Sounders Stay Unbeaten with 1-0 Win Over RSL

One magical moment is all is takes to win a game. That's sports. For the Sounders on Saturday, that moment came in the 18th minute and left Head Coach Brian Schmetzer speechless.

"I don't know," Schmetzer said. "It was very, very good. I am impressed with that goal for sure...It left me speechless."

Seattle saw additional chances throughout, including Will Bruin in the 15th minute on a saved shot, Jordan Morris in the 37th and 62nd and Cristian Roldan in the 84th, but couldn't connect for a second goal.

Real Salt Lake nearly equalized the match in the 73rd minute when a long free kick traveled nearly 70 yards and perfectly reached the foot of Jefferson Savarino, who rolled a shot past Stefan Frei and hit the right goal-post. The ball bounced out to Kim Kee-hee, who cleared the danger.

The Sounders failed to put a single shot on goal in the second half, but held strong defensively to keep Salt Lake scoreless, marking Seattle's third clean-sheet in their last four games.

The victory also extends the Sounders' best start in franchise history to 4-0-1 and 13 points, a place it took 2018 squad 16 games to reach, when they defeated Colorado 2-1 on July 4, 2018 to move from 12 to 15 points on the season.

Saturday's win is additionally impressive considering the team beat Salt Lake without their starting forward and (tied for) leading goal-scorer on the year, Raul Ruidiaz. The Peruvian striker, who scored in nine consecutive matches before seeing his streak end last week in Vancouver, suffered a right heel contusion against the Whitecaps and came into Saturday's match as questionable. His absence gave Bruin the opportunity to start on Saturday and play 72 minutes.

"I thought Will did a great job," Schmetzer said. "He was active inside the box, he had a few shots on goal. A couple of times we missed him when he was open. Will is a little different than Raul. He’s good in the air and he’s a bigger body. Will sometimes puts himself in good positions inside the box, we just didn’t see him. Overall I thought he was very good. It’s a shame he wasn’t rewarded with a goal."

The Sounders now turn their attention to Colorado, where they will travel to for a match on Wednesday evening against the Rapids. Listen to the match at 6:00 p.m., and Pre-Match Show starting at 5:30, on Sports Radio 950 KJR. Sounders Weekly with Jackson Felts will preview the match on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on KJR.

This week also marks Seattle's first fixture congestion of the season with Colorado on Wednesday and Toronto FC coming to town soon thereafter for a match on Saturday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m.

"This is a good time to rotate the squad, it’s a three game week," Sounders left back Brad Smith said.

Check out highlights from Saturday's 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake plus interviews with Lodeiro and Morris as well as the Sounders Post-Game Show, featuring Schmetzer's post-match press conference, all below!


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