FOXBORO, Mass. — Sounders FC combined Fredy Montero's offense with sterling play by goalkeeper Kasey Keller and rallied for a 2-1 victory Saturday over the New England Revolution.

Montero scored both Seattle goals and now has five goals and three assists in his past six MLS games.

Keller made seven saves, including several of the highlight-show variety, as the Sounders (16-6-9) earned three points. That enabled them to clinch one of three automatic berths in the conference semifinals.

Montero's first goal came in the 36th minute — barely a minute after New England (5-14-12) scored for a 1-0 lead. Montero carried the ball a good 20 yards and lined in a shot from just outside the box.

"When you're down one goal the thing is to tie the game," said Montero. "It gave us more energy and enabled us to keep going and fighting for the rest of the game."

Seattle and New England (5-14-12) went off at the half locked in a 1-1 tie, though if it weren't for two brilliant saves by Keller the Revolution could have led 3-1.

Keller dove to his right and punched away a direct kick by Diego Fagundez and then robbed Ray Guy on a shot from inside the box.

A defensive lapse contributed to the Revolution's goal when an unmarked Fagundez headed in a corner kick by Benny Fielhaber in the 35th minute. But Seattle tied it with Montero's first goal.

Montero scored the game-winner in the 47th minute on a play that began with Keller's clearing kick.

Nate Jaqua passed to Montero inside the box and Montero slid the ball past Matt Reis, who tried in vain to come out and reduce the angle.

"He's in good form right now," coach Sigi Schmid said of Montero. "When a goal scorer's hot, you continue to bet on him and ride him. That was one of the reasons why we started Fredy tonight.

"We were looking to get somewhere between 45 and 60 to 70 minutes out of him and then get him off the field. He rewarded us with two goals. Hopefully, he'll carry that into Tuesday's game (the U.S. Open Cup final)."

This was Seattle's sixth come-from-behind victory.

"The team has a lot of character," said Schmid. "In the last couple of games it seems once the opponent scores, we sort of wake up and play a little bit better. But I thought in the first half we were pretty sluggish.

"I thought in the second half we played much better. We were more compact and did what we had to do tonight."

Keller, obviously, did what he had to do to keep Seattle in contention.

"He was good," said Schmid. "I think some of the saves were obviously good and some were routine for a guy like him. I know he didn't feel well about the goal he gave up in Guatemala but he's a great pro. He's one of the best the U.S. has ever seen."

First half — 1, New England, Fagundez 2 (Feilhaber), 35th minute. 2, Seattle, Montero 10, 36th. Second half — 3, Seattle, Montero 11, 48th. Goalies — Seattle, Kasey Keller; New England, Matt Reis. Shots — Seattle 3, New England 10. Shots on goal — Seattle 1, New England 3. Saves — Seattle 2, New England 0. Fouls — Seattle 8, New England 3. Corner kicks — Seattle 0, New England 4. Offsides — Seattle 2, New England 1. Yellow cards — Montero, Seattle, 29th; Caraglio, New England, 84th. Referee — Jorge Gonzalez. Assistant referees — Greg Barkey. Claudio Badea. 4th official — Geoff Gamble. A — 21,022.

LINEUPS

Seattle — Kasey Keller, Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle, 46th), David Estrada, Erik Friberg (Osvaldo Alonso, 79th), Servando Carrasco, Nate Jaqua, Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero (Michael Fucito, 68th).

New England — Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Darrius Barnes, 68th), A.J. Soares, Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Chris Tierney, Ryan Guy, Diego Fagundez, Monsef Zerka (Pat Phelan, 68th), Milton Caraglio.