Timing is always mentioned when talking about Raul Ruidiaz’s goals.

SEATTLE — João Paulo scored his second goal of the season and the Seattle Sounders beat Minnesota United 1-0 on Saturday to extend their lead atop the Western Conference.

The message is clear to all local sports fans: If you want to attend a game this fall, vax up and mask up.

It was the comeback the Sounders couldn’t create in December 2020.

Don’t call Sunday’s match a breakthrough. Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer feels his team has shaken off the last of its recent doldrums since the calendar turned to August.

Raul Ruidiaz scored the go-ahead goal directly off a free kick and the Seattle Sounders went on to beat the rival Portland Timbers 6-2 in a Cascadia Cup match Sunday night.

Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer hopes to have at least one of his two vacant technical staff positions filled by the MLS All-Star game, which is Aug. 25.

The last of the Sounders’ impressive streaks fell Saturday.

Raúl Ruidíaz scored a spectacular goal from 40 yards out midway through the second half and the short-handed Seattle Sounders beat expansion Austin FC 1-0.

TUKWILA, Wash. – Sounders center back Nouhou is expected to travel with the club for its road match Sunday against Minnesota United.

SEATTLE — Colombia still runs through Fredy Montero.

SEATTLE – On a steamy summer night, Vancouver nearly had all the moves to cool off the Sounders.

Raul Ruidiaz stood idle in Lumen Field’s north penalty box.

In the absence of space, Raul Ruidiaz can still find a way to score.

When the Seattle Sounders entered this past three-week FIFA international break, coach Brian Schmetzer expected a different roster upon return to MLS play. But the unexpected availability of striker Raul Ruidiaz brings a different challenge – can the club retain momentum as the top team in the league?

Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who has missed the past two matches after suffering a sprained left knee in a match May 12, will be out indefinitely after developing a blood clot as a complication related to the injury, coach Brian Schmetzer said Friday.

How good are the Seattle Sounders? The club is off to a franchise-best start but treated Sunday’s draw against Atlanta United FC like a loss. Seattle (5-0-2) remains atop MLS’s overall league standings with one match left on the schedule before a FIFA break.