Sounders vs. Dynamo: Highlights, stats and quotes

Paul Rothrock scored his fourth goal of the season and Stefan Frei recorded his 114th career MLS shutout as the Seattle Sounders clinched a playoff spot, beating the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Saturday.

Highlights

Stats

MATCH SUMMARY 

Seattle Sounders FC 1 – Houston Dynamo FC 0

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Venue: Lumen Field

Referee: Allen Chapman

Assistants: Michael Barwegen, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho

Fourth Official: Brad Jensen

VAR: Geoff Gamble

Attendance: 30,015

Weather: 60 degrees and cloudy 

SCORING SUMMARY

SEA – Paul Rothrock 22’ 

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY 

HOU – Griffin Dorsey (caution) 28’

HOU – Franco Escobar (caution) 50’

SEA – Yeimar (caution) 63’

HOU – Coco Carrasquilla (caution) 78’

LINEUPS & STATS 

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Yeimar, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas (Josh Atencio 84’), Pedro de la Vega (Reed Baker-Whiting 64’), Albert Rusnák, Paul Rothrock (Georgi Minoungou 84’); Jordan Morris

Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Nathan, Jonathan Bell, Danny Leyva, Dylan Teves, Danny Musovski 

Total shots: 12

Shots on goal: 4

Fouls: 7

Offside: 1

Corner-Kicks: 3

Saves: 1 

Houston Dynamo FC – Steve Clark; Franco Escobar, Griffin Dorsey (Gabe Segal 80’), Erik Sviatchenko, Micael dos Santos; Artur (Jan Gregus 89’), Amine Bassi (Brooklyn Raines 80’), Ibrahim Aliyu (McKinzie Gaines 46’), Coco Carrasquilla, Sebastian Kowalczyk; Sebastian Ferreira (Brad Smith 73’)

Substitutes not used: Andrew Tarbell, Ethan Bartlow, Daniel Steres, Tate Schmitt

Total shots: 7

Shots on goal: 1

Fouls: 10

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 5

Saves: 3

Quotes

Brian Schmetzer

Opening remarks after the club’s clinched to the playoffs tonight: “Look, I am sure some of the astute people in the room figured out that we were in the playoffs prior to kickoff. But I love the fact, I absolutely love the fact that the guys persevered, powered through, won a game, closed out a game, kept the lead under some duress, and we actually punched our own ticket into the playoffs, and I am extremely proud of this franchise, the players in there. It is a pretty big moment. I think we have made the playoffs 15 out of 16 years. It is a good accomplishment. You know, a lot of people would have written us off earlier in a year. I know you guys didn’t, but a lot of people would.” 

On Seattle hosting three games at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: “I also, I also have the green light to make even a bigger announcement. Okay, so I know you guys all heard about the Club World Cup, it has been reported on very well. But tonight, I can confirm that we, that Seattle is going to be the host city for all three of our group games. And when I talk about group games, I am talking about Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Palmeiras, Boca Juniors. It could be any one of those teams. And that is a massive, massive opportunity, occasion. It is a once in a lifetime event for the city of Seattle, maybe once in a lifetime, maybe it will happen again long after I am gone. But look, as a fan, I will be there, I mean, I know I will be there. I think this is a game, just an incredible, incredible event. I know our office people will, you know, do a great job on the production. So, I am hoping that everybody can, you know, buy a ticket for us playing against, you know, some of the best teams in the world. I would, I would love to see everybody there in the stadium and get it filled, you know, 60,000. It is, it is once in a lifetime deal. It is pretty massive.”

Cristian Roldan

On how the team settled into the game after Seattle’s goal: “It was another slow start for us. Luckily, we didn’t concede a goal. We struggled [in pressing], [Houston] are a good team in possession. They are a good team playing out of the back. They make you commit numbers and then all of a sudden one ball gets through our pressure and they are in the attack. We struggled a little bit against that with Houston, that’s a really good team. And they were missing [Hector] Herrera and [Ezequiel] Ponce. We were able to play a couple balls forward and then the goal got us going. We were a little bit braver, more confident on the ball. And then we started pressing a couple more numbers and that helped.”

Paul Rothrock

On his goal: “It was a good team goal. Came out of a pressing moment. Jordan [Morris] and Albert [Rusnák] combined, Albert almost got a shot off. I was just being opportunistic in that moment and I was able to get a shot as it kind of dropped back to me, right place right time. Good to get the goal, when we got it, too. I think we were treading water a little bit. That helped us get on top of the game a little bit more, we established more possession in the first half.”