SEATTLE -- Clint Dempsey always seems to save his best performances for the biggest games. He did it again on Thursday.
Dempsey scored a pair of second-half goals — giving him five in his past four playoff appearances — to lead the Seattle Sounders to a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Western Conference semifinals. The Sounders will next host the winner of the Houston Dynamo-Portland Timbers series in the conference finals after the upcoming international window.
Up until Dempsey’s first goal in the 56th minute, the match seemed to be shaping up as a frustrating affair for the Sounders.