KNOCKOUT ROUND SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v SPORTING KANSAS CITY Thurs., Oct. 27 – CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wash. (7 p.m. PT; UniMás; FS1) 24
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD: KC 4 wins, 12 goals … SEA 7 wins, 13 goals … Ties 3
Frei
4
29
14
Torres
Marshall
Mears
33 Jones
6
8
Alonso
Friberg
10
7
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS: First meeting.
21
Lodeiro
Roldan
Fernandez
13 Morris
14 Dwyer
27 Espinoza
8
6
10
Nagamura
Feilhaber
Zusi
93 15 Sinovic
Mustivar
5
4
Besler
Ellis
17 Abdul-Salaam
29 Melia
REFEREE: Ismail Elfath. AR1 (bench): Peter Manikowski; AR2 (opposite): Corey Parker; 4th: Ricardo Salazar SUSPENDED: none WARNINGS: none
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC SUBSTITUTES FROM 1 Miller GK 3 Evans DF 9 Gomez FW 11 Kovar MF 12 Farfan MF 15 Remick DF 16 Valdez FW 17 Jones FW 18 Sturgis MF 20 Scott DF 22 Lyon GK 23 Ivanschitz MF 25 Alfaro DF 39 Anderson FW 80 Mansaray FW 91 Fisher MF
2016 HEAD-TO-HEAD: KC 2 wins, 4 goals … SEA 0 wins, 0 goals … Ties 0 AT CENTURYLINK FIELD: 3/6: SEA 0, KC 1 (Coelho 73)
SPORTING KANSAS CITY SUBSTITUTES FROM 1 Kempin GK 3 Opara DF 7 Myers DF 9 Rubio FW 11 Davis MF 12 Coelho DF 13 Joya MF 16 Olum MF 21 Mapp MF 22 Hallisey FW 23 Appiah MF 24 Alvarado DF 25 Kann GK 37 Peterson FW 39 Porter FW 94 Medranda MF
Sounders FC put an end to their brief two-game winless run with the regular-season ending victory against Real Salt Lake, earning a home game in the Knockout Round in the process. On Sept. 10, Sounders FC were in ninth place in the Western Conference; since that date, they went 5-1-1 down the stretch to clinch a postseason berth. “We needed to win that game because the last two results we had weren’t wins and we needed to get into the playoffs on our own, so we didn’t have to rely on anybody else, because we take responsibility for our actions and we wanted to make sure that we get a nice little bump with the confidence and everything that comes along with a win like this against a tough team,” Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said. ... Sounders FC also continued their record of having reached the MLS Cup Playoffs in each year of the club's MLS history, now eight consecutive seasons in the postseason. That's tied for the second-longest such run in MLS history, along with the LA Galaxy's current streak (the Galaxy qualified 10 years running in the first 10 seasons of the league). ... “That’s a big piece to this puzzle that we’ve been trying to figure out. We definitely didn’t think we’d be in this position halfway through the year. A lot of pressures from outside and within the group, but what we do is we persevere. One way to do that is to put your head down and work, and we’ve all done that for each other. There is a lot of respect in this locker room for the changes that were made," said Brad Evans. ... Alvaro Fernandez scored his first goal of the season in the regular season finale, his first MLS goal since Sept. 15, 2012, when he scored for the Chicago Fire vs. Montreal. ... Cristian Roldan scored his fourth goal of the season, his first since Aug. 21, netting the match-winner. ... "That first goal was probably our best bit of soccer the whole game. Cristian [Roldan] is just Cristian – opportunistic; right place, right time. Our set pieces have been pretty good, with Chad [Marshall] and Román [Torres] taking a lot of attention off some of the peripheral guys. So – well, we can’t fill [Clint] Dempsey’s shoes, but, yes, by collective, by committee, we did enough,” Schmetzer said. Sporting guaranteed a place in the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs with the 2-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes in the regular season finale at Children's Mercy Park, extending their streak of reaching the postseason to six seasons, a third consecutive year playing in the Knockout Round. “What we don't want to have are these aberrations where one year we are winning and the next year we are last place in the league. We want to continue to be competitive. We want to continue to do well and always put ourselves in a position to compete for MLS Cup. Our first goal is making the MLS playoffs and we have done that now six years in a row. I go back to giving credit to the effort and the guys' commitment to getting in,” said SKC manager Peter Vermes. ... The win also extended SKC's home undefeated streak to nine games to close out the regular campaign, their longest since going 12 home games without loss last year. “You are not going to win every year. But we have been able to win three trophies in the last four years. And six times in the playoffs in a row, we are putting ourselves in a position every year to succeed. We would love to have a home game, so now we have to win an away one before we get the home one,” said midfielder Benny Feilhaber. ... Benny Feilhaber scored a goal from the penalty spot and added an assist in the San Jose win, the eighth time in his MLS career he’s had at least a goal and an assist in the same game. Feilhaber has been involved in each of SKC’s last six goals, with a goal and five assists in that run. ... Sporting go into the postseason on the heels of back-to-back shutouts, having recorded 10 clean sheets for the season. “It's a big piece of success in the league and, more importantly, success in the playoffs and winning MLS Cup. You have to be able to keep goals out of the back of the net and it's got to be between two things; it's the players doing everything they can to limit the number of shots and then your goalkeeper has to come up with big saves and both of those things have happened the last two weeks which has been great,” Vermes said. ... Vermes maintained an unchanged starting team for the final two games, the first time since mid-May Vermes was able to run out the same first XI in back-to-back league contests.