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Lodeiro leads Sounders to 2-1 win over Rapids in MLS West final first leg

Joe Lago
Nicolas Lodeiro
Lodeiro’s penalty had the Sounders dancing in the Seattle rain. (USA Today)

The Seattle Sounders’ circuitous pursuit of their first MLS Cup final took another zig-zag series of turns for the better on Tuesday.

Playing amid pouring rain, the Sounders continued their surprising turnaround from the midseason firing of coach Sigi Schmid and late-season absence of star forward Clint Dempsey to an irregular heartbeat with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Tim Howard-less Colorado Rapids in the first leg of their Western Conference final at CenturyLink Field.

Not surprisingly, the MLS Newcomer of the Year was involved in the deciding goal. Nicolas Lodeiro produced the match-winner by drawing a foul in the box from Rapids defender Marc Burch and burying the subsequent penalty in the 61st minute. The Uruguayan smashed his spot kick down the middle for his fourth postseason goal, easily beating goalkeeper Zac MacMath, the fill-in for the injured Howard.

Seattle’s other MLS award winner scored the equalizer. Reigning Rookie of the Year Jordan Morris found himself in the right spot at the right time to put away the rebound from Cristian Roldan’s shot off the post for a 1-1 tie in the 19th minute. It was the third goal of the night by U.S. men’s national team players: Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley both scored for Toronto FC in a 3-2 defeat to the Montreal Impact in the teams’ Eastern Conference final first leg.

Morris’s goal was a crucial and timely response for the Sounders. Just six minutes earlier, Colorado had quieted the sellout crowd of 42,744 (at times, they sounded like 84,000) when Kevin Doyle gave the Rapids the all-important away goal with his 13th-minute strike.

Tuesday’s 90 minutes set up what should be a fantastic finish in Sunday’s return leg in Colorado. Should Seattle survive, parallels will be drawn to the Portland Timbers’ miracle run to an MLS Cup title last year. Because, like the Timbers, no one expected the Sounders to get this far after languishing for most of the regular season. (Plus they’re from the soccer-mad Pacific Northwest, but you knew that already.)