Montero and Jaqua net goals as Sounders draw 2:2 in Colorado

COMMERCE CITY, Colorado - (Sounders FC Press Release)- Kasey Keller made five saves, four in the first half, and the Seattle Sounders FC earned a hard fought point on the road with a 2-2 draw with the Colorado Rapids.

Forwards Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua scored for Seattle (4-2-4), which is unbeaten in five straight games (1-0-4). The draw was the Sounders FC fourth in four tries, and its third on the road.

Fredy Montero put the Sounders up 1-0 in the 17th minute. (Will Powers / AP)

Colorado (3-2-4) got another goal from Conor Casey early in the second half to take the 2-1 lead, but could not hold on for the three points. Casey is tied for most goals in Major League Soccer with six this season.

In the first minute Stephen King replaced starting midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who went out with a right quadriceps strain. Sounders FC was already playing without midfielders Freddie Ljungberg (migraine) and Brad Evans (left ankle sprain) and defender Zach Scott (lower abdominal strain). Alonso experienced his right quadriceps tightening in pre-game warm-ups.

Peter Vagenas played 70 minutes in his first action of the season, starting in place of Ljungberg.

Seattle scored first. In the 17th minute Fredy Montero got his fourth goal of the season. Montero, making a near-post run, received a James Riley cross and shot off the post. The ball ricocheted back to Montero and he delivered past goalkeeper Matt Pickens. The goal was Montero’s first since scoring three in the first two games.

In the 25th minute Colorado’s Colin Clark evened the score. Omar Cummings sent in a cross from Clark coming from the far-post and redirected it right for his second goal this season.

Keller made four saves in the first half to deny Colorado the lead. Keller was able to get a finger on a Casey header hammered point-blank in the 35th minute, and in extra time made another sprawling save and poked the ball away off the foot of Nick LaBrocca in a one-on-one situation.

The Rapids took the 2-1 advantage early in the second half. Casey got past a few Sounders FC defenders in the box using a step over move, delivered far post with his left foot and the ball deflected off Vagenas and past Keller for the go-ahead in the 47th minute.

Nate Jaqua kicks high to get the ball away from the Rapids' Pablo Mastroeni. (Will Powers / AP)

Nate Jaqua scored the equalizer in the 76th minute. The play was set up by a Riley cross to Montero, who headed the ball down to Jaqua and he knocked it past Pickens for his second goal of the season.

The Sounders FC had a number of chances to take the lead before the final whistle. In the 83rd minute Steve Zakuani broke open in the middle of the field, but his right footed shot bounced into the arms of Pickens. Zakuani had a second shot saved point-blank from 6 yards by Pickens in the 86th minute when Sebastien Le Toux passed through a throng of defenders and found an open Zakuani in front of the goal.

Both teams face off again Tuesday night in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila.

Seattle is in second place in the MLS Western Conference with 16 points. Its next league game is Saturday, May 30 against the Columbus Crew on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

Scoring Summary:
SEA- Montero (unassisted) 17
COL- Clark (Cummings, Ballouchy) 25
COL- Casey (Clark) 47
SEA- Jaqua (Montero, Riley) 76

Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-4): Kasey Keller, Osvaldo Alonso (Stephen King 2), James Riley, Peter Vagenas (Patrick Ianni 71), Sebastien Le Toux, Steve Zakuani, Nathan Sturgis (Tyson Wahl 80), Tyrone Marshall, Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado

Substitutes Not Used: Ben Dragavon, Sanna Nyassi, Roger Levesque, Taylor Graham

Colorado Rapids (3-2-4): Matt Pickens, Jordan Harvey, Ugo Ihemelu (Kosuke Kimura 71), Cory Gibbs, Mehdi Ballouchy, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings (Jacob Peterson 79), Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, Scott Palguta (Ty Harden 77)

Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Greg Dalby, Terry Cooke, Gregory Richardson

Misconduct Summary:
SEA- Jaqua (caution; Reckless Tackle) 28
SEA- Hurtado (caution; Reckless Tackle) 57
SEA- Vagenas (caution; Handball) 61
COL- Ihemelu (caution; Reckless Tackle) 67

Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee's Assistants: Darren Clark, Frank Anderson
Fourth Official: Ben Chouaf
Attendance: 16,528