Osaze De Rosario's Late Header Lifts Sounders Past San Jose Earthquakes 3-2

Osaze De Rosario had only come off the bench in the 75th minute. Then Nouhou Tolo whipped in a cross, De Rosario rose in the middle of the box, and Lumen Field lost its collective mind.

De Rosario's 89th-minute header gave the Seattle Sounders a 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night, a back-and-forth thriller that saw the visitors score inside two minutes, Seattle take the lead, San Jose answer, and the Sounders steal it at the death. Albert Rusnák and Jesús Ferreira also scored for Seattle in front of 28,726, while Nick Fernandez and Preston Judd scored for San Jose.

San Jose Strike First, Seattle Take Over

The Earthquakes wasted no time. In the second minute, Nonso Adimabua teed up Nick Fernandez, and his right-footed shot from the left side of the box beat Andy Thomas through the middle of the goal. For a team that arrived with only one league loss all season, it looked like business as usual.

Seattle spent the rest of the half laying siege. Daniel saved from Snyder Brunell in the fifth minute and from Jackson Ragen's header in the ninth, Ferreira fired over in the 12th, and Ragen missed with two more headers off set pieces. Brunell forced another save in the 38th. San Jose's best look in that stretch came from Jack Skahan, whose shot from a tight angle was saved by Thomas in the 18th minute.

The breakthrough finally came through the referee. In the 41st minute, Dave Romney was penalized for a handball in the box, and Rusnák stepped up two minutes later and smashed his penalty into the high center of the goal. The club says it was his fifth goal of the season in all competitions.

Ferreira's Moment

San Jose made two changes at halftime, sending on Judd and Ousseni Bouda for Adimabua and Paul Marie. Seattle kept coming anyway, and in the 55th minute they finally took the lead on a fast break. Ferreira finished it himself with a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom right corner, capping what the Sounders called a full-field run.

"We knew that in this game, we're at home and we can attack a little more and leave our guys in the back a little one-v-one," Ferreira said, per the club. "We believe in our guys. We have athletes who can run up and down."

Judd had an eventful few minutes after that. He was booked for simulation in the 58th minute, then made amends in the 69th, beating Thomas with a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2. Super-subs, assemble.

The Turning Point

Brian Schmetzer responded by throwing bodies forward. Jordan Morris and Hassani Dotson came on in the 68th minute, and De Rosario and Peter Kingston followed in the 75th. Daniel kept the Earthquakes alive with saves on Morris in the 76th minute and Kingston in the 86th, and De Rosario sent a header just wide off a corner in the 77th.

San Jose had their own chances in that window. Ian Harkes had a header from very close range blocked in the 80th minute, Judd had a shot blocked a minute later, and Harkes headed high and wide in the 88th. That miss mattered. A minute later, Nouhou crossed and De Rosario headed it into the top right corner from the center of the box.

"It shows how much grit and desire we have to win these kinds of games, even if we start off really badly," De Rosario said. "We're able to fix our wrongs."

ESPN credits Nouhou with the assist. Seattle's box score also lists Cristian Roldan, and the Sounders say the goal was De Rosario's second of the season.

Stars of the Night

Jesús Ferreira. A goal on three shots and constant involvement in Seattle's attack, with ESPN crediting him with setting up a string of chances. The Sounders said it was his second goal of the season.

Daniel. Six saves in a losing effort. Without him, this is not a one-goal game.

Preston Judd. A yellow card, a goal and three shots off the bench. Chaotic, but productive.

Osaze De Rosario. Two shots and the only one that mattered. According to the club, he had been staying after training to work on his finishing, and Schmetzer praised his work ethic.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Seattle outshot San Jose 23-11 and put nine on target to San Jose's three.
• Possession: Seattle held 63.1 percent of the ball and completed 437 passes to San Jose's 214.
• Saves: Daniel made six, Thomas one.
• Corners: Seattle earned nine corners to San Jose's six.
• Clearances: San Jose made 38 clearances to Seattle's 19.

What It Means

Seattle improved to 7-3-1 with 24 points and are unbeaten in nine straight league matches since a Feb. 28 loss at Real Salt Lake, as the club noted. The Sounders say the win lifted them into third place in the Western Conference, extended their home unbeaten streak to 22 matches, the longest in club history, and left their regular-season home unbeaten streak at 14, tied for the club record. It also clinched the Heritage Cup, since Seattle had already won 1-0 in San Jose on March 15.

San Jose fell to 9-2-2 with 29 points, and both of their losses have come against Seattle. The Earthquakes are now winless in three after draws with Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps, though Seattle's recap still has them tied with Vancouver atop the West.

"That's a super-motivated group," Schmetzer said. Ferreira put the stakes simply: "Every game at home is a big game. These three points, especially with an opponent who is above us, it's very important."

Closing Take

This was a heavyweight bout that went the distance, and Seattle landed the last punch. San Jose have looked like the class of the West for most of the spring, but they now have a Sounders-shaped problem. Two meetings, two losses, and one very happy super-sub.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by Seattle Sounders FC's official site.