Sounders clinch top-four seed in West with 2-0 win over St. Louis City

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11:26 PM CDT Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — Albert Rusnák and an own-goal by Tim Parker gave Seattle a two-goal lead in the first half and Stefan Frei made it stand up with his league-leading 14th clean sheet of the season as the Sounders clinched a top-four seed in the Western Conference on Saturday night with a 2-0 victory over St. Louis City.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2023 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Sounders are the first team to beat conference-champion St. Louis City twice in its first season.

Seattle (14-9-11), which posted a 3-0 victory in the first matchup in St. Louis on April 8, ups its unbeaten streak to nine at 4-0-5. That ties Dallas for the longest current unbeaten run. It is the Sounders’ longest such streak since a club-record 15-match stretch from November 2020 to July 2021.

Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei (24) makes a save during the first half of an MLS soccer match against St. Louis City FC on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

St. Louis City (17-12-5) finishes with 56 points in its first season, tied with the 1998 Chicago Fire for second most by an expansion team in league history. Los Angeles FC set the record at 57 in 2018.

Frei finished with five saves for the Sounders. Roman Bürki saved three shots for St. Louis City.

Rusnák took a pass from Cristian Roldan in the 23rd minute and scored for a sixth time this season to give the Sounders the lead. Parker’s own-goal came in the 38th minute.

St. Louis City fell one match short of becoming the fifth team in league history to score three or more goals in 10 home matches in a single season.