Fredy Montero's eighth goal of the season gave the Seattle Sounders a first-half lead against the run of play, and they tacked on two more in the second half to defeat the visiting Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at Qwest Field.
 
Despite some excellent attacking by the visiting Rapids in the first half, a missed penalty and a handful of squandered chances doomed them to defeat.

Nate Jaqua notched two goals and an assist for the home team, while Montero added two assists. With Seattle's offense continuing to evolve, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said this week that he expected a multi-goal game in the near future. He got it against Colorado, who appeared to be disheartened after failing to convert on a plethora of first-half chances, including a missed penalty by Omar Cummings.

Montero notched his goal in the 23rd minute off a corner kick, ghosting in at the back post to head in a deflection off Jaqua's head. With four goals in four games, Montero continued his climb up the Golden Boot standings and is now tied with Colorado's Conor Casey for second in MLS with eight tallies.

The goal was a bitter blow for Colorado, who had played well to open the game. Seattle did not record a shot on target until Montero's goal and were outshot 10-3 in the first half.
 
In an attempt to regroup, Colorado continued to push players forward on the attack, earning two free kicks in dangerous areas. The first ended up in Kasey Keller's gloves off a header from Ugo Ihemelu. The second, however, gave Colorado a penalty kick, as the assistant referee spotted a handball in the penalty area against the last man in the wall, a leaping Osvaldo Alonso.

Cummings hit the penalty with force, but the ball struck the right post, to the delight of the sellout crowd. Seattle's defense cleared the ball away while Cummings stood in disbelief.

The penalty miss highlighted a frustrating first half for the Rapids, as handful of loose-ball scrums in the Seattle area never led to a goal. Perhaps the toughest pill to swallow was an excellent run-and-cross from Cummings, only to have Pat Noonan whiff on an excellent opportunity in front of Keller's goal.

The Rapids conceded the second goal just three minutes into the second half.

Jaqua brought down a difficult ball in the penalty area and worked a short give-and-go with Montero. Evading a desperation tackle from Jordan Harvey, Jaqua coolly sent the ball past goalkeeper Matt Pickens into the far corner for his fifth goal of the year.

The second goal made Colorado's task that much more difficult. Colorado almost answered back in the 53rd minute as Harvey ran onto a cross at the near post. With plenty of time to set his feet, Harvey launched a shot that was blocked by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.

Cummings got into the act again, turning on his opposite number and Jamaican teammate Tyrone Marshall in the 61st minute. However, an outstretched Marshall got a foot in to deflect the ball away for a corner kick.

Up 2-0, Seattle looked to counterattack. The first good chance was started when Sanna Nyassi stole the ball from Harvey and fed a streaking Freddie Ljungberg. However, Ljungberg's foray into the Colorado third was curtailed by the swarming Rapids defense.

Minutes later, Sounders FC added the third on another counter. After an epic loose ball in the Seattle area was finally cleared, Ljungberg triggered the break by sending a long ball to Sebastien Le Toux on the right side. With his first touches of the game, the substitute controlled and passed to Montero, who touched lightly to Jaqua. With only goalkeeper Pickens to beat, Jaqua sent his second goal into the net.

Seattle almost added a fourth, but Pickens came out to disrupt breakaways by Ljungberg and Jaqua.

Confident with the victory, Keller started high-fiving fans as he retrieved a ball in the 80th minute. Cummings should have made him pay in the final minute of regular time, but managed to shoot over from six yards out to cap a disappointing day for the visiting Rapids.

Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
 
AT&T Rapids Man of the Match: Mehdi Ballouchy
 
Scoring Summary:
SEA- Montero (Jaqua, Ljungberg) 23
SEA- Jaqua (Montero) 48
SEA- Jaqua (Montero, Le Toux) 68
 
Colorado Rapids: Matt Pickens, Jordan Harvey, Ugo Ihemelu (Kosuke Kimura 83), Cory Gibbs, Mehdi Ballouchy, Pat Noonan, Omar Cummings, Nick LaBrocca (Jacob Peterson 65), Colin Clark, Pablo Mastroeni (Greg Dalby 72), Scott Palguta
Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Terry Cooke, Ross Schunk, Rob Valentino
 
Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller, Brad Evans, Tyson Wahl, Osvaldo Alonso (Patrick Ianni 39), James Riley, Freddie Ljungberg (Peter Vagenas 87), Tyrone Marshall, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua, Sanna Nyassi (Sebastien La Toux 67), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Nathan Sturgis, Stephen King, Roger Levesque
 
Misconduct Summary:
COL- Ihemelu (caution; Reckless Tackle) 17
SEA- Ljungberg (caution; Delaying a Restart) 19
COL- Mastroeni (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 29
COL- Palguta (caution; Reckless Tackle) 41
SEA- Evans (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71
 
Referee: Alex Prus
Referee's Assistants: Emiliano Monje, Jeff Hosking
Fourth Official: Mike Rottersman
Attendance: 32,526

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