The Seattle Sounders picked up another 1-0 road win, this time blanking a San Jose Earthquakes side that came into the game 3-0-0 with 6 goals scored and none allowed. Seattle’s goal came early, as Paul Rothrock put the team ahead in the 20th minute. Cody Baker appeared to have doubled the lead in the 86th minute, but the goal was ruled off after review so the 1-0 result stood after Andrew Thomas made seven saves and the defense withstood 25 shots.
The game opened with what proved to be some light foreshadowing when Nikola Petković played Georgi Minoungou down the left with a fantastic through ball in the 6th minute. Minoungou played a low cross to the top of the box where Cody Baker took a touch to set himself up and then just missed wide on his shot. Less than 15 minutes later the Sounders took the lead.
Antino Lopez played a great line breaking pass that wound up at the feet of Danny Musovski, who then played a simple pass to Jesus Ferreira. Ferreira picked his head up and saw Minoungou in an offside position but Paul Rothrock making a hard run on the right and hit a gorgeous through ball that Minoungou avoided and Rothrock picked it up then slotted his shot through a tiny window at the near post to make it 1-0 in the 20th minute!
Seattle nearly doubled their advantage shortly after with Petković and Rothrock each nearly getting a second for the Sounders in the 26th and 28th after good plays from Ferreira and Minoungou respectively, but they just couldn’t quite close the plays out. From there, it was pretty much time to batten down the hatches.
The Earthquakes started really pouring on the pressure, taking 8 shots over the final 20 minutes of the first half. Near misses and fully committed defense kept them off the scoresheet, highlighted by a sequence in the 37th minute when the Sounders stacked up a series of blocks as they struggled to get control of the ball or clear the danger from their own area.
Rothrock nearly doubled the lead in the 48th minute after a great ball over the back line from Peter Kingston played him into space, but SJ goalkeeper Daniel came up with a big save to deny him. From that point, it was almost all Earthquakes as the Sounders only took one more shot after Rothrock’s chance while the Earthquakes amassed an eye-popping 14 shots in the second half.
Thomas made numerous saves, including some highlight reel-worthy ones, to keep Seattle’s lead intact, but the biggest save of the game arguably belongs to Antino Lopez. The CB playing on a short-term loan from Tacoma Defiance came up with a crucial goal-line clearance in the 74th minute. Jackson Ragen worked hard to put Preston Judd under pressure after he got beyond Ragen and Lopez, but Judd still managed to get a shot off that Thomas got a touch to but not enough to keep the ball from heading towards goal. In rushed Lopez to clear the ball off the line and Thomas was able to catch it when it came back down.
Baker appeared to have scored a second goal for Seattle to close the game out in the 86th minute, receiving the ball from Osaze De Rosario at the top of the box before getting off a deflected shot that went in just inside the post. Unfortunately, Albert Rusnák was in an offside position when the shot came off, and after review it was determined that he had been blocking the GK’s view of the play and the goal was waved off. Defensive heroics continued through 8 minutes of stoppage time, and when the final whistle blew the Sounders celebrated another shutout and another road win.
Seattle now turns their attention to their second leg against the Vancouver Whitecaps as they’ll head to Spokane on Wednesday night.
Lineups
Wholesale changes for the Sounders as six players make their first starts of the season for Seattle and two got their first-ever MLS starts. Danny Musovski starts up top with Jesús Ferreira in the No. 10 slot with Georgi Minoungou to his left and Paul Rothrock to his right. Cristian Roldan and Snyder Brunell head to the bench as Hassani Dotson continues to work through concussion protocol, opening the way for Nikola Petković and Peter Kingston to start in the middle. Antino Lopez starts alongside Jackson Ragen as the right centerback, and Cody Baker starts at right back with Alex Roldan and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi both on the bench. Andrew Thomas returns to his starting spot in goal to round things out.
Our Delta Starting XI in San Jose! 💥 📰: sndrs.com/d5y0l3fi | #SJvSEA
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2026-03-15T22:13:11.956Z
Key moments
6 - Chance! Petković springs Minoungou down the left side and he drives at the defense before playing a ball across the top of the box that Baker runs onto. Baker takes a touch to set up a shot, but puts it just wide.
20 - GOAL! Rothrock gives Seattle the lead! Ferreira plays a wonderful through ball as Rothrock runs in behind and beats Daniel to his near post! 1-0, Sounders
Paulie Supreme ⭐️ What a ball from Jesús to set up Paul for his third of the year!
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2026-03-15T23:50:37.971Z
26 - Shot! Petković plays a fantastic ball over the top for Rothrock, but he can’t turn it into a shot and recycles the bal over to Ferreira. Ferreira lays it off for Petkovic who makes good contact but has his shot easily caught.
28 - Chance! Minoungou nearly sets up Rothrock for a second as he gets around the corner against his defender, but the cross is cleared away.
34 - Miss! The Sounders struggle to emphatically clear the ball out of their area and eventually Munie gets a shot from the top of the box, but he puts it wide.
37 - Blocks! Three blocks by Seattle’s defense keep San Jose off the board amidst a flurry of chances in the box.
44 - Post! Tsakiris looks like he may have Thomas beat on a free kick as the GK dives across, but the shot comes off the outside of the post and out for a goal kick.
HT - Sub. Albert Rusnák comes on for the Sounders, replacing Jesus Ferreira.
48 - Shot! Rothrock has a great first-time hit following an excellent ball over the top from Kingston, but Daniel makes a nice save and there’s no one there for the rebound.
57 - Sub. San Jose take off DeJuan Jones and bring on Vitor Costa after Jones suffers a painful foul from Danny Musovski.
60 - Block! San Jose send in a dangerous free kick that Thomas blocks but can’t hold onto and it's cleared to the edge of the box before Petkovic makes a sliding block to deny a follow-up shot.
61 - SAVE! Preston Judd gets in 1-v-1 with Thomas, but the GK stays big and stuffs the shot!
63 - Stop! Minoungou gets a fortunate bounce off of a player and nearly gets through for a 1-v-1 with Daniel, but Vieira makes a great recovery run and clears the ball for a throw.
65 - Subs. Georgi Minoungou, Danny Musovski and Nikola Petković all leave the game as the Sounders bring on Osaze De Rosario, Alex Roldan and Cristian Roldan.
69 - Hold! Judd looks like he’s got Ragen beat to go at goal, but Ragen manages to take an angle and deny the channel, stand Judd up and the ball has to be recycled out.
74 - CLEARANCE! Judd gets the better of Lopez and Ragen, gets a shot off that Thomas gets an arm to but not enough to keep it out and Lopez roars in to clear it off the line!
That's the face you make when you know you've just earned yourself a first-team contract.
— Matthew Doyle (@mattdoyle.bsky.social) 2026-03-16T00:52:49.765Z
77 - Subs. Ousseni Bouda and Beau Leroux come off as Nick Fernandez and Jack Skahan come on for the Earthquakes.
83 - Save! Werner drives across the top of the box before slipping the ball in for Vieira, but Thomas comes up with a block!
86 - Sub. Snyder Brunell comes on as Seattle’s final change, replacing Peter Kingston.
86 - Offside. Cody Baker put the ball in the back of the net to make it 2-0, but after review the goal is called back due to Albert Rusnák being in an offside position.
90+1 - Sub. San Jose’s final change comes as Benji Kikanovic is replaced by Paul Marie.
90+2 - SAVE! Another big save from Thomas, pushing a deflected shot away for a corner.
Quick thoughts
Earning your place: Brian Schmetzer started a pair of players on short-term loans from Tacoma Defiance in a heavily rotated lineup against the Earthquakes. Peter Kingston and Antino Lopez were given important roles along the spine of the team as they both made their first-ever MLS starts, and they did more than just look the part. Schmetzer suggested that Lopez may be signing a first-team contract and said that he’ll be campaigning for Kingston to do the same during his post-game press conference, and it’s not hard to see why. Kingston demonstrated an eye for the spectacular while completing a very solid 32/36 passes as he helped calm things down when Seattle got possession, and put up 4 tackles, 5 recoveries and won 5/9 ground duels and 2/2 aerial duels to help the side weather the pressure the Earthquakes posed. Lopez similarly showed that he can break lines with his passing from the back, had an outrageous 20 defensive contributions and put a star on top of the whole performance with his goal line clearance.
Ferreira is flying: Jesús Ferreira nabbed yet another assist in this one, his 4th in the league and 5th in all competitions so far this season. He’s averaging 2.29 chances created per 90 minutes according to Fotmob, and he’s putting up an average of an assist every 50 minutes. His two-way play has made him a virtually written-in-pen member of Brian Schmetzer’s starting group, which is why he came off at halftime in this one to save his legs for Wednesday. In the version of MLS that lists Leo Messi among its star players, a guy like Ferreira probably won’t earn league-wide plaudits, but so far in 2026 he looks exactly like the sort of talent the Sounders hoped they were bringing in when they traded with FC Dallas to get him.
Fixing what was broken: Last season, the Sounders shifted towards a more attacking brand of soccer, and while the defense wasn’t exactly bad it was definitely less resolute than it had been in previous seasons. Time and again bad luck and strange decisions caught the team up short. Schmetzer and staff have insisted that the focus this season is to keep the goals flowing while shoring up the defense by improving on set pieces and eliminating mistakes. Having played 3 of 4 league games on the road to start the season as the Sounders now find themselves more than halfway through the five-game road show necessitated by the grass installation at Lumen Field for the World Cup, the Sounders have only given up two goals in MLS play and have kept three clean sheets. Andrew Thomas has looked like a top GK, and even when the team is giving up chances they’ve proven very hard to beat. It’s probably too early to say everything’s fixed, but this kind of performance on the road should go a long ways towards putting those concerns to bed.
Notable quote
“I would say it wasn’t just me that saved the team. We all did it together, that’s what won the game. On the clearance, I just put everything on the line. I was a little nervous at start. It was a big game for us.” - Lopez
— Sounder at Heart (@sounderatheart.com) 2026-03-16T01:33:07.011Z
Player spotlight
Antino Lopez – If you make 20 defensive contributions and a goal-line clearance to help your team win 1-0 on the road, you get the spotlight to go along with your new contract. It wasn't all grit, either, as Lopez made several good passes and never seemed to make a poor choice. If he's indeed signed, he's earned his spot.
