Final: Sounders win, 3-0, before a franchise-record crowd of 32,526. (Here's my game story.)

Jaqua two goals and an assist, Montero one goal and two assists. Jaqua also has a yellow-card removed from his season total after going his third straight game without a caution.

The Sounders go to 6-3-7 and move four points ahead of Colorado, which falls to 5-3-6. (And now with Houston losing to LA tonight, the Sounders move to within three points of the top of the league.)

Sounders next return to US Open Cup play Wednesday at Portland. They don't return to league play until July 11, when Houston visits for what shapes up as a very big game.

Schmid said Alonso's injury is an abductor strain, and while there's no real prognosis yet, he'll certainly miss the Timbers game.

A few postgame quotes:

Sigi Schmid's overview: “It was good to get three goals. That always makes the game easier. Artistically, probably not our best game, but you have to find a way to win games like that. We did good with the opportunities we had. I’m thankful they missed the PK. Not sure that was a PK because he had his hands into his body when it hit him, but that’s the way it was. This was a good win for us. 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. We have eight points in our last four games. We want to keep going.”

KASEY KELLER on the Sounders handling their 2-0 lead better than they had against DC United: “You saw pretty much as they pushed forward, we hit them on the counter for the third, and then Fredy (Montero) and Nate (Jaqua) had two good chances. (Matt) Pickens made a couple good saves first to extend it even further. I think what it was is that we were a little more patient, we dropped into good spots to defend and then when they pushed guys forward and we won the ball, we hit them on the counter and I think that was a very good professional. I was a little disappointed with (Omar) Cummings breaking free at the end and putting it over the top, that was nice, but at the same time there’s a minute left and you’re three – nil up it’s understandable.”

FREDY MONTERO (through translator) on his four goals in four games: “Well thank God, four goals in a row, that’s a demonstration of me preparing, practicing, putting the effort in practice and reflecting well in the games as well.”

FREDDIE LJUNGBERG on recent offensive productivity: “It’s like I said, the small things, I think that’s where we had problems maybe and D.C we let them back in the game and same in New York, some mistakes we do in certain areas of the pitch and like I said something that I highlighted earlier today but if you want to win something you can’t while making mistakes because all the big teams they don’t make mistakes, that’s why they win. Today I felt like no mistakes and it’s a fair win. Like I said, maybe the chemistry is getting better but I think we played well the last couple of games is more of the small details.”

Colorado Rapids forward OMAR CUMMINGS on the game: “Very frustrating. When you don’t take care of the opportunities you have then you get punished for it. Unfortunately we didn’t score on ours and they scored on theirs. That is the way the game goes.”


Colorad coach GARY SMITH overview: “I thought we deserved to get beat three to nil. In the first half we played as good as football as we have had in some time. The big differences in the game were the big plays, the goals. The moments that we don’t convert and Seattle does. The one vs. one with Colin [Clark] in the first minute of the game and the penalty kick. Those were the clearest opportunities that I can remember. Full credit to Seattle and what they are is workmen like and solid team. In [Freddie] Ljungberg, [Fredy] Montero, and [Nate] Jaqua, you have individuals who can change the game and today they did just that.”

Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Fredy Montero 8 (Nate Jaqua 5, Freddie Ljungberg 4) 23
SEA -- Nate Jaqua 5 (Fredy Montero 5) 48
SEA -- Nate Jaqua 6 (Fredy Montero 6, Sebastien Le Toux 3) 68

Colorado Rapids -- Matt Pickens, Ugo Ihemelu (Kosuke Kimura 83), Cory Gibbs, Scott Palguta, Jordan Harvey, Nick LaBrocca (Jacob Peterson 65), Mehdi Ballouchy, Pablo Mastroeni (Greg Dalby 72), Colin Clark, Pat Noonan, Omar Cummings.

Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Terry Cooke, Ross Schunk, Rob Valentino.

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Omar Cummings 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Colin Clark 1, Nick LaBrocca 1); FOULS: 16 (Ugo Ihemelu 3, Nick LaBrocca 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Omar Cummings 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Colin Clark 3); SAVES: 1 (Matt Pickens 1)

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi (Sebastien Le Toux 67), Osvaldo Alonso (Patrick Ianni 39), Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg (Peter Vagenas 87), Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero.

Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Stephen King, Roger Levesque, Nathan Sturgis.

TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Nate Jaqua 2, Fredy Montero 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Nate Jaqua 2); FOULS: 13 (Osvaldo Alonso 3, Nate Jaqua 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Fredy Montero 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Freddie Ljungberg 5); SAVES: 2 (Kasey Keller 2)

Misconduct Summary:
COL -- Ugo Ihemelu (caution; Reckless Tackle) 17
SEA -- Freddie Ljungberg (caution; Delaying a Restart) 19
COL -- Pablo Mastroeni (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 29
COL -- Scott Palguta (caution; Reckless Tackle) 41
SEA -- Brad Evans (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71

Referee: Alex Prus
Referee's Assistants: -Emiliano Monje; Jeff Hosking
4th Official: Mike Rottersman
Attendance: 32,526
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Sunny-and-67-degrees

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And extremely interesting pair of games are in the books.

What do you make of them? And, for those of you who watched at Qwest, what did you think of the Sounders' arrangement? And did you manage to make it to the end without learning the result?

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