Seattle wins MLS Cup on penalty shootout

TORONTO — As homecomings go, the MLS Cup final is going to be hard to beat for Seattle’s Stefan Frei.

Frei made critical saves in regulation and then again in the penalty-kick shootout to help the Sounders win their first championship with a 54 victory in the tiebreaker against Toronto FC on Saturday night.

The Swiss goalkeeper, who was drafted by Toronto in 2009 and spent five seasons with the club until he was traded in 2013, earned the game’s MVP honors.

“This is what you want to be a part of,” he said. “We’ve made Sounders history and for me it could have happened anywhere, I don’t care as long as I’m with my team and my teammates.”

Roman Torres scored in the sixth round of penalty kicks to clinch the trophy after 120 scoreless minutes. It was the first MLS Cup final to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a dramatic tiebreaker.

While Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Alvaro Fernandez for Seattle had both seen their shots saved, the game went to sudden-death spot kicks. Toronto’s Justin Morrow could only clatter his shot off the crossbar, setting the stage for Torres to win it with a high shot down the middle of the goal.

“You need a little bit of luck,” Frei said. “Let’s face it, PKs are not the prettiest thing to decide a game, and actually Roman missed a penalty in training yesterday. I’m glad he missed yesterday and not today.”