The Colorado Rapids struck for a late goal and a 1-1 draw to deny the Seattle Sounders any chance at advancing to the tournament semifinals in one of the early games on Thursday.
Seattle, which had drawn each of its first two games, needed a regulation victory to keep its hopes alive heading into the 6 p.m. games. Colorado, meanwhile, was trying to bounce back from a 5-0 loss to Flamengo on Wednesday, and it looked like they were off to a good start when Rapids forward Antonio Rosales drew a penalty kick in the 17th minute. But Seattle goalkeeper R.J. Noll, already a veteran of two shootouts in the tournament, dove to his left to make an excellent stop of Elias Helbig's penalty kick.
The Sounders seized the momentum early in the second half when forward Connor Noblat cut into the penalty area and eventually managed to turn and fire a shot past Rapids goalkeeper Connor Gavigan. The Rapids stayed in the game, however, and tied it with two minutes left. After a corner kick, Colorado played the ball back into the box, where J.T. Grover deftly volleyed the ball back across the face of goal and Anthony Rosales one-timed it into the top of the net.
The teams proceeded to a shootout, Seattle's third in as many games, and shooters on both teams were sharp. Nathan Braaten, Kyle Ericson, Blake Moncur and Anthony Rosales were all successful when they stepped up to the mark, but the final shooter, Quentin Pearson, hit the crossbar with his shot and Seattle picked up an extra point in the standings with the 5-4 decision. The Rapids face Chivas Guadalajara on Friday at 3 p.m. CT (2 MT), and then the winner of that match will advance to play the winner of Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.
Seattle Sounders (0-0-3) vs. Colorado Rapids (0-2-1)
2014 Generation adidas Cup - Group A
April 17, 2014 –- Toyota Stadium Field 8, Frisco TX
Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Connor Noblat 1 (unassisted) 41
COL -- Anthony Rosales 1 (J.T. Grover 1) 68
Seattle Sounders -- R.J. Noll, Kasey French, Tosh Samkange, Connor Thompson, Kees Westra, Lorenzo Ramos (Bryce Ikeda 63), Diego Silvas (Alec Zimmerman 53), Harrison Kurtz (Samad Bounthong 53), Connor Noblat (Jaegar Skifstad 59), Victor Mansaray, Ryan Schaefer (Alejandro Hernandez 59).
Colorado Rapids -- Connor Gavigan, Elias Helbig, Sam Raben, Quentin Pearson, Christopher Reichman, Ernesto Rangel (Blake Moncur 58), Miles Chow, Luke Marchesani (Anthony Rosales 46), Kyle Ericson, Antonio Rosales (J.T. Grover 36), Nathan Braaten.
Penalty Shootout - Seattle Sounders 5, Colorado Rapids 4
Matches played with 35-minute halves.
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
