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2012 Sounders Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time TV/Results Type
Wednesday, March 07, 2012 Santos Seattle, WA 7p Fox Soccer
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 @ Santos Torreon, Mexico 5p Fox Soccer
Saturday, March 17, 2012 Toronto FC Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Friday, March 23, 2012 Dynamo Seattle, WA 7p NBCSN
Saturday, March 31, 2012 Earthquakes Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, April 07, 2012 @ DC United Washington, DC 430p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, April 14, 2012 Rapids Seattle, WA 1p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, April 28, 2012 @ Fire Bridgeview, IL 530p KING or KONG TV
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 Galaxy Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, May 05, 2012 Union Seattle, WA 1p NBCSN
Wednesday, May 09, 2012 @ FC Dallas Frisco, TX 530p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, May 12, 2012 Real Salt Lake Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, May 19, 2012 @ Whitecaps FC Vancouver, BC 1p KING or KONG TV
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 Crew Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, May 26, 2012 @ Chivas USA Carson, CA 730p KING or KONG TV
Saturday, June 16, 2012 @ Impact Montreal, QC 430p KING or KONG TV
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Sporting KC Seattle, WA 7p KING or KONG TV
Sunday, June 24, 2012 @ Timbers Portland, OR 2p ESPN
Saturday, June 30, 2012 @ Revolution Foxborough, MA 430p KING or KONG TV
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For the Seattle Sounders, it’s about keeping the ball rolling.

Riding an eight-match unbeaten streak, the Sounders on Thursday signed Sigi Schmid — the winningest coach in MLS history — to a contract extension through the 2015 season.

Sounders coach Sigi Schmid will be with the team through 2015 under his new contract. (AP Photo)
“From the moment we hired Sigi I knew it was the right decision, and that he was the right man for this particular club,” Sounders owner/GM Adrian Hanauer said in a statement. “I feel that even more strongly today.

“Beyond the victories and the trophies won, Sigi possesses a strong, positive character and he has represented himself and this club with tremendous class and professionalism. Sigi is the right coach to lead us to more successes and more championships.”

Schmid, 58, holds the career mark for regular-season wins (148) and postseason wins (19), and his teams have won two MLS cups.

This year’s team is doing well on and off the field. The team leads the league in attendance and ranks second in the Western Conference with a 9-4-8 record.

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If it looked like Kasey Keller was the only member of the

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

who was playing as if something was on the line during stretches of Saturday’s 3-0 playoff loss at Real Salt Lake, it’s because the stakes actually were significantly higher for the 41-year-old goalkeeper.

His teammates were playing to stay alive in one of three competitions the club had entered in what has been a long and successful season. Keller was playing to prolong his career.

Kasey Keller can point to the Sounders’ operation as a model for all MLS clubs to follow. (AP Photo)
“We didn’t even come in for the fight,” Keller told The Seattle Times on Monday after refusing to speak in the locker room following the loss in Utah. “We didn’t step up and perform in a do-or-die manner. That’s probably the thing that’s the most disappointing for everybody.

“When another team steps it up a gear in the playoffs and you almost step it down, that’s hard to fathom.”

Keller turned pro in 1992, and he’s retiring as soon as the 2011 campaign concludes. He never has won a league championship. The Sounders will need a three-goal miracle in Wednesday’s second and final leg of their MLS Cup quarterfinal series to have any chance to change that.

The three-goal deficit would have been worse if not for several spectacular saves from the Olympia, Wash. native—“We’re lucky we didn’t lose 6-0,” Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said afterward—who now could be 90 minutes from calling it a career.

Either way, however, it’s been a wildly successful one.

The three-time U.S. Soccer athlete of the year is the last remaining trailblazer still in uniform, a college kid who made the 1990 World Cup team and an American who starred in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga.

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Just a few months ago Mauro Rosales was a 30-year-old soccer player without a job. On a flyer, he tried out for the Seattle Sounders FC in February.

“It didn’t take us long in the training sessions to figure out that this guy was a good player,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid told The Seattle Times. “The thing that I like a lot about Mauro is that he plays with a passion. I think the fans can see that.”

Now, the 5-8 forward/midfielder from Argentina is the Sounders’ best player and an MVP candidate. He has only one goal and four assists, but the club is 6-1-4 with him in the lineup.

Rosales’ has impacted the team in many ways, leading the club into second place in the Western Conference heading into Monday night’s showdown vs. the first-place L.A. Galaxy.

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A pair of second half Fredy Montero goals secured three points for

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the final game at Empire Field.

The win improves Seattle’s record to 15-6-9 (54pts) and secured the club’s claim to the Cascadia Cup.

Full Story from the club…
A pair of Fredy Montero goals in the second half was the difference in a 3-1 Sounders FC victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the final game in Vancouver’s Empire Field. Seattle’s win also clinches the Cascadia Cup, the battle for bragging rights in the Pacific Northwest between Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (15-6-9, 54 points) is second in the Western Conference behind the LA Galaxy. They clinched a playoff spot after yesterday’s draw between Kansas City and Philadelphia.

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On Saturday, the SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC has a special opportunity to honor their supporters on the road.

In this, the first season that the Cascadia Cup will be played for in Major League Soccer, the Sounders are one win away from clinching the inaugural edition of the trophy at the highest level and hoisting the cup in front of the over 500 who are expected to have traveled across the border to Empire Stadium for Seattle’s final match of the derby this season.

While the rivalries between the three clubs date back to the North American Soccer League, the Cascadia Cup was first awarded in 2004. The supporter groups from the Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers collectively funded the two-foot-tall trophy, which is awarded to the team with the best series record each season.

The Sounders drew both of their home matches against Portland and Vancouver, but topped the Timbers in Portland to take the lead in the race for the Cup.

In the five years that all three teams competed for the Cascadia Cup, Vancouver has won it three times and Seattle has won it twice. Portland won it both years that Seattle did not compete for it while they were in Major League Soccer and the other two clubs played second division.

“It’s a way for the organization to start off on the right foot,” Sounders FC defender Jeff Parke said. “This is the first year that we all get to play against each other in the league. What better than to come home with the trophy?”

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MLS’ historic August has given way to a humbling September. MLS teams have hit the skids in the CONCACAF Champions League, proving just how difficult juggling the home stretch of the regular season and international competition when dealing with a tight schedule, travel and MLS roster regulations.

On Wednesday, the L.A. Galaxy lost at Costa Rica’s Alajuelense while the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas lost home games to Honduras’ Real España and Mexico’s UNAM Pumas, respectively. Those results dropped the five MLS entrants’ September CCL record to 2-7-1. The aforementioned trio, along with the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC, were a combined 10-1-1 in August.

Go

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

- only one’s hanging strong!

The overall performance of MLS teams in the competition remains relatively good. All five clubs remain alive for a spot in the March quarterfinals, and the 15 overall victories in the continental championship tournament, which kicked off in late July, is just one short of the MLS record for the competition with two rounds of the group stage still remaining.

Still, the trend is troubling.

The Galaxy, which started 2-0-0, is now 2-2-0 and behind Alajuelense (3-1-0) and Mexico’s Morelia (2-1-0) for the two Group A quarterfinal berths. The Rapids, who also are fading in MLS, are in last place in Group B at 1-2-1 following two consecutive home defeats by a combined 6-2.

Dallas (2-1-1) and Toronto (2-2-0) meet Oct. 18 in what likely will be a Group C elimination match. Seattle is in the best shape, leading Group D at 3-1-0 despite Wednesday night’s defeat.

There are several potential explanations for the swoon.

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The most powerful and prestigious soccer leagues in the world have stopped at 20. From a huge country like Brazil to a relatively small one like England, 20 clubs seem to be the limit for even the strongest circuits. Whether it’s to keep the number of games manageable, maintain the depth of the talent pool or simply a trend, 20 has become the standard.

MLS president Mark Abbott, for the time being, seems to be content with 20, too, raising the bar significantly for those markets or investors keen to join the league. While other major American pro sports leagues have expanded to 30 teams and beyond, Abbott told Sporting News that 20 is suitable for MLS.

Thanks to the SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC and other recent additions, MLS has high expectations for its expansion franchises. (AP Photo)

The Montreal Impact will ascend from the second-division NASL to become club No. 19 next year, while MLS has targeted New York City as the site for No. 20.

“Our focus right now is the 20th team in New York and we have not yet set a timeline for expansion beyond that, or even (determined) if we’re going to expand beyond that,” Abbott said. “There’s no place we need to be. Even at the size we are, we have a tremendous national footprint and are at the size that soccer leagues typically are. We feel good about the size we’re at. Other markets could be very successful as MLS markets, but (expanding beyond 20) wouldn’t be out of need. We don’t need to grow beyond where we are.”

The league’s growth has been explosive. Following the 2001 season (its sixth) MLS contracted the clubs in Tampa and South Florida, cutting membership to 10 teams. It climbed to 12 in 2005, with six more coming aboard over the next six years, including the Portland Timbers in 2011.

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Seattle Sounders FC face a real test in keeping their rampaging form going when they meet Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC extended their league unbeaten streak to four games in their last match, a club-record 6-2 victory against the Columbus Crew. Real are coming off back-to-back victories, winning the only MLS game last weekend, a 2-1 home victory against Philadelphia Union.

Seattle Sounders FC won a second consecutive game and extended their unbeaten streak to four games in impressive fashion, rolling to a club-record 6-2 win against the Columbus Crew on Aug. 27 at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC have 48 points from 27 games on the season, in second place in the Western Conference.