SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 28: Lawrence Ennali #11 of Houston Dynamo FC and Hassani Dotson #31 of the Seattle Sounders chase the ball during a game between Houston Dynamo FC and the Seattle Sounders on October 28, 2026 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washingto (Henry Rodenburg / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The playoff push for the Seattle Sounders took a significant blow on Wednesday night.
The Houston Dynamo earned their first ever victory in Seattle in 18 tries, beating the Sounders 1-0 behind a 26th minute goal by Lucas Halter. The Sounders had been 13-0-4 lifetime against the Dynamo in MLS play at Lumen Field prior to Wednesday night.
The Sounders thoroughly dominated play throughout the night, out-shooting the Dynamo by a 21-2 margin. But one of those two chances found the back of the net for Houston to claim the victory.
Seattle fell iout of the seventh-seed in the playoff picture as the Colorado Rapids jumped them via tiebreaker with a 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders are just one point ahead of Real Salt Lake in ninth, and two points ahead of the Los Angeles Galaxy in 10th. The top nine seeds make the postseason, but the bottom two seeds meet in a play-in game for the final spot in the eight-team bracket.
The backstory:
Seattle held a 70-30 edge in possession, and out-shot the Dynamo by an 8-1 margin in the first half. Jonathan Bond delivered four saves for Houston, including a pair in the 41st minute against Jesús Ferreira and Albert Rusnák to keep the Sounders from equalizing.
Cristian Roldan had a great chance off a quick restart free-kick go wide left in the 4th minute, and another chance in the 13th minute deflected off a Houston defender for a corner kick.
Despite the significant edge in play to Seattle, the Dynamo capitalized on their lone chance of the half to take the lead.
In the 26th minute, Dejan Joveljić and Sebastian Gomez each missed a chance at a defensive header on a corner kick by Mateusz Bogusz. The ball instead fell to Lucas Halter for a header off a bounce that beat Andrew Thomas for his first career MLS goal.
Bond denied a header chance for Joveljić in the 45h minute, and Jackson Ragen whiffed on a header chance off a corner kick in stoppage time as Houston carried their advantage into the break.
After replacing Nouhou at half, Paul Arriola made a terrific defensive play to prevent a dangerous chance for Houston. With Ragen falling down, Bogusz attacked the goal. Bogusz attempted to pass it off to a charging option up his right side, but Arriola broke up the pass to deny a major chance for Houston to extend their advantage.
The Sounders generally continued to control the play in the second half, but the Dynamo packed it in defensively and denied chances. Seattle attempted several passes into the box from wide looking for headers that never landed.
Joveljić had a chance in the box in the 89th minute that deflected away, and a follow-up header by Ragen wasn't on target.
Seattle got five more shots away in the four-minute stoppage time, but couldn't connect. Arriola, Caden Clark, Ragen, and a pair of shot chances for Jordan Morris couldn't get through Boyd. Morris' header floated over the bar ahead of the final whistle as the Dynamo got their first ever win in Seattle.
What's next:
The Sounders face the Vancouver Whitecaps – the top-seed in the Western Conference – on Sunday at BC Place. The regular season concludes at home against LAFC on Saturday, November 7.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
MORE SOUNDERS NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE
Seattle Sounders blow lead, salvage 2-2 draw vs San Diego
Seattle Sounders take on San Diego FC Saturday
Seattle Sounders hope for strong finish after disappointing home draw
Seattle Sounders win streak snapped in 1-0 loss to FC Dallas
Seattle Sounders extend unbeaten streak to 9 with 3-0 win
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.