- Jordan Morris - 19'
- Nicolás Lodeiro - 61' Pen
- Kevin Doyle - 13'
Seattle Sounders rally to beat Colorado Rapids in West final
Video via MLS: Seattle 2-1 Colorado
Nicolas Lodeiro's second-half penalty proved to be the difference as Seattle came from behind to defeat Colorado.
The Seattle Sounders put together a two-goal rally to earn a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids in the first leg of Major League Soccer's Western Conference finals on a rainy night at CenturyLink Field.
Kevin Doyle put the Rapids up early on the road, latching on to a Jermaine Jones through ball and powering a shot that deflected off of Seattle defender Chad Marshall and over the head of goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
But the hosts pegged a goal back seven minutes later on a nice counter move. Nicolas Lodeiro turned Colorado over at midfield and fed the ball to Cristian Roldan, whose shot from distance came off the left post for Jordan Morris to volley home the rebound.
It was Morris' first career playoff goal and 13th of the season for Seattle.
With the score tied 1-1, Seattle had two golden chances to take the lead turned back by Rapids' backup keeper Zac MacMath, first denying a headed chance from Lodeiro and then stopping Nelson Valdez from point-blank range.
Colorado had a great opportunity for a second away goal at the start of the second half, Sebastien LeToux threading a pass into the area for Dominique Badji, but his left-footed shot was smothered by Frei.
Lodeiro found a go-ahead goal from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the area by Colorado's Marc Burch, the Uruguayan stepped up and fired past MacMath to put Seattle up 2-1.
And Lodeiro nearly doubled the lead in the 76th minute, beating two Colorado defenders, cutting back to his left foot and curling a shot that sailed just over the crossbar.
Seattle will travel to Colorado to face the Rapids in the second leg at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Nov. 27 to determine which team will represent the West in the MLS Cup.
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