Sounders Playoffs Start Tonight

September 14, 2007 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


The Seattle Sounders playoff quest to bring the city of Seattle its fifth USL First Division Title begins against stiff competition Friday night in Cary, North Carolina when the Sounders face off against the Carolina Railhawks.

The Sounders defeated Carolina twice in the regular season, both in hard fought 1-0 matches, on their way to claiming the Cascadia Cup, a fan award given to the top team in the Pacific Northwest, and the USL First Division Commissioner's Cup, given to the team with the best overall regular season record. Now they face the Railhawks in a home and away aggregate score series to open the USL First Division playoffs. Friday night's match will be broadcast online through USLlive.com at 4:30pm Pacific Time. The home leg will be played Sunday September 16th at Qwest Field, kickoff is at 6pm and tickets are available through SeattleSounders.net or by calling 206.622.3415.

Head to Head

Sounders leading scorer Sebastien Le Toux tallied both of the Seattle goals against Carolina as part of his campaign that saw him finish tied for the league lead in goals scored with 10. The results accounted for two of the Sounders league leading and team record nine 1-0 victories on the season.

Sounders goal keeper Chris Eylander saw a straight red card in the first ever meeting between the two sides for violent conduct in the match at Qwest Field on May 23rd. Ben Dragavon was forced into duty for the final 25 minutes of the match, as the Sounders defense made a 57th minute Le Toux goal created by Josh Gardner stand as the winner.

Eylander made seven saves against the Railhawks in a nationally televised match from Cary, North Carolina on June 15th to earn his fourth shutout of the year, on his way to recording a career best 13 shutouts and 14 wins, while leading the league in saves with 108.

The Seattle Sounders

Seattle comes into the playoff series riding a two match winning streak that saw them claim the USL First Division regular season title.

Sebastien Le Toux earned co-leading goal scorer honors with 10 goals, which matches the total tallied by Charles Gbeke of Montreal. Forward Roger Levesque finished in the league's top five in every offensive category.

Goal Keeper Chris Eylander finished best in the league with 14 wins and second in the league with 13 shutouts. He also led the league in saves with 108 and tallied 2,294 minutes between the pipes for the Sounders while compiling a .823 goals against average.

The Sounders defense, anchored by captain Danny Jackson and receiving quality year long performances from 2005 USL First Division Defender of the Year Taylor Graham and Zach Scott allowed only 23 goals, third best among USL First Division Clubs. Since the addition of Graham from RedBull New York on July 3rd, the Sounders allowed eight goals in 13 matches. The Sounders also won a league high nine goals by a 1-0 scoreline during the regular season.

Joining the Defense at right back midway through the season was Kevin Sakuda, who has started 122 consecutive matches for the Sounders in all competitions. The emergence of first year player Kenji Treschuk as a powerful presence in the midfield pushed the versatile Sakuda into the backline and added further consistency to a solid defensive set.

The Expansion Railhawks

Carolina claimed the eighth and final USL First Division playoff spot in their final match of their inagural season in the league with a 2-0 victory over the California Victory at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The win came five days after their extra time US Open Cup Semifinal loss the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

The Railhawks won the Southern Derby Cup, a fan based trophy awarded to the best team from the South, with their 0-0 draw against the Atlanta Silverbacks on August 17th to win the franchises first title of any kind.

The Carolina attack is led by former Rochester Raging Rhino Connally Endozien, who has seven goals on the season and former Virginia Beach Mariner Kupono Low who finished second in the USL First Division regular season in minutes played and tallied six league goals and four assists for 14 points from the Railhawks midfield.

Carolina forward Chris Carrieri is no stranger to playing big games in Seattle. He was part of the Richmond Kickers squad that lost the USL First Division Championship match in penalty kicks to the Sounders at Qwest Field in 2005. He's played in all 28 matches and tallied three assists for the expansion Railhawks.

Chad Dombrowski, Caleb Norkus and Frankie Sanfillipo make up the core of the Carolina defense chalking up 6,945 minutes played and four goals between them while allowing 34 ranking them sixth amongst USL First Division teams for goals allowed. Their cause has been bolstered by the return of former DC United defender David Stokes to the lineup after he missed six matches in the middle of the season due to injury.

Goal Keeper Chris McClellan started 25 matches on the year posting an 8-9-8 record with 12 shutouts.

The Weather

The forecast for Friday night in Cary, North Carolina is for light rain and a Friday high of 78 degrees cooling before kickoff and 78% humidity.

Sunday's forecast for Seattle's home match is for a high of 68 degrees with a 20% chance of rain increasing in the evening hours.

Sounders Travel Schedule

All Times Pacific

Thursday September 13 - Depart Seattle 12pm, arrive Raleigh, NC 8pm Friday September 14 - 4:30 pm kickoff, Game One available through USLlive.com Saturday September 15 - Depart Raleigh 7am, arrive Seattle 2pm Sunday September 16 - 6pm kickoff, Game Two.

Other Playoff Series

All Times Pacific

Vancouver (7) vs Portland (2) Friday September 14th @ Vancouver 7pm Sunday September 16 @ Portland 5pm (Fox Soccer Channel)

Puerto Rico (6) vs Montreal (3) Friday September 14 @ Montreal 4:30pm Sunday September 16 @ Puerto Rico 3pm

Rochester (5) vs Atlanta (4) Friday September 14 @ Atlanta 5pm Sunday September 16 @ Rochester 3pm

Playoff Format and Rules

The quarter and semifinal series are two legged aggregate score series with equal consideration given to home and away goals.

If the score is tied after two 90 minute matches, then two 15 minute overtime periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is tied after the playoff periods then the match will be decided by FIFA Style penalty kicks.

The teams will be reseeded after the quarter final round and the highest remaining seed will face the lowest remaining seed.

The league championship will be a single match played on September 29th. The same overtime rules will apply to the final as to the previous series.



USL First Division Stories from September 14, 2007


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