Only one United Soccer Leagues First Division team, the Minnesota Thunder, has as many ties this season as the Seattle Sounders.

It was fitting that the teams played to a scoreless tie last night in front of 2,672 fans at Qwest Field.

But Seattle wanted more.

The Sounders (9-3-8) remained tied for third place in the USL First Division with Richmond at 35 points and missed a chance to jump into a second-place tie with Rochester. The Thunder (5-8-8, 22 points) was happy to salvage a tie after playing on back-to-back nights and three times in four nights.

The Sounders, however, would rather have bagged a home win against a tired team, but really didn't get a good scoring opportunity.

"It would've been nice to take three points instead of one, as hard as we worked out there," said Sounders goalkeeper Preston Burpo. "Everyone played hard. It was just one of those nights where we couldn't tuck one away."

Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer would have liked to see more effort from his club.

"We didn't play with near enough energy," Schmetzer said. "It's a home game, and we need to win those. They (the Thunder) were more aggressive. They were pressing forward. We could've worked harder."

Minnesota controlled the play in a scoreless first half, outshooting Seattle 6-3. Both teams finished with 12 shots.

"We don't give away a lot of goals, and we don't lose a lot," Schmetzer said of his team's eight ties. "That can be construed as a positive. Not losing matches is going to help us in the playoffs."

Notes

• The Sounders finish the last set of back-to-back matches in the regular season today in Portland against the Timbers. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at PGE Park.

• Seattle hosts its third annual Kids Day at Qwest Field against a local club, the Hibernian Saints, at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Gates open at 10 a.m. for the exhibition match.

• Burpo registered his 11th shutout of the season and fourth in a row for a streak of 362 scoreless minutes. He made four saves to run his Sounders record of regular-season saves to 599.

Sounders 0, Thunder 0 (Shots — Min 12, Sea 12. Saves — Min (Warren) 4, Sea (Burpo) 4. Fouls — Min 17, Sea 10. Corner kicks — Min 0, Sea 5. Cautions — Min (Paye 31:00, Friedland 46:00, Brunt 62:00), Sea (Sleeth 20:00, O'Brien 32:00, Edwards 81:00, Brown 89:00). Att — 2,672.)