Paul Rothrock Goal, Andrew Thomas Saves Hand Earthquakes First Loss as Sounders Win 1-0

San Jose took 25 shots, won 18 corners and spent most of Sunday afternoon camped in Seattle's half. The scoreboard did not care. One sharp counterattack, one cool finish from Paul Rothrock and a goalkeeper who refused to blink were enough for the Sounders to walk out of PayPal Park with all three points.

Seattle Sounders FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0, handing the Quakes their first loss of the season. Rothrock scored in the 20th minute, Andrew Thomas made six saves, and a young, heavily rotated Seattle side defended like its life depended on it. Both teams now sit at 3-0-1 with nine points.

A Counterpunch Against the Run of Play

San Jose came out pressing, but the first clear chance belonged to Seattle. In the 6th minute, Georgi Minoungou set up Cody Baker, whose shot slid past the far post. San Jose then ramped up the pressure, piling up three corners in five minutes and a Timo Werner free kick that sailed over.

Then Seattle struck. According to the Sounders, a clearance found Danny Musovski, who held the ball up and laid it off to Jesús Ferreira. Ferreira slid a through ball into the path of Rothrock, who finished low with his right foot into the bottom right corner. It was his second MLS goal of the season, per the club, and San Jose said it ended the club-record run of 290 minutes without conceding to start a season.

San Jose's response was relentless. In one wild sequence in the 37th minute, Niko Tsakiris had three shots blocked and Beau Leroux had another, with Jackson Ragen and Antino Lopez throwing bodies in the way. Thomas saved from Ronaldo Vieira a minute later, and Tsakiris then hit the right post with a free kick in the 44th minute. Seattle went into the break ahead and very relieved.

Thomas Takes Over

The second half was a siege. Thomas stopped an Ousséni Bouda header in the 51st minute, then made back-to-back saves on Daniel Munie from close range and on Preston Judd, who had been played through one on one, in the 60th and 61st minutes. In the 74th, Thomas got a piece of another Judd effort, and the Sounders said Lopez chased it down and cleared it near the goal line.

Seattle were also collecting yellow cards at an alarming rate. Nouhou Tolo, Nikola Petkovic, Musovski and Peter Kingston were all booked, three of them in the first 14 minutes of the second half. Brian Schmetzer made a triple change in the 65th minute, bringing on Osaze De Rosario, Cristian Roldan and Alex Roldan and taking off two of the booked players.

The pressure peaked in the 83rd minute. Werner fed Vieira, whose shot Thomas pushed behind, and then Thomas pushed a Tsakiris effort over the bar. A Judd header was blocked a minute later. At the other end, Baker thought he had sealed it in the 86th minute, but the goal was overturned by VAR, with the Sounders saying Albert Rusnák was offside. The club noted it would have been Baker's first career MLS goal.

Eight minutes of added time only brought more San Jose corners and a Munie header that was blocked. Seattle held on. San Jose captain Ronaldo Vieira was blunt about where it went wrong: "They didn't threaten us at all in the second half, but we have to come to win the game and just put the chances away."

Who Delivered

Andrew Thomas made six saves, several of them on high-quality chances. San Jose head coach Bruce Arena singled out Seattle's goalkeeper for "making two saves on breakaways."

Antino Lopez made his first career MLS start, according to the Sounders, and produced the goal-line clearance that kept the shutout alive. Peter Kingston also made his first career MLS start, per the club.

Paul Rothrock scored on one of his two shots, both on target, and nearly doubled the lead early in the second half before San Jose goalkeeper Daniel stopped him.

Jesús Ferreira delivered the assist in his 45 minutes.

For San Jose, Niko Tsakiris had six shots, one post and nothing to show for it. Vieira and Judd each had four shots.

The Turning Point

Lopez's clearance in the 74th minute. San Jose had been knocking on the door for most of the half, and that chance had beaten Thomas. A goal there and the momentum might have carried the Quakes to a winner. Instead, Seattle survived, and Arena summed it up: "Those are guys that made plays."

Stats That Matter

• Shots: San Jose 25, Seattle 6.
• Corners: San Jose 18, Seattle 0. Yes, zero.
• Saves: Thomas made 6, Daniel 3.
• Clearances: Seattle made 53 to San Jose's 9.
• Possession: San Jose held 62.7 percent.

San Jose's own notes put the expected goals at 3.0 to 0.5 in their favor, which tells you how lopsided the chances were.

What It Means

For Seattle, this was a road win in a long stretch away from home while Lumen Field gets upgrades ahead of the World Cup, per the Sounders, and their third straight away win across all competitions, all of them clean sheets. The club had them fifth in the Western Conference. They host Vancouver in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup tie on Wednesday in Spokane, then visit Minnesota United on Sunday.

For San Jose, it was the end of several runs, and it also handed Seattle the early edge in the Heritage Cup, which San Jose said the Sounders already hold. Their unbeaten start ended at three games, and the club said its 23-game streak of scoring at least once, dating to last season, also ended. Still, they sit fourth in the West, per the club. "We're making progress. We've conceded one goal in four games," Arena said. Vieira added that "they didn't win comfortably." The Quakes visit the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.

The Last Word

It was Hello Kitty Night at PayPal Park, with the club handing out tote bags to the first 9,000 fans. San Jose brought all the cute and most of the chances. Seattle brought a goalkeeper who would not be beaten and a back line that would not break.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by SJEarthquakes.com; additional details from SoundersFC.com.