MLS Seattle Sounders FC

Sounders FC News & Notes

Published on July 23, 2012 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Seattle Sounders FC returns to action this week with the year's lone road match in Colorado as the Rave Green take on the Rapids for the third time this season. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. PT at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

The match will be televised live on KONG 6/16 with Rob Palmer and Kasey Keller on the call, and can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM. The game will also be carried in Spanish on KOMO2 and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

Sounders FC comes out of the bye week as the fourth-place team in the West, despite playing fewer games than all but two conference foes. The team is unbeaten in its last six matches (3-0-3) across all competitions, including a four-game (1-0-3) unbeaten run in league play (second-longest active streak in MLS).

The Seattle squad stayed busy with a midweek friendly against Chelsea FC last week. Fredy Montero netted a first-half brace to pull Seattle level but the Blues tallied twice before halftime and held on for a 4-2 win.

Later this week, two Sounders FC players - Osvaldo Alonso and Eddie Johnson - will participate in the MLS All-Star game versus Chelsea on Wednesday at PPL Park in Chester, Penn. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. PT and the match will be televised live in ESPN2.

Seattle will test its undefeated run in Colorado (7-13-1, 22 points) this weekend as the Rapids look to climb out of a five-game losing skid. Colorado is currently tied-seventh in the Western Conference after falling 2-nil to Real Salt Lake over the weekend. The Rapids are 5-4-1 at home this season and host Welsh club Swansea in a friendly on Tuesday at DSG Park.

Sounders FC will return to the Emerald City for a pair of home matches next week. CONCACAF Champions League group play begins on Thursday, August 2 against Trinidad's Caledonia followed by a league contest versus LA Galaxy on Sunday, August 5. Both matches kickoff at 7 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

In just 16 days Sounders FC will travel to Kansas City in search of its fourth straight Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title against Sporting KC in the final on August 8.

Upcoming Competition Schedule (times are Pacific & subject to change)

Saturday, July 28, 6 p.m. - Sounders FC at Colorado Rapids, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

Thursday, August 2, 7 p.m. - Sounders FC vs. Caledonia, Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Sunday, August 5, 6 p.m. - Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy, Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Wednesday, August 8, 6 p.m. - Sounders FC at Sporting Kansas City, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kan.

Saturday, August 11, 7:30 p.m. - Sounders FC at San Jose Earthquakes, Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Upcoming MLS Reserve League Schedule (times are Pacific & subject to change)

Sunday, August 12, 11 a.m. - Sounders FC at San Jose, Nutrilite Training Facility, San Jose, CA

Sunday, August 19, 11 a.m. - Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy, Starfire Stadium, Tukwila, WA

Sounders FC Fast Facts

* Coach Sigi Schmid has started a different lineup in all 20 MLS games this season

* Eddie Johnson leads Sounders FC with nine goals in all competitions (0.56 goals per 90 minutes); Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero are tied with seven assists

* Marc Burch has the most appearances (24) and Osvaldo Alonso has the most starts (21) and minutes (1,857)

* Fifteen of Seattle's 23 goals have been scored in the second half (25 of 37 in all competitions)

* Seattle is 5-2-1 in nationally televised games after securing a draw against New York on ESPN

* Sounders FC is 21-10-17 all-time in MLS play while participating in the Open Cup

A Look Ahead

Sounders FC has played 26 games in all competitions this season, beginning in early March with a pair of matches against Mexico's Santos Laguna. Twenty MLS games and four Open Cup matches later and Seattle is well past the midway point of the 2012 season with just 19 games remaining over the next three months.

The final 14 matches of the MLS regular season will feature opponents from the West; half of which will be home games. In the 10 matches against the East this season, Seattle won four season series (Toronto, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia), tied four (DC United, Kansas City, New England and New York) and lost just two (Columbus and Montreal). Sounders FC already won the series with Colorado, and leads Los Angeles and Dallas by two goals. The team is tied with Chivas and Vancouver, and down by one goal to San Jose, Salt Lake and Portland.

Despite completing all five Eastern Conference road trips, the Rave Green still have plenty of travel ahead. A projected 25,487 air miles await Sounders FC, which begins with this weekend's trip to Denver. Over half of those air miles will come during Champions League play as the round trips from Trinidad and Honduras account for 13,702 miles. Overall, Seattle will visit 10 cities in four countries in 92 days.

Road Record

Sounders FC has earned points in nine of 12 (3-3-6) road games across all competitions this season. Seattle's 12 road points in MLS play ranks tied-sixth, and the team is tied-fifth in road goals (13) and road goals against (14). Seattle's current three-game road unbeaten streak is tied with LA Galaxy for the longest active streak in MLS. Seattle had the longest road unbeaten run in MLS this season at five games, ending after the May 26 match at Chivas USA.

Fredy Heating Up

Fredy Montero followed his super sub appearance at New York with a brace against one of the world's top teams. Last Wednesday against Champions League winners Chelsea FC Montero scored twice in the first half to pull Seattle level before the Blues regained a two-goal lead. The goals marked Seattle's first against an English Premier League team. Montero has scored three goals in his past 111 minutes on the field for a 2.43 goals per 90 minutes over his past two outings. Montero typically heats up over the second-half of the season, scoring 19 goals and 11 assists in 45 career games after July 1.

Montero has set the standard for Sounders FC. So far this season, the young striker became the first Sounders FC player to appear in 100 matches for the club and became the first to 50 goals across all competitions with his tally at New York. The 2009 MLS Newcomer of the Year scored Seattle's first goal in MLS and the club's first international goal with his long-range strike against Metapan in 2010. Over the past three seasons, Montero is the third-leading goal scorer in MLS with 39 goals and he is the only player to rank in the top 10 in both goals and assists since 2009.

Andy's Rise

Andy Rose is no ordinary rookie. Since starting the first seven matches of the season on the bench, the first-year midfielder out of UCLA has 12 starts in 17 appearances across all competitions. Rose is the only Sounders FC player to appear in every match since May 5 when he made his debut against Philadelphia, which includes 13 MLS games and four Open Cup matches. Out of the six MLS newcomers on the Seattle roster, Rose leads the group with 1,184 minutes. He is yet to score in league play but netted a goal in his first two Cup fixtures, and has added an assist in MLS.

Ozzie and Eddie

Two of Seattle's most consistent performers will be honored this week as they join the league's top players to take on Chelsea FC in the MLS All-Star game on Wednesday evening. Osvaldo Alonso and Eddie Johnson were selected to the All-Star roster by head coach Ben Olsen. It will be the second time in just one week that the Seattle duo will play Chelsea as Sounders FC hosted the Blues in a friendly last week.

Johnson is the only player on the All-Star gameday roster who did not play in MLS last season. It is the third All-Star selection of Johnson's career and second for Alonso. Six different Seattle players have made the All-Star roster: Kasey Keller (three times), Fredy Montero (twice), Osvaldo Alonso (twice), Freddie Ljungberg (twice), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (once) and Eddie Johnson (once).

Colorado Series Notes

Sounders FC has dominated the all-time series with Colorado, taking a 6-1-1 advantage with wins in the past five meetings. Seattle has won all five meetings at CenturyLink Field, outscoring Colorado 10-4, and has split the three matches at DSG Park, going 1-1-1. It will be Seattle's first visit to Commerce City since an emotional 1-0 win last year when winger Steve Zakuani suffered a broken leg. Seattle has defeated the Rapids twice at home this season, 1-0 on April 14 and 2-1 on July 7. The Rave Green have scored multiple goals in five of the eight games and have been held scoreless just once. Fredy Montero leads all players with four goals and five assists in the series, putting 10 of his 24 shots on frame.

About Colorado

The Rapids sit seventh in the Western Conference with 22 points (7-13-1), but have had success at home, going 5-4-1 with a 19-11 goal advantage. The team leads MLS with 13 losses and has the fewest draws (one). The 2010 MLS Cup champions are currently amidst a five-match losing streak and are 1-7-0 since the start of June. Colorado is strong offensively, ranking eighth in MLS with 1.29 goals per game, seventh in shots (266), and fourth in shots on goal (100). However, they surrender 1.43 goals per game (15th in MLS) and have been out-scored 9-3 during their five-match losing skid.

Rapids Notables

Coach Oscar Pareja's attack has produced 27 goals by 13 different players, led by forward Omar Cummings and midfielder Jaime Castrillon with five goals apiece. In his first season in MLS, Argentine midfielder Martin Rivero is tied for seventh with six assists, while midfielder Brian Mullan is just outside the top 10 with five assists. Forward Conor Casey - a six-year MLS veteran with 50 career goals - has two goals and two assists in 11 appearances since coming back from a torn Achilles on April 28. Veteran goalkeeper Matt Pickens leads MLS with 108 saves this season.

The Colorado Connection

Former Sounders FC defender Tyson Wahl recently joined Colorado in a trade with Montreal. Wahl has played 90 minutes in both appearances for the Rapids, and started all 11 matches while with the Impact.

Wahl made 39 appearances in three seasons with Seattle, including career-highs in appearances (23), starts (22), minutes (1,989), goals (1) and assists (2) in 2011. Eddie Johnson and Colorado head coach Oscar Pareja played together with the Dallas Burn from 2001-04. Pareja also played for Colombia's Deportivo Cali - the former club of Fredy Montero and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Montero and Hurtado will face fellow Colombian countrymen Jaime Castrillon and Luis Zapata. Argentine midfielders Mauro Rosales and Martin Rivero will also meet each other on Saturday. Rapids forward Conor Casey attended the University of Portland from 1999-2000. Casey and Eddie Johnson crossed paths on the U.S. National Team from 2001-on. Former Sounder Tyrone Marshall has six starts and eight appearances this season for the Rapids. Marshall was obtained by Colorado in the 2010 re-entry draft.

Sounders U23 Win PDL Western Conference Championship

Sounders FC U23 defeated the Ventura County Fusion, 2-0, in the PDL Western Conference championship game Sunday Night at Ventura College. After coming back to defeat FC Tucson Saturday night in the semifinals, the Rave Green used two second half goals to clinch the conference championship in their first year of existence. Seattle now advances to the PDL Final Four and will face FC London on the road this Saturday 7/28.

In Saturday night's semifinals, FC Tucson went up 1-0 in the 47th minute, but Sounders U23 responded less than ten minutes later when Darwin Jones equalized on a play that started with a DeAndre Yedlin long throw-in. In the 64th, Aodhan Quinn found Sean Morris for the winner.

Sunday night, Jones and Jamael Cox came off the bench to connect for two second-half goals. In the 58th minute, Cox fed Jones up the left side and Jones curled a shot beyond the reach of the Fusion goalkeeper to take the lead. In the 85th, Jones fed a wide-open Cox down the middle of the field, and Cox slid a shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

Sounders U23 will take on Canadian club FC London this Saturday night at 4:30 p.m. PT at the German Club in London, Ontario.

Reserve Game Rescheduled

The MLS Reserve League match between the Seattle Sounders FC and L.A. Galaxy has been changed to Sunday, August 19. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. PT at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. The original date was Monday, August 6 but has been moved to accommodate Seattle's U.S. Open Cup final in Kansas City on August 8.

Throw-ins

Patrick Ianni will meet fans at the Pro Shop on Tuesday, July 24 from 6-7 p.m. Alex Caskey will be at the Gig Harbor Boys and Girls Club on Thursday, July 26 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Michael Gspurning will meets fans at the downtown Pro Shop on Tuesday, July 31 from 6-7 p.m.....Mauro Rosales was a member of the gold medal winning Argentina team at the 2004 Olympic Games. Patrick Ianni was on the USA Olympic roster in 2008...Fredy Montero and Babayele Sodade will celebrate their birthdays on July 26. Montero turns 25 and Sodade turns 22...Rob Palmer, commentator for Sky Sports, will call this weekend's match at Colorado.

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 23, 2012


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