Sounders FC face Sporting Kansas City in knockout round Thursday at CenturyLink Field

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Sounders will host Sporting Kansas City on Thursday in the knockout round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Cristian Roldan broke a tie in the 31st minute and the Sounders wrapped up an MLS playoff berth with a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

The Sounders (14-14-6, 48 points) made the playoffs for the eighth year in a row. They have never missed the postseason since joining MLS in 2009.

Seattle will go in as the West's No. 4 seed. The match is at 7 p.m. Thursday on FS1. (get tickets here).

Real Salt Lake (12-12-10, 46 points) also got in, thanks to Portland's 4-1 loss at Vancouver that eliminated the defending champion Timbers. RSL will be the West's No. 6 seed and visit Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.

Nicolas Lodeiro helped set up Roldan's goal when he floated a corner kick from the left wing side into the box. Goalkeeper Nick Romando slapped away Roman Torres' header, but the ball deflected off defender Luke Mulholland, who was standing just to Rimando's right. It went straight to Roldan, who drilled it in from two yards in front for his fourth of the year.

The teams traded goals in the first four minutes. Alvaro Fernandez gave Seattle the lead in the third, and Mulholland pulled Salt Lake level in the fourth.

The Portland Timbers could only muster one goal as they lost to the Whitecaps in Vancouver yesterday to close out the MLS regular season. Portland finished the season without a win on the road, with the defending MLS Cup champions also out of the playoffs.

MLS Playoff Glance

All Times Pacific
Knockout Round
(Conference third seed vs. sixth, and fourth seed vs. fifth seed in a single-game elimination match)

Wednesday, October 26
Eastern Conference
(3) Toronto FC vs. (6) Philadelphia Union, 4:30 p.m.
Western Conference
(3) LA Galaxy vs. (6) Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 27
Eastern Conference
(4) D.C. United vs. (5) Montreal Impact, 4:30 p.m.
Western Conference
(4) Seattle Sounders FC vs. (5) Sporting Kansas City, 7 p.m.