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Seattle Sounders FC

Sounders FC News & Notes

January 15, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Seattle Holds Two Picks in Thursday's SuperDraft

The transition from offseason to preseason begins Thursday when the MLS SuperDraft is held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Four days later, on Monday, January 21, Sounders FC players and coaches will convene at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, Wash., to start preparations for the 2013 campaign.

The 2013 MLS SuperDraft will include two rounds and 38 overall selections. Sounders FC holds a pair of picks on draft day, the 16th and 35th overall selections.

Fans may watch the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, presented by adidas, live on MLSsoccer.com, ESPN3, ESPNFC, and YouTube. The first round begins at 9 a.m. PT on Thursday.

For the ninth consecutive year, the MLS SuperDraft will be held in conjunction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention. Toronto FC holds the top pick as clubs were ranked in reverse order of regular season finish.

A four-round Supplemental Draft will take place via conference call on Tuesday, January 22, 2013. Seattle holds the 5th (acquired via trade with Philadelphia), 16th, 35th, 54th and 73rd picks in the Supplemental Draft.

Sounders FC representatives at the SuperDraft will be owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer, head coach Sigi Schmid, sporting director Chris Henderson, assistant coach Brian Schmetzer and assistant coach/scout Kurt Schmid.

Upcoming Key Dates (subject to change)

Thursday, January 17 - MLS SuperDraft (Indianapolis)

Monday, January 21 - Preseason Training Begins (Starfire, Tukwila, Wash.)

Tuesday, January 22 - MLS Supplemental Draft (New York)

Tuesday, January 29 - International Friendly: USA vs. Canada (Houston, Texas)

Tuesday, January 29-Tuesday, February 5 - Preseason Training Camp (Casa Grande, Arizona)

Wednesday, February 6-Sunday, February 10 - Preseason Training (Starfire, Tukwila, Wash.)

Wednesday, February 6 - 2014 World Cup Qualifying: USA at Honduras (San Pedro Sula, Honduras)

Monday, February 11-Saturday, February 23 - Preseason Training Camp (Tucson, Arizona)

Sunday, February 24 - Return to Seattle

Sounders FC Competition Schedule (subject to change)

Tuesday, February 5 - Training Game: Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers (Tucson, Arizona)

Wednesday, February 13 - Desert Diamond Cup: Sounders FC vs. New England Revolution

Saturday, February 16 - Desert Diamond Cup: Sounders FC vs. Real Salt Lake

Wednesday, February 20 - Desert Diamond Cup: Sounders FC vs. New York Red Bulls

Saturday, February 23 - Desert Diamond Cup Final/3rd Place Game: Sounders FC vs. TBD

Saturday, March 2 - MLS First Kick: Sounders FC vs. Montreal Impact, Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Wednesday, March 6 - CONCACAF Champions League: Sounders FC at Tigres UANL, Estadio Universitario, Monterrey, Mexico (leg one)

Tuesday, March 12 - CONCACAF Champions League: Sounders FC vs. Tigres UANL, Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field, Seattle (leg two)

Sounders FC Draft History

Sounders FC will participate in its fifth MLS SuperDraft on Thursday. Seattle has made 14 selections in the SuperDraft since 2009, most notably the club's first-ever draft pick Steve Zakuani. Along with the speedy left winger, Seattle's roster includes a total of six players that the club selected in the SuperDraft: David Estrada, Servando Carrasco, Alex Caskey, Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade.

The club has also made seven selections over the past two years in the Supplemental Draft. Of those selections, goalkeeper Josh Ford is the lone remaining player, though Sounders FC acquired midfielder Andy Rose in a trade during the 2012 Supplemental Draft.

2009

Round (Overall)

1 (1) Steve Zakuani FW Akron

2 (16) Evan Brown DF Wake Forest

3 (31) Jared Karkas DF Azusa Pacific

4 (46) Mike Fucito MF Harvard

2010

1 (11) David Estrada MF UCLA

2 (27) Mike Seamon MF Villanova

3 (43) Traded to Houston for Patrick Ianni in 2009

4 (59) Jamel Wallace DF San Diego State

2011

1 (11) Traded to Portland with international spot for allocation money in exchange for 2nd round pick

2 (20) Michael Tetteh DF UC Santa Barbara

*Acquired from Portland

2 (21) Leone Cruz DF SMU

*Acquired from D.C. for Stephen King

2 (27) Servando Carrasco MF Cal

*Acquired from Chicago for Freddie Ljungberg

2 (29) Bryan Meredith GK Monmouth

3 (47) Alex Caskey MF Davidson

2011 Supplemental

1 (11) Josh Ford GK Connecticut

2 (29) Corey Attaway MF UC Irvine

3 (47) Sean Morris MF Seattle U.

2012

1 (15) Andrew Duran DF Creighton

2 (34) Babayele Sodade FW UAB

2012 Supplemental

2 (33) Tim Pontius DF UCSB

2 (34) Jason Banton MF Liverpool Reserves

3 (53) Abdul Aman FW Washington

4 (72) Wes Feighner DF Cal Poly

*Acquired midfielder Andy Rose (UCLA) from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to defender Leone Cruz. Rose was taken by Salt Lake with the 6th overall selection.

2013 MLS SuperDraft Preview

Sounders FC will pick 16th and 35th overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft on Thursday. Seattle also holds five selections in next Tuesday's Supplemental Draft.

Toronto FC holds the first and third overall selections in the SuperDraft and the L.A. Galaxy hold the final pick. Cascadia Cup rivals Portland traded away its lone first-round choice while Vancouver will select fifth and 10th overall.

Seattle's 2013 MLS SuperDraft Picks

16th overall (natural)

35th overall (natural)

Seattle's 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft Picks

5th overall (acquired via trade with Philadelphia Union)

16th overall (natural)

35th overall (natural)

54th overall (natural)

73rd overall (natural)

2013 Draft Notes

* Seattle traded an undisclosed draft choice to Toronto FC for the No. 1 allocation priority (Marcus Hahnemann)

* Seattle traded an undisclosed draft choice to Real Salt Lake for the No. 1 discovery priority (Mario Martinez)

* Seattle traded its third round natural selection in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft for the first overall pick in Stage 2 of the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Process (Marc Burch)

Give Us Your Full 90 Again in 2013!

Sounders FC is accepting deposits for 2013 season tickets. To join, please visitSoundersFC.com or call 877-MLS-GOAL (877-657-4625). Seattle's schedule begins with First Kick on March 2 versus the Montreal Impact. The rest of the slate will include matches with Cascadia Cup rivals Portland and Vancouver as well as home fixtures against the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls.

Tickets to Sounders FC vs. Tigres On Sale Now

Tickets for the Seattle Sounders FC versus Tigres UANL match are on sale now. Tickets will be available by phone at 800-745-3000 or www.SoundersFC.com .

Seattle will host Mexico's Tigres in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals on March 12 on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. The first leg will be played on March 6 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Sounders FC Signs First Homegrown Player

Seattle Sounders FC has signed defender DeAndre Yedlin, the club announced on January 11. Per Major League Soccer and club policy, terms were not disclosed. Yedlin is the first Homegrown Player signed by Sounders FC in franchise history.

Yedlin, 19, played for the University of Akron the past two seasons after graduating from the Sounders FC Academy system following the 2010-11 season. Yedlin, a Seattle native who attended O'Dea High School, was honored on the All-MAC First Team in his two seasons with the Zips and was named a College Soccer News Freshman All-American in 2011.

Yedlin appeared in all 45 games for Akron over the past two seasons, making 41 starts. He finished his collegiate career with 12 assists, including six assists last season, ranking third on the team. The right back served four assists during a five-match stretch in 2012 and recorded four game-winning assists in his freshman season.

Prior to his collegiate career, Yedlin was a starter for Seattle's O'Dea High School and the Sounders FC Academy team. Yedlin was invited to the U.S. Soccer U18 Men's National training camp and the 2010 SuperElite International Showcase. He participated on the ODP state team from 2006-09 and was named to the USSDA 93 Academy Select Team in 2009 and 2010. Yedlin was ranked seventh in the nation among all 2011 recruits by Top Drawer Soccer and was ranked 12th by College Soccer News.

Sounders FC 2013 Schedule Announced by MLS

Major League Soccer announced the entire 34-game 2013 regular season schedule for Seattle Sounders FC today, including 13 matches that have been selected to be televised nationally on either ESPN or NBC Sports Network.

Sounders FC will play the first two matches at home, beginning on Saturday, March 2 versus the Montreal Impact. This marks the earliest start to a season in club history and the fifth-straight year that Seattle has opened at home.

Seattle, Houston and the L.A. Galaxy received byes from MLS on the second weekend of the season. All three clubs are participating in the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Sounders FC will visit Mexico's Tigres in the first leg of their Champions League series on March 6 in Monterrey, Mexico. The second leg is March 12 on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

All three matches against the Portland Timbers will be nationally televised, and Sounders FC will host four Cascadia Cup fixtures at CenturyLink Field. The first of eight matches on the NBC Sports Network will be on March 16 versus the Portland Timbers.

Seattle will face fellow Western Conference opponents three times and Eastern Conference clubs once. Sounders FC will visit MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy twice with the lone home meeting in the regular season finale. Seattle will host D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, who both qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs last season.

Fourteen of the 17 home matches will be played at night. Nine home dates are on Saturdays, five on Sundays, two on Wednesdays and one on Friday.

After kicking off the regular season with two home matches, Sounders FC makes its first road trip to San Jose on March 23. There are three-consecutive road matches from April 20 to May 8. The team will travel just twice to the Eastern Time Zone (Philadelphia and Toronto), and three of five road matches against Eastern Conference opponents occur over a three-week span in August.

Sounders FC will travel an estimated 39,420 miles in 2013 regular-season play, roughly 1,800 fewer miles than in 2012.

Aside from two home matches each against Portland and Vancouver, Seattle will also host Chivas USA and FC Dallas twice. The San Jose Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake will join the LA Galaxy as the West teams who will visit CenturyLink Field just once this season.

All Sounders FC MLS league matches not aired nationally will be carried live in high definition on KING-5 or KONG-6/16. All locally broadcast matches will also be aired either live outside of Seattle or on a delayed basis throughout the Northwest on ROOT SPORTS�. Each match will also be aired live on the radio home of Sounders FC, News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM.

Sounders FC season tickets can be purchased by visiting www.SoundersFC.com or phoning 1-877-MLS-GOAL.

FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup

The Seattle Sounders FC will participate in the Third Annual FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson, Arizona. The three other MLS clubs participating in the tournament include the New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake. The teams will play a round-robin format through the first three dates with the tournament final and third-place game played on Saturday, February 23. The matches will take place over the course of four days at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Fans can purchase tickets to the Desert Diamond Cup by visiting www.fctucson.ticketsocket.com . The kickoff times for the matches will be announced at a later date.

The Sounders FC will participate in the Desert Diamond Cup for the first time. The Revolution, who reached last year's final, the Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake have all participated in the tournament previously. Sounders FC previously participated in preseason tournaments in 2010 (La Manga Cup) and 2011 (Cascadia Summit).

The 2013 MLS preseason will feature three other tournaments as well as a series of friendlies. The Desert Friendlies kick off the action on January 29 in Tucson, Arizona. The three other tournaments include the Disney Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston and the Portland Timbers Tournament in Portland.

Desert Diamond Cup Schedule of Matches*

Wednesday, February 13

New England Revolution vs. Seattle Sounders FC

New York Red Bulls vs. Real Salt Lake

Saturday, February 16

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Real Salt Lake

New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution

Wednesday, February 20

Real Salt Lake vs. New England Revolution

Seattle Sounders FC vs. New York Red Bulls

Saturday, February 23

3rd Place vs. 4th Place

1st Place vs. 2nd Place

*Game times are TBA; schedule subject to change

Throw-ins

On January 15, 2009, Sounders FC selected Steve Zakuani with its first overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft...Sounders FC forward Eddie Johnson is one of five finalists selected by the Seattle Sports Commission for Sports Star of the Year. Fans can vote for their favorite nominee by visiting SeattleSports.org. Voting runs through January 20 and individuals can vote daily. Winners will be announced during the show on January 25 at Benaroya Hall...

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