SEATTLE — The continued evolution of midfielder Cristian Roldan into a full-fledged Sounders star erupted Sunday night in a furious flurry.

By the time Roldan was done, the visiting San Jose Earthquakes were in retreat mode in what became a 3-0 win by the Sounders that lifted them over .500 for the first time this season. Roldan scored the two quickest goals by one player in team history and continued the ferocious offensive tear he’s been on since returning last week from U.S. men’s national team duty.

The Sounders have seven goals in their past two games while missing several top offensive stars, an unexpected development attributable largely to Roldan’s elevated level of play.

“Obviously, the international level is a little bit faster,” said Roldan, who has scored three times in two games since returning. “You have to think. You have to take a better first touch. And you know, maybe in the early part of the season I wasn’t able to play as a ‘No. 10’ (scoring threat) because the play is so much faster and attacking-wise you’re always on the hot seat.

“Now that maybe it’s slowed down a little bit, I was able to step in there and play my part.”

A crowd of 43,528 fans at CenturyLink Field was lifted from their seats by Roldan nearly completing his hat trick in the 79th minute. Roldan hustled his way past a defender and beat goalkeeper David Bingham with a hard shot to his right, only to have it ring off the post.

But between his goals in the 54th and 56th minute and another by Dutch newcomer Kelvin Leerdam off a Joevin Jones corner kick in the 65th minute, the Sounders already had all the offense they needed.

Leerdam played a role on Roldan’s opening goal, letting fly with an unusually long throw-in that Gustav Svensson flicked toward the box with his head. Roldan had broken into the box and was in perfect position to head one by Bingham.

For Leerdam, such throws have become commonplace in practice and in games with his former Dutch squad last season.

“Normally, in Holland every (throw) is short, short, short,” he said. “But last year, we had a coach who taught us to … sometimes just throw it into the box and see what happens.”

Leerdam, making his first Major League Soccer start, said the Sounders found it difficult to break beyond the five-midfielder formation deployed by the Earthquakes. The Sounders started Leerdam at right back, Nouhou Tolo at left back and moved Jones up with Roldan as attacking midfielders to generate more speed early on.

But despite looking more energetic, the Sounders couldn’t break through for a first-half goal. Their best chance came when Roldan fed a perfect pass to Jones at the goal mouth only to have him whiff on the tap-in.

Leerdam’s long second-half throw changed that and opened the floodgates.

“My role was to crash the box after the flick (from Svensson) — hoping that there was a flick,” Roldan said. “But, yeah, we trained for that in practice. Set pieces can win you games and this one specifically, we trained for it and I was supposed to be the guy crashing the box.”

Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer has noticed a difference in Roldan, whom he had limited mainly to a defensive role until turning him loose with so many regulars still out. Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris remain with the U.S. national team while Nicolas Lodeiro was suspended Sunday for having picked up a red card last week.

Schmetzer noted that Roldan squared off in this contest against Anibal Godoy, the Earthquakes’ star midfielder from Panama.

“He’s had a terrific career with Panama and is a very, very high-level international player,” Schmetzer said of Godoy. “And there were some learning moments for Cristian in that first half because I felt Godoy was good for them as always.

“But Cristian, as the game progressed, was able to think through, outwork and get the better of Godoy in the second half. So I think that his taste of the international game, by training with the national team and playing against a guy like Godoy tonight, I think that helps him a lot.”

It’s helped the Sounders as well at a time they most needed a new star to emerge.