Rapids lose sixth in row as Sounders dominate D.C. United 5, Impact 0.

SEATTLE» Raul Ruidiaz scored twice off assists from Nicolas Lodeiro and the Seattle Sounders beat the Rapids 40.

The Rapids (6186) lost their sixth in a row, and coach Anthony Hudson didn’t dodge the matter.

“In the end, overall, we got beat by them,” Hudson said. “They’re a better team. It’s a bad day. I think myself, the players, we’re all very disappointed. Today really highlights the gap in terms of where we’re at as a team. A team like Seattle … we were completely outclassed in most departments. A disappointing day.”

Ruidiaz opened the scoring in the 22nd minute for the Sounders (14115). Cristian Roldan fed the rebound of Lodeiro’s saved attempt back to Lodeiro, who passed it over to Ruidiaz for the finish from the middle of the area.

Colorado’s Kellyn Acosta tripped Lodeiro just inside the edge of the penalty box and Lodeiro made it 20 in the 52nd minute, converting from the spot into the lower right corner.

Lodeiro settled Victor Rodriguez’s pass and laid it off to Ruidiaz to make it 30 in the 73rd minute.

Rodriguez capped the scoring in the 80th minute with a rightfooted blast into the far corner.

Asked about his early substitution of Niki Jackson for Nana Boateng, Hudson said: “A few reasons, really. We’re coming into the game understrength in terms of strikers. Their centerbacks were being quite physical and strong against Enzo (Martinez) and we weren’t keeping the ball. We wanted to get more of a threat in behind with Niki Jackson. That was the reason for that change. Again, it’s an area of the pitch where we’re not so much of a threat really, which is a challenge for us.”

The Rapids trailed only 10 at halftime before the game got out of hand.

“In the second half, as soon as we came out, I thought we started quite well,” Hudson said. “I think we were a lot more aggressive and tried to impose ourselves on the game, but the penalty killed us. Then again, playing against a team like this with the quality that they have, you go two goals down and it’s just very, very tough.”

Luciano Acosta had a goal and three assists, Wayne Rooney and Paul Arriola each scored two secondhalf goals, and D.C. United beat Montreal.

United (10118) closed within two points of the Impact (12154) for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. D.C. has two games in hand.

Bill Hamid had five saves for his second shutout.