MLS Seattle Sounders FC

Sounders FC News & Notes

Published on February 27, 2012 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Final Nine Days: One Last Tune-up before Santos

After spending much of the previous month prepping under the Arizona and Florida sun, the Rave Green returned to their roots for a final tune-up in the frigid Pacific Northwest winter.

Sounders FC will host Mexican side Jaguares de Chiapas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT in the annual "Community Shield" charity match at CenturyLink Field. The match is free admission with all donations benefiting the club's community partners.

Just one week later, Sounders FC will kick off the competitive soccer season with a match against Mexico's Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Seattle hosts Santos in the home leg on March 7 with the second leg in Torreon, Mexico on March 14.

The winner of the aggregate-goal series advances to the semifinals to face LA Galaxy or Toronto FC. Potentially just six games separate Sounders FC from being named the top club in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and advancing to the FIFA Club World Cup.

Seattle concluded 13 days on the road in Cancun, Mexico with a win over Atlante FC last Wednesday. In six preseason games, Sounders FC has won four and tied twice, scoring at least one goal in every game and multiple in the past four.

The Rave Green look to continue their winning ways on Wednesday against Jaguares, who will be the second of three Mexican Primera Division clubs that Seattle will face in a three-week span.

Seattle will open MLS play at home with a match against Toronto FC on Saturday, March 17. Following the opener, Sounders FC will have two more home games in March as Houston and San Jose visit the Emerald City.

Season tickets can be purchased by visiting www.SoundersFC.com or phoning 1-877-MLS-GOAL. Tickets for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal are available at www.SoundersFC.com, by calling 800-745-3000 and the CenturyLink Field Box Office as well as all Ticketmaster outlets.

Free Play: Great Action, No Charge!

Sounders FC will host its third annual "Community Shield" match on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Seattle will face Jaguares de Chiapas of the Mexican Primera Division.

This year's match will be free of charge but the team is encouraging fans to pay it forward. Donations will be accepted at the gates for the team's charity partners. Proceeds from the match will benefit the team's five community partners: America SCORES Seattle, Boys & Girls Clubs (King Co. & Bellevue), Special Olympics Washington, Washington Global Health and Washington Youth Soccer.

The Community Shield match is presented by adidas. During a halftime presentation, adidas will make a $2,000 donation to Sounders FC community partners and will host many of their youth soccer clubs at the match.

Gates will open at 6 p.m. Seating is first come, first serve throughout the lower east bowl.

Tweet That: Meet Club Jaguares

Jaguares de Chiapas plays in the Mexican Primera Division and currently sit in the middle of the Clausura table with nine points through the first eight games. Chiapas beat Tecos, 1-0, on Saturday for their third win of the season. Colombian Jackson Martinez has scored five of the team's nine league goals and the 25-year-old, No. 9 striker has added two assists. The club is also known for replacing the names on the back of their jerseys with players' twitter handles.

Green Revolution: New FieldTurf at CenturyLink Field

The new FieldTurf Revolution artificial grass surface has been installed at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC took to the new pitch for the first time on Monday and Tuesday for training sessions, and will play for the first game on Wednesday against Jaguares de Chiapas.

The FieldTurf Revolution system is built with the Revolution fiber and is the result of innovative science, engineering and technology that will provide a playing surface that features a soft and strong monofilament fiber. FieldTurf plans to recycle the old stadium field.

The first competitive match on the new surface will be March 7 when Sounders FC hosts Santos Laguna.

Los Sounders : Three Weeks with Mexican Flair

Seattle will face three teams from the Mexican Primera Division in four games over a three-week span from February 22-March 14. Two of the games will be at CenturyLink Field with two in Mexico. Seattle began the stretch last week with a victory in Cancun, Mexico over Atlante FC. Sounders FC will next host Jaguares de Chiapas and Santos Laguna in Seattle before returning to Mexico for a match in Torreon.

Sounders FC has never played three top division Mexican sides in such a short span. Before last week, the only Mexican club Seattle had faced in competition was CF Monterrey, winning once and dropping three in four CONCACAF Champions League matchups. The Rave Green became the second U.S. club to win a competitive match in Mexico when they beat Monterrey, 1-0, at Estadio Tecnologico. The Rave Green also hosted Chivas Guadalajara in a 2010 friendly, winning 3-1.

Seattle Adaptation: New Players Integrate

In the busiest offseason of its three-year history, the Sounders FC coaching staff is now fitting the pieces together, and the end product has come together well. Unbeaten in six preseason games (4-0-2) and outscoring opponents 17 to four, the Seattle newcomers have integrated well into the group.

Michael Gspurning is at home in the Seattle goal frame, and his teammates and coaches alike have taken to the towering Austrian. Right back Adam Johansson has joined one of the league's stingiest backlines and, not only can the Swede defend, but he is not shy to join the attack, where he has created a strong bond-both on and off the pitch-with right midfielder Mauro Rosales.

Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek has also made immediate impact in training sessions and preseason games as the speedy winger has netted two goals and an assist. U.S. international Eddie Johnson will don the Rave Green this season. It didn't take the striker long to do what coach Sigi Schmid expects as Johnson scored just 11 minutes into his first preseason game with the club.

Santos Slowing: Los Guerreros Hit Rough Patch

Santos Laguna is tied-fifth in the Mexican Clausura after losing to Guadalajara, 2-1, last week. Santos has not won in its past three outings with a 3-1 loss to Morelia and a 1-1 draw with Monterrey preceding the game against the Goats. Santos had been atop the standings through the first seven games as the club went unbeaten in its first five matches (4-0-1).

Santos will play one more match before the March 7 contest in Seattle when they face San Luis on March 3. Santos also has a game in between the two CCL legs on March 10 against Puebla.

Road to Glory: How Seattle, Santos Reached Quarterfinals

Both Sounders FC and Santos began their title chase in the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Seattle downed Panama's San Francisco FC, 2-1 on aggregate, while Santos flew past Olimpia of Honduras, 5-2. In the group stage, Seattle finished second in Group D behind the reigning champions Monterrey, who Sounders FC beat 1-nil in Mexico. And Santos finished atop Group B with 13 points, the most of any team in the group stage this year.

Seattle is vying to become the top soccer club in North American, Central America and the Caribbean. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League earns a berth to the FIFA Club World Cup where the top clubs from each region around the world compete to earn the title of the world's top soccer club.

The quarterfinals are structured in a two leg (home and away) aggregate goal series. The eight quarterfinal teams include four from the Mexican Primera division, three MLS clubs and one team from El Salvador. The other quarterfinal matchups are LA Galaxy versus Toronto FC, Morelia versus Monterrey and Metapan versus Pumas.

Seattle Sounders FC 5 at Atlante FC 2 - February 22, 2012 - Cancun, Mexico

Despite a change of venue on Wednesday afternoon complicating matters, Sounders FC (4-0-2) defeated Atlante FC, 5-2, at the Atlante FC training field. On the day of the match, the venue was moved from Estadio Andres Quintana Roo to the Atlante training field.

Fredy Montero led the way with a brace, while David Estrada continued his excellent play in the preseason with a goal and assist, and Mauro Rosales picked up two assists.

In the 12th minute, the Sounders got things going when Rosales tracked down a loose ball on the right side, sent a low cross into the box to Estrada, who finished past a defender and the keeper.

Just four minutes later in the 16th minute, Alvaro Fernandez headed a mis-cleared corner to the back post where Montero pushed a strong header into the opposite side-netting for the score.

Montero completed his brace on a free kick after Atlante was issued a yellow card in the 54th minute. From 25 yards out, Montero put a right-footed shot over the wall and bent it into the near post, putting Seattle up 3-1.

In the 67th minute, Rosales started a sequence with a low cross to the middle to Estrada, who back-heeled the ball in front of the goal to Christian Sivebaek, who smashed from the left side to the back post from eight yards out.

In the 71st minute, Leo Gonzalez stripped the ball from an Atlante player, brought it up into the box, and finished from 10 yards out to the far upper corner.

Montero and Estrada are now tied with a team-high three goals in the preseason.

Atlante got on the board in the 47th minute after a loose ball in the box by the endline was recovered by an Atlante player and shot inside the far post for a goal. They scored again in the 80th minute when a low free kick from 20 yards out deflected off the wall and past Michael Gspurning.

Seattle almost tacked one on in the 70th minute when Sivebaek flicked a ball over his defender to Rosales, whose shot was stopped by the keeper. Sivebaek one-timed the rebound with a jump kick, but again the Atlante keeper made the save.

Sounders FC remains unbeaten in the preseason. They have now scored multiple goals in their last four games and have scored at least once in all six games.

Sounders FC Summer Camp Registration Now Open

Registration for this year's Sounders FC Summer Camp is now underway and youth four to 15 years old may now sign up at www.SoundersFC.com. Participants that sign up by May 20 receive $20 off of registration. The camps are one-week in duration, ranging from three to six hours per day, and $150 - $220 per week. Scholarship essays may be submitted online for families in need.

The camps take place at 57 locations over 11 weeks, beginning on June 18. Puget Sound locations include Seattle, Eastside and the North End, while satellite camps are held in the Tri-Cities, Spokane, Moses Lake, Bellingham and Olympia. Also open for registration is the Sounders FC Youth Fantasy Camp held at CenturyLink Field on July 30 - August 3.

Sounders FC Academy players, current and former collegiate players, former USL Sounders, Sounders Women and local premier club coaches, coach and direct the camps.

For more information, please visit www.SoundersFC.com

Campers receive:

Adidas Soccer Ball, SFC Camp T-Shirt, SFC Jr. Alliance Scarf, Jr. Alliance Membership, Champions League Tickets (2), Group Health Giveaways, Appearance by SFC Player or Technical Staff, Camp Appreciation Day Invite and Pro Shop Coupon.

Garza Named Sounders FC Director of Communications

The Sounders FC has named Jeff Garza the director of communications. Garza joins the soccer club after spending the last seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, including the last six as communications assistant. He will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the team's media relations, both local and national, and oversee and manage all coach and player interviews during training sessions and on match days.

Academy Update: Sounders in North Cali

The Sounders FC Academy U16 and U18 teams traveled down to Sacramento, Calif. this weekend to take on the California Development Academy in a league match. CDA scored a late goal to beat the Sounder U18's 2-1, while U16's downed CDA 3-0, giving them eight wins in their last nine USSDA League Games.

Michael Gallagher scored the lone goal for the Seattle U18's (8-5-2). They have now lost three of their last five games after starting the season 7-1-2.

The U16's (10-3-2) saw goals by Duncan McCormick, Ryan Harber, and Denis Kalamar, as well as a shutout from goalkeeper Connor Adkisson.

Both academy teams return to league action on March 17 in a local rivalry match against Crossfire Premier. The game will be played at Starfire Sports Complex at 2:30 p.m.

Throw-ins

Sounders FC U-23s announced its first three signings last week: Darwin Jones, DeAndre Yedlin and Troy Peterson. All three players went through the Sounders FC Academy system. The U-23s will host open tryouts on March 10-11 at the University of Puget Sound...Sounders women announced the signing of USWNT star Alex Morgan, who joins fellow teammates Hope Solo and Sydney Leroux...The U.S. Men's National Team will play Italy in a friendly in Genoa on Wednesday, February 29.

Check out the Seattle Sounders FC Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from February 27, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central