been held off the stat sheet for the most part since his week two goal.
The tie maintains Seattle’s Western Conference second place standing, one point ahead of the Houston Dynamo, who won over the weekend to close the gap. Colorado remains three points behind Seattle.
Seattle takes on the Columbus Crew next Saturday at 7:30 p.m at Qwest Field.
Notes
Scoring:
SEA -- Fredy Montero 4 (unassisted) 17
COL -- Colin Clark 2 (Omar Cummings 4, Mehdi Ballouchy 2) 25
COL -- Conor Casey 6 (Colin Clark 4) 47
SEA -- Nate Jaqua 2 (Fredy Montero 2, James Riley 1) 76
Discipline:
SEA -- Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless Tackle) 28
SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Reckless Tackle) 57
SEA -- Peter Vagenas (caution; Handball) 61
COL -- Ugo Ihemelu (caution; Reckless Tackle) 67
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee's Assistants: Darren Clark; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Ben Chouaf
Time of Game: 90:00
Weather: Cloudy -and- 56 degrees
Attendance: 16,528
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-4): Kasey Keller, Osvaldo Alonso (Stephen King 2), James Riley, Peter Vagenas (Patrick Ianni 71), Sebastien Le Toux, Steve Zakuani, Nathan Sturgis (Tyson Wahl 80), Tyrone Marshall, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
Substitutes Not Used: Ben Dragavon, Sanna Nyassi, Roger Levesque, Taylor Graham
Colorado Rapids (3-2-4): Matt Pickens, Jordan Harvey, Ugo Ihemelu (Kosuke Kimura 71), Cory Gibbs, Mehdi Ballouchy, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings (Jacob Peterson 79), Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, Scott Palguta (Ty Harden 77)
Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Greg Dalby, Terry Cooke, Gregory Richardson
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