MLS Seattle Sounders FC

Game Notes - Sounders FC Vs. Philadelphia Union

Published on October 7, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Sounders FC began a four-match home stand in historic fashion on Tuesday night as Seattle became the first MLS club to win three straight Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championships with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire.

The Rave Green joined illustrious company with the victory, becoming just the fourth three-peat champion and first in 42 years, and they did so in front of a record crowd of 35,615 at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC remains undefeated (13-0-1) in 14 Open Cup-related matches since the club's inception. The club won the 2009 Open Cup by defeating D.C. United, 2-1, on the road and doubled the size of their trophy cabinet last year by coming from behind at home to beat Columbus, 2-1.

Winner of three straight and five of the last six in MLS, Seattle (16-6-9, 57 points) continues the home stand on Saturday night, hosting Eastern Conference challenger Philadelphia Union (10-7-14, 44 points) at 7 p.m. PT on KING 5. The match was moved from its original date of July 23 and all tickets issued for the original date will be honored.

The past 11 days has been successful yet demanding for Sounders FC as the team traveled 9,000 miles last week and returned to the Emerald City with a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Cascadia Cup and advancement to the quarterfinal stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. With Tuesday's Open Cup championship the Rave Green continue to demonstrate a ravenous appetite for accomplishments on all fronts.

Each of the three results on the road featured comebacks. First they came from a goal down to defeat Vancouver, 3-1, on September 24. Three days and 3,100 miles later they rallied to equalize in the final minutes for a 2-2 draw at Guatemala's CSD Comunicaciones. The climactic end to the odyssey was yet another win and the first in New England, 2-1.

Over the past two seasons October has been the month that Seattle has caught fire, and following the win in New England and the Cup final victory the team's regular season record for the month is 7-1-0. Since the start of August the Rave Green have now gone 12-2-2 in all competitions, including 6-0-1 on the road. Sounders FC owns the league's second-highest point total and are the lone remaining challenger to the L.A. Galaxy for the Supporters' Shield.

Although unbeaten in its last six outings, Philadelphia has failed to gain ground in the East since four of those results have been draws. The Union allowed a late goal to Chivas USA in a 1-1 draw last Sunday. They are 3-6-6 on the road and will be playing their second straight match on the West Coast on Saturday. Philadelphia's inaugural match was played in Seattle, a 2-0 loss on March 25, 2010. The series stands even at 1-1-1 after a 1-1 draw in a deluge at PPL Park on April 16.

Saturday's match can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM, with Arlo White on the call, and in Spanish on THIS-TV and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

In the middle of the home stand comes the penultimate MLS Reserve League game. On Monday, October 10 Western Division champion Sounders FC hosts the San Jose Earthquakes at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. First kick is 7 p.m. PT.

Seattle will play its final regular season home match before still another potential record crowd on October 15 versus the San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. PT.

For tickets to Sounders FC home matches go to www.SoundersFC.com or call 800-745-3000.

Official Sounders FC game notes for this week's match against Philadelphia Union are available at http://SoundersFC.com/notes.

Local TV: KONG 6/16

Local Radio: KIRO 97.3 FM

Talent: Arlo White and Erin Mayovsky

Pregame Talent: Chris Egan with Alan Hinton and Peter Fewing (TV); Matt Johnson and Jimmy Gabriel (radio)

Spanish TV: THIS-TV/KOMO 4.2 (Comcast channel 114)

Talent: Jaime Mendez (play-by-play); Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (color)

Spanish Radio: La Gran D 99.3 FM

Talent: Rene Aleman, Victor Hernandez and Noe Menendez

Check out the Seattle Sounders FC Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from October 7, 2011


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