only to see his powerfully struck penalty crack off the inside of the right post and back into the field of play.
• After the break, Sounders FC put the game away, as Montero and Jaqua reversed roles twice. In the 48th minute, a loose ball was finally won by Jaqua outside the area, and following a neat one-two at the top of the box, Jaqua chipped the ball over Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens from an angle on the right.
• Then in the 68th minute, Sebastian Le Toux drove a low ball into the box from the right, and Montero diverted it with a slight touch into the path of Jaqua, who thumped home his second of the game and fifth on the season.
• Rapids head coach Gary Smith made no changes to the team that came back for a late 1-1 draw with FC Dallas the weekend before.
• Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls in the previous game. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado came back into central defense for Patrick Ianni, and Sanna Nyassi and Freddie Ljungberg came into wide midfield roles for Steve Zakuani and Sebastian Le Toux.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-1-3-2): Kasey Keller - James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl - Osvaldo Alonso (Patrick Ianni 39) - Sanna Nyassi (Sebastien Le Toux 67), Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg (Peter Vagenas 87) - Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero. Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Stephen King, Roger Levesque, Nathan Sturgis
• "This was a good win for us," Schmid said. "We talked all week about how we want to win season series with teams and this wins our season series with Colorado, which is important for a tiebreaker at the end of the year."
TEAM NEWS
• Montero has now scored in four consecutive league games, giving him eight goals for the campaign. Jaqua's brace gave him six on the season.
• "I think just this last month it's gotten a lot better," Jaqua said of the cooperation with Montero. "His two assists to me were great and I knocked one on to him. That's what you want: two forwards working together, creating, combining, and scoring."
• In addition, it was a second league game out of three where Sounders FC had scored three goals. They have scored nine in their last four games after scoring eight in their previous nine.
• "Our coordination was good. I thought Sanna (Nyassi) gave us a boost on the right and Montero has been very comfortable playing on the flanks. They've done a good job of place changing," Schmid said. "The coordination and cohesion between (Freddie) Ljungberg and Montero has been getting better every game and when you're an opposing defense and you have those two guys coming at you, it gives you something to worry about."
• Since the league victory against Colorado, Sounders FC have continued their successful U.S. Open Cup, now having reached the quarterfinals. In their third round on June 30, they defeated old and future rival Portland Timbers 2-1 at PGE Park. Roger Levesque put Sounders FC ahead after 47 seconds, then Stephen King doubled it in the 27th minute, before Mamadou Keita pulled a goal back just before halftime (43).
• Then on Tuesday, Sounders FC defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. Wizards 'keeper Kevin Hartman was ruled to have tripped up Fredy Montero in the box in the 88th minute, and Sebastian Le Toux converted the resulting penalty for the victory.
• "It's always about titles and you always want to win games," Schmid said. "... I think our guys can for sure smell it now and taste it and obviously the next round is Houston and that's going to be a battle, it's going to be another tough game, but I think our team is looking forward to that. We're basically two steps away from trying to bring a title to Seattle."
• Here's Schmid's team: Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi (Roger Levesque 78), Stephen King, Nathan Sturgis (Peter Vagenas 89), Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 71), Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua
• The semifinal will be played at Starfire Sports Complex on July 21.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo returned to their winning ways, defeating the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on July 4. The Dynamo still lead the Western Conference and MLS overall table with 31 points from 16 matches, four points ahead of Chivas USA and seven ahead of the tie atop the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards were back in league action after putting a stop to a three-game winless run in their last MLS game, a win against New England. The Dynamo had seen their club-record 11-game undefeated streak put to a stop the week before in a 1-0 loss at Los Angeles.
• The game's lone goal came in the 18th minute. Mike Chabala was freed down the left flank and put in a fine cross that dropped just over Wizards center back Rauwshan McKenzie onto the head of Kei Kamara, and the Sierra Leonian striker powered it home.
• Kamara celebrated his third goal of the season with a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, putting a white glove out of his shorts and striking a pose familiar to the pop singer.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the LA Galaxy the Sunday before. With Stuart Holden and Brian Ching on Gold Cup duty, Ricardo Clark returned from international duty and Dominic Oduro came back into the side.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Corey Ashe (Danny Cruz 93+) - Brad Davis - Dominic Oduro (Ade Akinbiyi 67), Kei Kamara. Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, John Michael Hayden, Julius James, Erik Ustruck, Craig Waibel
• "I'm not going to say we were all over them. We're happy with the three points we got," Kinnear said. "It was an all-around team effort, a gritty night for us."
TEAM NEWS
• Kamara had last scored on May 30 in the 3-0 defeat of Toronto FC. He certainly had a unique tribute in celebrating his goal.
• "[It] was something I had in the pocket. Soccer is fun. And it's disappointing to see Michael gone," Kamara said. "That's the only thing I can do to celebrate my Michael moment. I used to perform like Michael when I was a little kid back in Africa in talent shows. So I had to bring that one out."
• It was the seventh time this season the Dynamo have played in a 1-0 game, winning five.
• "We didn't have a lot of chances to score a bunch of goals. Every game is different. It was a tough night for us," Kinnear said. "We started off pretty well. We had a couple looks to maybe go two ahead and we didn't take advantage of them. We knew Kansas City was going to make a big push. We might have had a bit of luck on our side tonight, too."
• For Mike Chabala, the assist was the first of his career, coming in his third career start. The Dynamo were missing four top-line defenders to injury and Gold Cup duty. On Saturday, they will be without two more with both first-choice center backs, Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell, suspended for yellow card accumulation.
• "I mean it's just early in and Dom gave me a green light. He just said get forward, get around him, and use my strength to get forward and get it around to Corey, making an option for him to play wider and have him take them on and Corey played it perfectly," Chabala said. "It was nice and easy, we do it in training every Thursday.
• On Tuesday, the Dynamo finally defeated the Charleston Battery, winning their U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal 4-0 at Blackbaud Stadium. Geoff Cameron scored twice (16, 73) and Bobby Boswell (47) and Dominic Oduro (52) netted early in the second half; John Michael Hayden recorded a pair of assists. Each of the last two seasons, the Dynamo had lost to the USL1 Battery in Charleston in the Open Cup.
• "We've had some guys out of the lineup for a variety of reasons, so we knew we were going to need some of the other guys to step up for us tonight," Kinnear said. "It took us about 20 minutes to get settled down, but once we did I thought we played well."
• Here's Kinnear's team: Tally Hall, Mike Chabala, Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Danny Cruz (Brad Davis 81), John Michael Hayden, Erik Ustruck, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe (Brian Mullan 46), Ade Akinbiyi, Dominic Oduro (Kei Kamara 62)
• That sets up another meeting with Seattle Sounders FC, this time in the Open Cup semifinals, tol be played at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. on July 21.
