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Sounders Home Against Rochester at 7:30 Friday Night

May 17, 2007 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


The Seattle Sounders (1-3-2, 5 pts.) will look for their second win of the season as they face the Rochester Raging Rhinos on Friday, 7:30 p.m., at Qwest Field. On Sunday, the Sounders will travel to Montreal for 1 p.m. away match.

Both Rochester and Montreal are tied for the second in the USL First Division standings, three points behind the defending champions, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Friday's contest will be Greg Howes' first appearance against his former team, Rochester, since joining the Sounders earlier this season. Howes won the USL First Division Rookie of the Year in 2000 with Seattle.

Seattle will also hope for the return of midfielder Leighton O'Brien. The player-coach has missed five games since injuring his hamstring in training, but could log his first minutes since the season-opener against Vancouver.

Also look for newcomers Sebastien Le Toux and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar to continue to the Sounder attack. Each has been named to the USL-1 team of the week at some point this season and both netted their first goals with the club last week.

It will be the first meeting of the year for the two clubs; the Sounders lost both their games to the Raging Rhinos last season, each by a score of 2-1. Rochester advanced all the way to the USL First Division championship game in 2006, a match the team lost to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Sounders and Raging Rhinos have faced each other 12 times since Rochester entered the league in 1996; with Rochester holding a 6-5-1 advantage.

Seattle's most notable victory over Rochester was on Oct. 6, 1996, when the Sounders defeated the Raging Rhinos 2-0 to win their second consecutive A-League Championship.

On Sunday, the Sounders will travel north of the border for an away game against the Montreal Impact, 1 p.m., at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. Seattle lost both games to the Canadian club last season, each by the slimmest of margins: 2-1 and 1-0.

Last season aside, the Sounders have had a successful history against the Impact, especially at home. The Sounders' current overall record is 12-6-1 against Montreal. At home, the Sounders are 6-2-1 and, before last year, had not lost to the Impact in regular season play since 1996.

The two sides have created an intense rivalry over the past few seasons, facing each other in big matches during the postseason. In 2004, the Impact defeated the Sounders 2-0 in Montreal.

The following season, in 2005 the Sounders and Impact met in the semifinals. The Impact scored two goals in the closing minutes of game one to tie the match at 2-2. In game two in Montreal, the Sounders came out with a 2-1 victory and won on aggregate 4-3 to advance to the 2005 championship match, which Seattle won in penalty kicks.

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