The Sounders advanced with early goals by defenders Taylor Graham, and Zach Scott., followed by an own goal by the Rapids. Seattle added second-half goals by Josh Gardner and Sebastien Le Toux.

This is the first time in the MLS era the Sounders have advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

In the 19th minute, Colorado put a cross into the box drawing goalkeeper Chris Eylander off his line committed to stopping the ball. But a deflection put the ball at the foot of Conor Casey who took a point blank shot. Sounders defender Danny Jackson was able to recover to clear the shot out of danger.

Minutes later, Gardner on the corner kick sent an inswinger to the head of Taylor Graham who put the ball into the back to the net for a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. It was Graham’s first goal of the season for the Sounders.

In the 25th minute, the Sounders’ momentum continued as Leighton O’Brien took a free kick from 30 yards out and found the head of Zach Scott, who came running through the Colorado defense for the 2-0 advantage.

The Sounders struck again just before half time as a deflection off Rapids goalkeeper Zach Thornton landed in the back of the net. Gardner played a ball into Roger Levesque, Levesque was able to get around the Rapid defense and take a point blank shot on Thornton, the ball deflected off Thornton and into his own defender and into the back of the Rapids net.

In the 49th minute, Facundo Erpen made a huge mental mistake when he made a cleats-up tackle into the thigh of Roger Levesque and received yellow card of the game, resulting in an automatic red. That left Colorado with 10 men for the final 42 minutes of the game.

The Sounders found the back of the net again in the 56th minute as Sebastien Le Toux patiently drew in the Rapids defense. Once Le Toux made the defenders commit, he found the onrushing Gardner. With time, Gardner placed the ball just past the fingertips of Thornton. That pushed Seattle’s lead to 4-0.

Le Toux pushed the Sounders’ lead to 5-0 in the 68th minute when he out-ran three Rapids defenders and rip a shot past goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

FC Dallas of MLS will be at Qwest Field on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7p.m. for the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. Tickets will go on sale for season-ticket holders starting Wednesday, Aug. 8, through the Seattle Sounders office at 206-622-3415. Tickets for the general public will go on sale Monday, Aug. 13 at 10 AM through Ticketmaster and the Seattle Sounders. Visit www.seattlesounders.net for more information.

The next regular-season game for the Sounders is Saturday, Aug. 11 at Qwest Field against the Minnesota Thunder.

Stats:

Goals: Seattle: Graham 23 (Gardner), Scott 25 (O’Brien, Own Goal 41(Levesque), Gardner 56 (Le Toux), Le Toux

Line Ups: Seattle: Eylander, Sakuda, Jackson, Graham, Scott, Treschuk (Knox 79), Alcaraz-Cuellar, O’Brien (Howes 45), Gardner, Le Toux (Schmid 71), Levesque (Merl 56)

Colorado: Thornton, Prideaux, Ihemelu, Erpen, Clark (Hernandez 45), Peterson, Mastroeni (Kiroviski 60), Cancela (Gargan 51), Ballouchy, Casey, Gomez (Osorno 64)

Cautions: Seattle: Treschuk ’30, O’Brien 42, Le Toux ‘68 Colorado: Gomex ’30, Erpen 38, Cancela 42, Erpen – ejection 49

Shots: SEA: 7 CLR: 7

Saves SEA: 3 CLR: 3

OffSide: SEA: 6 CLR: 1

Corners: SEA: 7 CLR: 1

Attendance: 6,619