[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] MLS clubs, winless in 24 games in Mexico, have made it two wins in two games on Mexican soil in this year's group stage of the Concacaf Champions League. UNAM, the 2011 Clausura champion, had the excuse of fielding a reserve team when it fell to FC Dallas last week. But Monterrey, the reigning Concacaf champ, had no such excuse, losing to the Seattle Sounders, 1-0, despite fielding most of its stars. This time it was the Sounders who showed off their depth, starting only two players who started in Seattle's 1-0 win at FC Dallas on Saturday

Seattle went ahead on Uruguayan Alvaro Fernandez's goal in the 38th minute and then held off the Rayados, who started six starters from Saturday's game at Guadalajara, plus Chilean star Humberto Suazo, who has been injured and was the player the Sounders needed to stop.

"Last time we played here," said Seattle coach Sigi Schmid of the 3-2 loss in last year's group stage, "Suazo destroyed us. We wanted to make sure we didn't give him too much space. We were happy with that defensively and we wanted to try some counterattacks. I thought we had a couple counterattacks, scored a goal on one."

Monterrey wasn't about to make the same mistake as UNAM did. The Rayados had trailed a team of Sounder reserves, 2-0, at halftime last year before coming back to win. They won the Concacaf title after drawing with Real Salt Lake at home in the first leg of the final.

"The last time we were here, we scored two goals but we needed three," said Schmid. "It was important for us to play to zero tonight because we felt it would give us a better chance. I think the difference for us was that we have grown up a little bit as a team. We are more mature now. With the experience we had last year, we know what to expect and we didn't make silly mistakes because we have grown up a little bit."
 
Seattle opened with four straight losses and was quickly eliminated last year, but its win on Tuesday gives it two wins in two games.

"To come into Monterrey and win gives our team confidence as we go into games in the future," added Schmid. "Obviously we left some very important players on our team at home because of the amount of games that we play. So to win with the team we had we are very, very pleased."

Aug. 23 in Monterrey
Monterrey 0 Seattle 1. Goal: Fernandez 38.
Monterrey -- Orozco, Morales (Ayovi, 62), Meza (Osorio 82), Mier, Chavez, L.Perez, Corona (Carreno 73), Zavala, Cardozo, Suazo, de Nigris.
Seattle -- Boss, Riley, Wahl, Parke, Scott, Evans, Carrasco, Fernandez  (Gonzalez 76), Levesque (Sanyang 83), Jaqua (Alonso 65), Noonan.

Monterrey-Seattle Highlights: