SANDY, Utah -- Seattle's first goal of the MLS season was Osvaldo Alonso's first in 96 games, and it gave the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute of 464501211" tabindex="0">Saturday's match against Western Conference foes Real Salt Lake.
Alonso hadn't scored since July 2012, but struck in the 28th minute of the game at Rio Tinto Stadium. Joevin Jones found space down the left side for a cross, which Nelson Valdez directed on frame. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando made the save, but Alonso had no trouble putting the rebound in from his unmarked spot at the back post.
Still, the goal was not enough to prevent Seattle from suffering a 2-1 loss.
"It feels great," Alonso said. "It had been a lot of games without scoring a goal and I have one early in the season, but I'm disappointed in the loss."
Losing away to Real Salt Lake has happened more often than not for the Sounders in recent years. Seattle have lost five straight on the road to RSL and haven't won a regular-season match at Rio Tinto Stadium since May 28, 2011. Sigi Schmid's men did come out triumphant in the away leg of a playoff series in 2012, though.
Alonso's goal gave the Sounders a glimmer of hope that they could prevail on Saturday, but RSL struck for an equalizer on a set piece before halftime.
"In the first half, we played good," Alonso said. "We had the goal and we had the run of the game."
Seattle didn't get back to their strong first-half form except in spurts after the intermission, and RSL ultimately found the game-winner in the 86th minute.
Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid said he was "happy for how we played on the road" in the first half, but one good half wasn't enough to snap two long streaks 464501212" tabindex="0">on Saturday.
Even so, the Sounders, now at 0-2-0 on the season, do not plan to dwell on this defeat for long.
"We want to forgot about what happened," Alonso said. "We still have plenty of games to play still. Now we have to focus and forget about what happened today."
