The lone goal came in the 16th minute, when Freddy Montero claimed a lose ball, touched it forward once, then slipped a pass to Mauro Rosales who knocked a shot past Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
The Sounders protected that lead the rest of the way before a crowd of 11,635 at Pizza Hut Park.
Seattle also got a boost in the 56th minute, when Dallas’ Daniel Cruz received his second yellow card of the game, this one for diving. That gave the Sounders a one-man advantage the rest of the way – no small thing considering the temperature was 100 degrees at kickoff.
Despite that, the Hoops continued to swarm, ending with 23 shots to Seattle’s six, and putting four on goal to Seattle’s two.
Dallas’ last chances came in the final minute of stoppage time, when Kasey Keller knocked away a cross and then got off the turf in time to make a diving save.
“The weather was a monster,” Keller told television station KONG. “We were a man up, we just didn’t hold the ball well enough. They put us under pressure like you would at the end. Of course, they’re going to take risks and pump the ball in the box. They made us work for that win. It’s a good win for us. … It puts us into second place, but it was a tough game.”
The result ended one Sounders streak. They got their first win in six tries in Texas, moving to 1-3-2.
More important, Seattle climbed to 12-5-9 for 45 points on the season, sliding past Dallas (12-7-7, 43). Seattle also got good news from some other Western Conference results, as fourth-place Colorado settled for a home draw with Chivas USA and fifth-place Real Salt Lake lost at Houston.
