Two second-half goals Thursday night by Raul Ruidiaz to twice avoid playoff elimination at the hands of the visiting Portland Timbers, then another overtime marker by Nicolas Lodeiro to keep the dream alive.

The Sounders have some injuries and aren't thrilled about snubs to Stefan Frei and Chad Marshall in individual league award results heading into Thursday's second leg of the Western Conference semifinal.

Star Seattle Sounders defender Chad Marshall will miss the second leg of the MLS Western Conference semifinals because of knee surgery. Coach Brian Schmetzer says the center back was having surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee. There was no word on how long the anchor of Seattle’s defense will be out. Marshall was hurt during Seattle’s 2-1 loss to Portland in the first leg.

The Portland Timbers did what they needed to do at home for the first go-round against the rival Seattle Sounders in the MLS playoffs.

Raul Ruidiaz scored two second-half goals and the Sounders rallied to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Sunday in the regular-season finale to grab second place in the Western Conference.

The Seattle Sounders will again be in the postseason thanks to another midseason turnaround that may be the most remarkable of the past three seasons. The Sounders have won 13 of the past 15 matches, including a league record nine-game winning streak at one point. The run has vaulted the Sounders back near the top of the Western Conference standings heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against San Jose at CenturyLink Field.

Victor Rodriguez had a goal and an assist to help the Seattle Sounders beat Orlando City 2-1 and clinch their 10th consecutive playoff berth. Seattle (16-11-5) has won three games in a row and 12 of its last 14.

Raul Ruidiaz scored twice off assists from Nicolas Lodeiro and the Seattle Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 4-0.

The Sounders close out the final five matches of 2018 with a great chance to pad their playoff positioning against the three worst Western Conference teams and the worst squad in the Eastern Conference. But overconfidence will be a key thing to avoid, starting Saturday at home against Colorado.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 18th goal of the season and Los Angeles beat the Seattle Sounders 3-0 on Sunday for Dominic Kinnear’s first victory as the Galaxy’s interim coach.

Sounders forward Will Bruin is likely to start up top in place of injured Raul Ruidiaz against his former coach Dominic Kinnear, now running the crumbling Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy will have star Zlatan Ibrahimovic and others in action Sunday that missed a 5-0 throttling by the Sounders last month.