Colorado Rapids 0, Seattle Sounders 1 | 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Match Recap

Ben Couch

The kid came through.

Rookie sensation Jordan Morris scored a 56th-minute goal to ice a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver. The feat completed a 3-1 aggregate victory in the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Championship.

PLAYER RATINGS: Morris the star in Sounders' West triumph

With the victory, Seattle advances to represent the Western Conference on Dec. 10 in the MLS Cup final (8 p.m. ET, FOX and UniMás in the US, TSN and RDS in Canada). After eight playoff appearances in eight MLS seasons, this will be the first MLS Cup appearance in Seattle's club history, which extends in the league back to a 2009 expansion.

An attempted Colorado clearance by Jared Watts ended up in front of Nelson Valdez, who slipped a through ball ahead to Morris. The forward then chipped Rapids goalkeeper Zac MacMath with the outside of his right foot as the two crashed together in a tangle of limbs.

#ThisMoment belongs to @JmoSmooth13! #COLvSEA pic.twitter.com/XTKN5Dnj3L
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) November 27, 2016

Box Score

56' – SEA – Jordan Morris (Nelson Valdez)
Full Box Score
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Three Things

JOMO, FEVER: Look, there's more than one reason the kid earned recognition as the 2016 AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year. There are the 12 goals – second only to Cyle Larin's stunning 2015 tally – and the season-long show of development, not to mention the intuitive connection with midseason addition Nicolas Lodeiro. But it's this goal, this stunner that silenced the Rapids' supporters into an uneasy home silence, that will be remembered as the breakthrough moment, the one that finally shed the seasons of frustration stacked upon Seattle's burdened backs. Whether the Sounders go on to raise that first MLS Cup or not, we've already witnessed something special.

… and he did it while fighting off a virus that left him bed ridden during the short week prior to the match:

Am told Jordan Morris has been battling a virus over the past couple of days. Something to keep in mind as this match progresses
— Matt Pentz (@mattpentz) November 27, 2016

Taking "JoMo Fever" to a whole other level, bruh.

WHERE WILL IT BE?! With Wednesday's Eastern Conference Championship still to be decided by Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact, the destination for MLS Cup 2016 is suddenly up in the air. If Toronto, currently down 3-2 on aggregate, come back to claim victory, they'll host the championship on Canadian soil. If Montreal manage to hang on, Cascadia will rock as the CenturyLink Field faithful feast on the attendant trappings of welcoming the opposition. Tune in Wednesday to find out where we're going, and who's going to set up across the midfield circle.

A TALE OF TWO TWEETS
: Through one half:

Colorado's 16 shots without putting one on target are the most by any team ever in an @MLS game (regular season or playoffs).
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) November 27, 2016

… and then two:

The @ColoradoRapids had more attacking-third touches in the first half (101) than they did in any other first half this season. #COLvSEA
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) November 27, 2016

Cue
the sad trombone
, kids.