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Sounders Semifinal Preview

September 20, 2007 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


The Seattle Sounders take their USL First Division Championship aspirations into the semifinal round with a home and away series against the Puerto Rico Islanders this weekend.

The opening match will be played in Puerto Rico, Friday, September 21 at 5pm Seattle time and will be available through USLLive.com. The Sounders home leg will be at Starfire Sports Entertainment Complex on Sunday, September 23 with kickoff at 5pm. Seating for the match is limited and fans are encouraged to get their tickets in advance for $15 through SeattleSounders.net. If tickets are available the day of the game, they will be $18 at the gate.

Seattle Sounders

The number one seed Sounders booked their spot in the semifinals with a 3-0 aggregate score victory over the number eight seed Carolina Railhawks last weekend. Zach Scott and Andre Schmid tallied goals in the rain soaked opening match on Friday night and Leighton O'Brien added a second half added time penalty conversion in the home leg Sunday to secure the victory.

Sounders goal keeper Chris Eylander made several key saves in the second half of Sunday's match as a desperate Carolina squad fought to get back into the contest despite being reduced to nine men after David Stokes and Joey Worthen were sent off. The matches were the first ever playoff matches in Eylander's career.

On April 29th, in their third match of the 2007 season, the Sounders earned their first ever points in Puerto Rico after being defeated in each of the three previous year's away to the Islanders. The match was the first ever start as a Sounder for first year pro Kenji Treschuk who has gone on to become the workhorse of the Sounders midfield through the second half of the season.

Treschuk's emergence has allowed Kevin Sakuda to return to the right back position that he played at Duke University and complete a powerful backline alongside captain Danny Jackson, 2005 USL Defender of the Year Taylor Graham and Gonzaga University product Zach Scott. The Sounders backline is the only one that has not conceded a goal in the playoffs.

On August 4th, the Islanders lost 1-0 at Qwest Field on a goal tallied by the Sounders 2005 scoring leader Roger Levesque. His strike partnership with Sebastien Le Toux catapulted them both into the race for the league scoring title. In the end Le Toux finished tied with Montreal's Charles Gbeke for most goals scored with 10 and Levesque finished in the top five in every offensive category the league had to offer.

Puerto Rico Islanders

The Islanders completed a come from behind upset of the Montreal Impact with a 3-0 victory over the 2004 champions in Puerto Rico on Sunday. They left the away leg in Montreal trailing 3-2 to a confident Impact side.

Puerto Rico claimed the number six spot in the regular season standings with a 10 win eight loss and 10 draw record for 40 points. They lost only twice at home in the regular season, but won only three matches away from Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel.

Noah Delgado, Taiwo Atieno, Fabrice Noel and Alberto Zapata made up the core of a balanced Islander attack that scored 35 goals in the regular season, fourth best in the USL First Division. Atieno had two of the five goals scored by Puerto Rico in the Montreal series and Noel and Delgado both provided assists.

The Islanders earned their first playoff berth at the expense of the Seattle Sounders in 2006 and went on to lose their first round series to the Charleston Battery 3-2 on aggregate.

Coming into the 2007 playoffs, the Islanders won three of their last five matches and edged ahead of the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps into the number six spot.

Marco Velez and Jay Needham make up the core of the Islander defense in front of former Portland Timbers goal keeper Josh Saunders. Saunders allowed 26 goals in 22 matches and posted a 7-5-10 record between the pipes in his first year as an Islander.

The key addition for the Islanders has been former FC Dallas head coach Colin Clarke who took the reigns on May 22, 2007. His impact was felt immediately as the team went on a five match unbeaten run and put together an early summer stretch that saw them lose just once in 13 matches before starting a three game skid with the 1-0 loss in Seattle on August 4th.

Weather

Friday A temperature of 73 degrees and humidity of 96% are expected for kickoff on Friday night with a 40% chance of showers at Juan Ramon Loubriel stadium in Bayamon Puerto Rico.

Sunday The conditions for Starfire Sports Complex on Saturday predict a kickoff temperature of 61 degrees with 57% humidity and a 10% chance of rain.

The Other Semifinal

(2) Portland vs (4) Atlanta Friday September 21st @ Atlanta 5pm Pacific (USLLive.com) Sunday September 23rd @ Portland 5pm Pacific (Fox Soccer Channel)

Playoff Format

The semifinals will be a two game aggregate score series with no weight given to away goals. If the teams are tied at the end of the second 90 minute match, there will be two 15 minute overtime periods followed by FIFA style penalty kicks if the score is still level.

The winner of the semifinals will face in a one match final on September 29th with the higher seed having the option to host the final.

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