Caden Clark came off the bench in the 84th minute and, according to the Washington Post, scored in stoppage time to snatch a 3-3 draw for Seattle Sounders at Colorado Rapids. Morgan Whittaker had put the Rapids in the driver’s seat with a brace, only for Dejan Joveljic to keep pulling the Sounders level each time. Clark’s last-gasp strike meant Colorado’s two-goal advantage, rebuilt in the 76th minute, counted for nothing. A point apiece was the evening’s verdict at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Key Moments
- 28′, Morgan Whittaker opens the scoring for Colorado, converting a Paxten Aaronson assist to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead.
- 46′, Seattle’s Peter Kingston is replaced by Sebastian Gomez at the break, signaling a midfield reshuffle from Brian Schmetzer.
- 49′, Dejan Joveljic equalizes four minutes into the second half, finishing with an assist from Albert Rusnak to make it 1-1.
- 56′, Donavan Phillip restores Colorado’s lead, scoring without assistance to put the Rapids back in front at 2-1.
- 76′, Whittaker completes his brace, again set up by Aaronson, to give Colorado a 3-2 lead and seemingly seal the result.
- 79′, Joveljic levels again for his second of the night, cutting the deficit back to nothing at 3-3.
- 90′, Caden Clark, on the field for just six minutes, finishes an Albert Rusnak pass in stoppage time to deny Colorado all three points.
Tactical Breakdown
Colorado controlled the first half in a 4-3-3 shape, finishing with 18 total shots and 15 inside the box across 90 minutes. Their xG of 1.65 outpaced Seattle’s 0.95, and the Rapids generated most of their best looks through Whittaker’s movement in behind and Aaronson’s ability to thread passes from the right side. Both of Whittaker’s goals came from identical angles: Aaronson finding him in space, and the forward doing the rest with composure.
Seattle’s turning point came at halftime when Schmetzer sent on Sebastian Gomez for Kingston, sharpening the Sounders’ pressing in the second half. The visiting side grew into the game with 52% possession and 84% pass accuracy, and Albert Rusnak became increasingly influential as a creator, finishing with two assists. His range of passing unlocked Colorado’s backline for both Joveljic’s equalizers and Clark’s late intervention.
The Rapids ultimately paid for failing to hold leads. Their defensive record across the evening, conceding three from six shots on target, pointed to a backline that struggled to sustain concentration in the final 15 minutes. Donavan Phillip’s yellow card in the 69th minute and his substitution shortly after disrupted Colorado’s midfield balance at a key stage of the match, and the space that opened up was exactly what the Sounders exploited.
Player Ratings
Match Context
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Head To Head
Verdict
Colorado remain seventh in the Western Conference on 35 points, still in the playoff spots but dropping two points they may rue given how close they were to a home win. Seattle sit 14th on 28 points, a draw that edges them closer to the cutoff but leaves the Sounders still needing results to go their way in the final weeks of the regular season. For both sides, this was a share of the spoils that felt different depending on which dressing room you were in.