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Sounders Play Home Opener Against Timbers

May 8, 2008 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


The Seattle Sounders (1-1-1) play host to their arch-rivals, the Portland Timbers on Saturday in the highly anticipated home opener at Qwest Field.

A battle of last year's league champion and regular season runner-up, the game won't be short on excitement and intensity as Portland will look to go as many as 11 points ahead of Seattle with a win.

Seattle is coming off a 2 - 0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks in a rematch of last year's championship game. The game ended a three game road stretch to start the season.

With matches under their belt in Charleston, Portland, and Atlanta, Seattle has four points and are middle of the table early in the year.

REVENGE MATCH

Portland, on the other hand, are the league leaders having won their first three matches, including a 2 - 0 victory over the Sounders on April 26th. Portland's new star addition, Takayuki Suzuki, scored one goal and had one assist in the win.

"We're eager to extract some revenge for the early 2 - 0 defeat, we're also very cognizant of the new look Timbers with their Japanese star, Takayuki Suzuki, who we'll keep an eye on", Coach Schmetzer said. "Being that it's the home opener and a large crowd, we don't want to disappoint our home fans".

Tickets are still available. Go to www.seattlesounders.net for more information.

GAME NOTES

Leighton O'Brien and Taylor Graham were named to the USL team of the week after Friday's game in Atlanta. O'Brien scored the first goal of the game with a corner kick that bent directly in and Graham led the backline to their fourth consecutive shutout against Atlanta. Roger Levesque is still recovering from an ankle sprain and is considered "possible" for Saturday's game.

Youssouf Kante, Seattle's newly acquired midfielder, is expected to be available for Saturday having spent the week in France completing his final visa.

Portland will play tonight against the Minnesota Thunder at PGE Park.

In order to be consistent for all major sporting events at Qwest Field, as well as offer the best security and comfort for fans, all attendees for Seattle Sounders home games will be subject to pat down searches. This policy will also be in effect for all international soccer matches played at Qwest Field, as well as the Major League Soccer when the Seattle Sounder FC season begins in 2009. Fans are encouraged to arrive early at stadium gates to help facilitate this additional security measure.

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USL First Division Stories from May 8, 2008


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