MLS Seattle Sounders FC

Sounders FC News & Notes

Published on September 17, 2012 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Best in the West Face Off in Seattle on Saturday

A showdown between the top two teams in the Western Conference comes to Seattle on Saturday night as Sounders FC hosts the league-leading San Jose Earthquakes. The marquee matchup kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

As a reminder, the San Jose match was originally scheduled for September 23 but has been moved to Saturday, September 22. The match will be televised on KONG 6/16 with Ross Fletcher and Kasey Keller on the call, and can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM. The game will also be shown live out of market on ROOT Sports.

Before Seattle gets it chance against San Jose, the Rave Green will travel to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to take on CD Marathon in CONCACAF Champions League group play on Wednesday night. Kickoff from Estadio Olimpico is 7 p.m. PT and will be shown live on FOX Soccer.

Sounders FC (13-6-9, 48 points) remained in sole possession of second in the West with a 1-1 road draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday. Seattle kept hopes of retaining the Cascadia Cup alive while extending its league unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2).

Fredy Montero again scored a spectacular strike in a derby match on the road, bringing his total to seven goals in eight Cascadia Cup contests. Montero has 12 goals in the 2012 campaign, matching his career-high from 2009 and 2011.

After a quick turnaround in Seattle, the Rave Green depart for Honduras via Houston on Monday to resume Champions League play. Sounders FC (2-0-0, 6 points) is atop Group 4 with a two-leg series against Marathon (0-0-1, 1 point) remaining. The opener is Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula with the return leg on October 24 in Seattle. Sounders FC can clinch advancement to the quarterfinals with a win on Wednesday.

The team then returns home for four of the final six league matches, beginning with Saturday's match against San Jose (17-6-5, 56 points). Sounders FC will look to avenge two losses from earlier in the season in the third and final meeting with the Quakes.

San Jose has been the league's top team this season, currently five points clear of Sporting Kansas City in the race for the Supporters' Shield. The Earthquakes have scored a league-high 58 goals this season, including 18 in the final 15 minutes.

The match will feature two of the league's top three goal scorers in San Jose's Chris Wondolowski and Seattle's Fredy Montero. Since joining MLS in 2009, Montero's 46 goals ranks third and Wondolowski's 58 tallies is top.

Seattle will then turn its focus back to defending the Cascadia Cup with matches at Vancouver on September 29 and against Portland on October 7.

Tickets to home MLS matches are available through www.SoundersFC.com, all Ticketmaster Outlets, CenturyLink Field Box Office or by calling 877-MLS-GOAL.

Sounders FC Fast Facts

* The 2012 Seattle squad is even with last year's franchise-best point total with 48 points through 28 games. Last season, Sounders FC gained 15 points in the final seven games to set the mark at 63.

* Seattle has played the second-most Champions League games of any MLS team since qualifying for the 2010/11 tournament. Seattle has played 20 CCL games, two fewer than Toronto FC (22). LA Galaxy is third with 18 games played and Salt Lake is next at 14.

* Michael Gspurning leads MLS with a 0.76 goals against average.

* Mauro Rosales leads MLS with 13 assists and five game-winning assists.

* Eddie Johnson is fourth in the Budweiser Golden Boot Race with 13 goals and Fredy Montero is fifth with 12 goals.

* Sounders FC has won its past four home MLS matches and is unbeaten in its past five (4-0-1) overall.

* Seattle is 6-3-4 all-time in the month of September, outscoring opponents 20-12.

* Sounders FC is 12-0-3 when scoring first this season. Seattle's current 29-game unbeaten streak (23-0-6) when scoring first is the second-longest active streak in MLS (New York - 55).

* Seattle has not lost consecutive MLS games in 60 outings (31-11-18) - the longest stretch in league history.

* Seattle's average attendance of 42,379 is on track to set the league record. The biggest attendance for an MLS game this season was 60,908 when Sounders FC hosted the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field on August 5. The 2012 season attendance total is 550,930. Seattle's record from 2011 was 654,431.

Playoff Picture: Seattle in Second Entering Week 29

A lot of soccer is still to be played before the MLS Cup Playoffs pairings are settled. With 18 points still on the table, Seattle can still reach San Jose and claim the Supporters' Shield. Sounders FC has one game in hand on three of four West playoff teams, and four of Seattle's six remaining matchups are against West playoff teams (San Jose, Vancouver, Salt Lake and Los Angeles).

Western Conference

Seed 1 (San Jose Earthquakes) vs. Seed 4 (Real Salt Lake)/Seed 5 (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

Seed 2 (Seattle Sounders FC) vs. Seed 3 (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Eastern Conference

Seed 1 (Sporting Kansas City) vs. Seed 4 (Houston Dynamo)/Seed 5 (D.C. United)

Seed 2 (Chicago Fire) vs. Seed 3 (New York Red Bulls)

On the Bubble

- FC Dallas is one point out of the fifth and final playoff spot in the West with four games remaining.

- Columbus Crew is two points out of the final spot in the East with six games remaining.

Twelve-Pack: Single Loss in Strong Stretch

Sounders FC has lost just once in the past 12 league outings, dating back to June 30. The team has gone 6-1-5 in that span, outscoring opponents 25-13. Seattle has scored multiple goals in eight of the past 12 games for an average of just over two goals per 90 minutes. It is the best stretch of the season, but the team has had four stretches of more than 12 games with just one loss.

Date GP Record (points)

July11, 2010 to October 15, 2010 14 10-1-3 (33)

May 28, 2011 to August 27, 2011 14 9-1-4 (31)

May 7, 2011 to July 16, 2011 13 7-1-5 (26)

April 25, 2009 to July 25, 2009 13 4-1-8 (20)

Best in the Northwest: More Montero Magic

Fredy Montero again showed his brilliance in front of his Cascadia rivals supporters, scoring Seattle's lone goal in Saturday's draw. On the restart following Portland's goalkeeper substitution, Montero chested down a Michael Gspurning free kick, quickly spun around his defender and rocketed a right-footed shot into past Joseph Bendik. Montero leads all players with seven goals in eight Cascadia Cup games. He has scored seven goals in his past seven league outings, and has averaged 1.35 goals per 90 minutes since August. Montero's seven goals in the past seven weeks is at least three more goals than any other MLS player.

Ozzie being Ozzie

Osvaldo Alonso's ballwinning and passing skills were on full display in Portland on Saturday afternoon. The league's top defensive midfielder had 32 takeaways and completed 40 of his 43 attempted passes while committing just two fouls. Alonso's season passing percentage is a team-high 84.6-percent, completing 1,172 of his 1,386 attempted passes. He ranks 45th overall with just 32 fouls committed this season, averaging a foul every 67 minutes.

Power Forward: Seattle Strikers Keep Scoring

One week ago, Eddie Johnson established a new franchise record with 13 goals after scoring twice against Chivas USA. On Saturday, Fredy Montero added his 12th of the season, giving the forward pairing 25 goals this season. Overall, 32 of Seattle's 42 goals have been scored by forwards, the second-most goals from forwards in MLS. This season's total is 11 more than the previous high of 21 goals from forwards in 2009. Overall, 51-percent of Seattle's goals since entering MLS in 2009 have come from forwards.

Set Piece Strong

Portland's goal from a corner kick in the 78th minute on Saturday was just the fifth goal from a set piece conceded by Seattle this season, which is tied for the second-fewest (Sporting Kansas City and New York Red Bulls). The league-leader is Houston, allowing just four goals from set pieces. Not only is Seattle strong defensively, but the Rave Green have scored nine times from set pieces, tied for fourth in MLS. San Jose has scored the most set piece goals (15).

*Set piece goals does not include penalty kicks

Champions League Update

After the first two rounds of this year's CONCACAF Champions League group stage, Seattle (2-0-0, 6 points) is in full control on Group 4. Sounders FC beat Caledonia home and away by the same score line of 3-1, giving Seattle a group-best plus-four goal differential. Caledonia (0-2-1, 1 point) has been eliminated from the tournament with one match remaining. Seattle's final two matches will be against CD Marathon (0-0-1, 1 point) of Honduras. The two-leg series begins September 19 in San Pedro Sula and concludes October 24 in Seattle.

Overall, five of 24 teams have earned six points in the first two group stage matches of this year's tournament: Mexico's Santos Laguna and Monterrey, Costa Rica's Herediano, and the Seattle Sounders FC and LA Galaxy. Seattle's plus-four goal differential is tied for fourth-best in the tournament.

Team Record Goals For/Against

Sounders FC 2-0-0, 6 points 6/2

CD Marathon 0-0-1, 1 point 0/0

Caledonia AIA 0-2-1, 1 point 2/6

Group 4 Schedule

Date Teams/Results Location

August 2 Sounders FC 3 vs. Caledonia AIA 1 Seattle

August 22 Caledonia AIA 0 vs. CD Marathon 0 Couva, Trinidad

August 30 Caledonia AIA 1 vs. Sounders FC 3 Couva, Trinidad

September 19 CD Marathon vs. Sounders FC San Pedro Sula, Honduras

September 26 CD Marathon vs. Caledonia AIA San Pedro Sula, Honduras

October 24 Sounders FC vs. CD Marathon Seattle

At Home on the Road

Sounders FC has been a strong road team since entering MLS in 2009. Seattle has earned the second-highest point total away from home over the past four seasons, going 24-17-21 in MLS play. The success on the road has extended to Champions League play as Sounders FC has an away record of 3-5-2, going unbeaten in its past four (3-0-1) road group stage matches. Seattle has been held scoreless just twice in the 10 away games, scoring 13 goals while allowing 19, six of which came against last year's runners up Santos Laguna. Fredy Montero leads the club with six goals and six assists in Champions League play, sharing the club lead in this year's tournament with Sammy Ochoa (two goals, one assist). Both Alex Caskey and Andy Rose have tallied a goal and two assists this year.

Wednesday's match will mark the homecoming of another Sounder in CCL action. Mario Martinez will play in his hometown of San Pedro Sula against his former club Real Espana's league opponent Marathon. Earlier this year, Cordell Cato returned to his native Trinidad to face Caledonia. In year's past, Leo Gonzalez has played in Costa Rica and Servando Carrasco, David Estrada and Sammy Ochoa have played in Mexico.

Date Opponent (Country) Result Seattle Goal Scorers

August 3, 2010 Metapan (El Salvador) D, 1-1 Fernandez (71)

August 19, 2010 Marathon (Honduras) L, 2-1 Levesque (17)

September 14, 2010 Saprissa (Costa Rica) L, 2-0 None

September 22, 2010 Monterrey (Mexico) L, 3-2 Own Goal (27), Fucito (44)

July 26, 2011 San Francisco (Panama) L, 1-0 None

August 23, 2011 Monterrey (Mexico) W, 1-0 Fernandez (38)

September 14, 2011 Herediano (Costa Rica) W, 2-1 Montero (3, 54)

September 27, 2011 Comunicaciones (Guatemala) D, 2-2 Alonso (44, 89)

March 14, 2012 Santos Laguna (Mexico) L, 6-1 Fernandez (37)

August 30, 2012 Caledonia (Trinidad) W, 3-1 Caskey (45), Ochoa (60), Montero (69)

Club: CD Marathon (HON)

Founded: 1925

City: San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Stadium: Estadio Olimpico

Manager: Manuel Keosseian

Qualification method: Non-champion with best aggregate record in Honduran 2011-12 season

Previous CONCACAF Champions League appearances: 2008-09 (Quarterfinals), 2009-10 (Quarterfinals), 2010-11 (Group Stage)

Honors: Honduran League - 8 (1979-80, 1985-86, Clausura 2001-02, Clausura 2002-03, Apertura 2004-05, 2007-08 Apertura, 2008-09 Apertura, 2009-10 Apertura); Honduran Cup - 1 (1994)

Official website: http://www.cdmarathon.com

Formed in 1925 by Eloy Montes and his friends, Club Deportivo Marathon is one of the most prestigious clubs in Honduras and will be making its fourth CONCACAF Champions League appearance. Marathon qualified for each of the first three competitions, reaching the quarterfinals in the first two years. In 2008-09 "El Monstruo Verde" (The Green Monster) won its group, but was upset by the Puerto Rico Islanders in the knockout stage. In 2009-10, Marathon fell to Pumas UNAM of Mexico in the quarterfinals. The only Honduran team to beat Argentine powerhouse River Plate, Marathon is coached by Manuel Keosseian, who led the club to three titles from 2007-2009 and replaced Ramon Maradiaga just before the start of the Champions League. Marathon is led by Honduran international defender Jerry Palacios, who competed in the 2010 World Cup with brothers Johnny and Wilson. They became the first trio of siblings to represent a single nation in the same World Cup. Veteran defenders Mario Beata and Mauricio Sabillon also highlight the squad.

Hahnemann Returns Home

Seattle Sounders FC acquired U.S. international goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann via allocation, the club announced on Friday. Seattle acquired the No. 1 selection in Major League Soccer's allocation process from Toronto FC in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Hahnemann will be added to the roster pending receipt of his International Transfer Clearance.

Hahnemann, 40, returns to MLS after 13 years and over 300 appearances in the English Premier League for Fulham FC, Reading FC, Wolverhampton and Everton FC. He also has nine caps for the U.S. National Team and was a member of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup teams.

Hahnemann began his MLS career in 1997 with the Colorado Rapids. He played three seasons with Colorado, posting a 39-25 record in 66 appearances, before joining Fulham in 1999. Hahnemann then moved to Reading where he became a mainstay for The Royals, making over 250 appearances from 2002-2009 and helping the club gain promotion to the EPL in 2005-06. Hahnemann also played for Wolverhampton from 2009-11, and most recently played with Everton from 2011-12.

The Seattle native began his professional career for the A-League Sounders in 1994 after a prolific career for Seattle Pacific University, where he was a three-time All-American and helped SPU to the 1993 Division II National Championship. The six-foot-three goalkeeper was an All-Star in his rookie year and led the Sounders to the A-League title in 1996.

San Jose Series Notes

The Seattle-San Jose series is level at 4-4-1 after the Quakes won both previous meetings this season, Seattle's last win coming on October 15 of last season. San Jose holds a 12-10 goal advantage, with Fredy Montero and Chris Wondolowski leading the way with four goals apiece. Mauro Rosales and Steve Zakuani lead Seattle with two assists apiece, while Shea Salinas leads the series with four assists. The Rave Green are 3-2-0 all-time against the Earthquakes at CenturyLink Field.

About San Jose

The Earthquakes sit atop MLS with 56 points (17-6-5), five points ahead of second place for the Supporters' Shield with just six games remaining. They lead the league with 58 goals scored (eight ahead of second place), a plus-25 goal differential (10 ahead of second place), and are the only team in MLS that averages over two goals per game (2.07). They also lead MLS with 60 assists and are second in shots (425), shots on goal (153), and corner kicks (153). They do most of their damage in the second half, averaging 1.29 goals in the last 45 minutes (first in MLS), including an impressive 18 goals scored in the final 15 minutes (first in MLS). The Quakes also have the league's best winning percentage at .500 (4-4-4) when conceding the first goal.

Earthquakes Notables

Frank Yallop's league-leading attack is headlined by the league's top goal scorer in Chris Wondolowski. The 29-year-old striker sits atop the Budweiser Golden Boot race with 19 goals and has also added seven assists this season, most recently netting a goal and assist in a 2-0 win at Chivas USA on Saturday. Wondolowski leads MLS with 58 goals since the start of the 2009 season. He isn't their only option, however, as Alan Gordon is sixth in MLS with 12 goals and leads the league with 1.06 goals per 90 minutes. Steven Lenhart, who scored the stoppage time winner against Seattle in their last meeting, has eight goals in 2012. Midfielder Marvin Chavez leads the team and is tied-seventh in MLS with nine assists and 35-year-old Ramiro Corrales is second on the team with eight. Goalkeeper Jon Busch leads MLS with 15 wins, is second with a .700 winning percentage (15-5-5), and is tied-fifth in MLS with a 1.18 goals against average.

SEA/SJ Connections

Seattle goalkeeper Andrew Weber played for the Earthquakes from 2009-11. Seattle's Mario Martinez and San Jose's Marvin Chavez and Victor Bernardez are from Honduras, all three playing together for Honduras in the recent World Cup qualifiers. Earthquakes forward Steven Lenhart played for Sigi Schmid and with Brad Evans in Columbus in 2008. Servando Carrasco and David Bingham played together at Cal-Berkeley. Daniel Steres and Steven Beitashour played together at San Diego State. Earthquakes midfielder Joey Gjertsen is from Tacoma, WA, graduated from Wilson High School, and attended Tacoma Community College and Evergreen State University. San Jose's Jacob Hustedt was born in Bothell, WA, and played his college ball at the University of Washington.

MLS Recap: Seattle Sounders FC 1 at Portland Timbers 1 - September 15, 2012

Fredy Montero scored in the second half to help the Seattle Sounders FC earn a 1-1 road draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at JELD-WEN Field. The Cascadia Cup match was played in front of a sellout crowd of 20,438 and national television audience on NBC.

Seattle trails Portland by three points in the Cascadia Cup standings. The two teams will face off for the third and final meeting of the season on October 7 in Seattle.

Montero scored in the 57th minute when Michael Gspurning sent a free kick the length of the field that found Montero at the top of the Timbers box. The striker took one touch, turned his defender and blasted a right-footed shot to the opposite upper corner.

It was Montero's 12th goal of the season, matching his career high in 2009 and 2011. He leads all players with seven goals in eight Cascadia Cup matches.

Gspurning's assist was the first from a Seattle goalkeeper since Kasey Keller assisted in Montero's 64th minute goal in a 2-0 home win over the Houston Dynamo on August 8, 2010.

The goal came moments after Joseph Bendik replaced Donovan Ricketts in goal. Ricketts left the match after suffering an injury in the 51st minute.

Portland equalized in the 78th minute when Jack Jewsbury swung in a corner kick from the right side that found the head of Rodney Wallace and, after a collision in the box, the ball spilled into the corner of the net.

Montero nearly added a second tally minutes after his first, but his headed attempt was saved by Bendik.

Osvaldo Alonso also narrowly missed the frame with a volley in the 10th minute and a long-range shot in the 14th minute, and his hard shot from outside the box in second half stoppage time was saved by a diving Bendik.

Portland's Franck Songo'o blasted a shot from outside the box in the 39th minute that Michael Gspurning dove to punch away. In second half stoppage, Bright Dike hit the post after a Jewsbury corner kick.

Eddie Johnson received his fifth yellow card caution of the season and will not be available for selection next week against the San Jose Earthquakes.

MLS Reserve League: Seattle Sounders FC 2 at Portland Timbers 3 - September 16, 2012

Three first-half goals led the Portland Timbers to a 3-2 win against Seattle Sounders FC in MLS Reserve League play on Sunday afternoon at JELD-WEN Field.

The Timbers Reserves (4-5-1, 13pts) scored all three goals within the first 15 minutes of play. Forward Kris Boyd scored a goal and added an assist, while forwards Mike Fucito and Brent Richards each scored a goal in the win.

Sounders FC Reserves (3-5-1, 10pts) received goals from Sounders FC Academy players Jordan Morris and Isidro Prado-Huerta.

Making his season debut, Timbers forward Jose Valencia came on in the 70th minute and forced Sounders FC goalkeeper Josh Ford into one of his six saves on the day with a shot on the right post. It was his first game action as a member of the Timbers after months of rehab following left knee surgery on February 6.

Fucito got the Timbers Reserves on the board first less than five minutes in. Boyd played the ball high in the air and Fucito ended up with a wide-open attempt from 12 yards out.

Just four minutes later, Boyd scored to make the score 2-0. Portland midfielder Kalif Alhassan played a through ball to Boyd into the box, who immediately chipped the ball over Ford for the goal.

The third goal for the Timbers Reserves came from Richards in the 15th minute. It was Richards' fourth goal of the Reserve League season.

Seattle struck twice in the second half, starting with a goal in the 49th minute. Sounders FC midfielder Cordell Cato played a ball into the box from the right side of play and it found the head of Morris, who placed it just past Timbers keeper Mitch North.

Sounders FC Reserves got within a goal of Portland in the 78th minute with the help of two other Sounders FC Academy players. Seattle forward Dominique Dismuke collected the ball deep inside the box and left it in front of the net for midfielder Prado-Huerta, who put it past North to make the score 3-2.

Seattle will conclude the Reserve League season against the San Jose Earthquakes on September 23 at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. Kickoff is 2 p.m. PT.

Throw-ins

Sounders FC is 5-1-1 in MLS matches immediately following Cascadia Cup games...Eddie Johnson will miss the San Jose match due to yellow card accumulation. Fredy Montero is one yellow card caution away from receiving a one-game suspension while Osvaldo Alonso, Marc Burch, Servando Carrasco, Leo Gonzalez, Andy Rose and Zach Scott are all two cards away from suspension. Montero is the only Seattle player cautioned in Champions League this year...Wednesday's referee will be Marlon MejÃ-a and Saturday's will be Hilario Grajeda...Marcus Hahnemann's first MLS appearance for Sounders FC will mark a 13-year lapse in MLS play for the goalkeeper, the longest in league history (previous record of almost nine years is held by Eddie Lewis from 10/9/99 to 8/30/08.

Check out the Seattle Sounders FC Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 17, 2012


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