IN THIS ISSUE Editor-In-Chief Robert Casner
2
CLOSER LOOK
Take in the best photos from the opening month of the 2017 season
Creative Director/Designer Ty Kreft Assistant Editors Alex Caulfield Kelly Schutz Matt Winter Danny Ciaccio Ryan Krasnoo Daniel Robertson Cover Illustrator Lara Kaminoff Contributing Photographers Mike Fiechtner Jane Gershovich Dan Poss Trask Smith Cesar Roldan University of Washington Athletics Department
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2017 SCHEDULE
10
MEET THE TEAM
12
PAVING HIS OWN PATH
Seattle Sounders FC 159 South Jackson, Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98104 887-MLS-GOAL SoundersFC.com
Find out what the First Team is watching on Netflix these days
Chronicling Cristian Roldan’s unorthodox journey from Southern California to Seattle Sounders FC WORDS BY ARI LILJENWALL
22
UNSUNG HEROES
Follow the Sounders FC equipment staff through their daily regimen WORDS BY ROBERT CASNER / PHOTOS BY MIKE FIECHTNER
Morale Supporter Kristi Bruner
© 2017 by Major League Soccer, LLC and Seattle Soccer, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written consent of Seattle Soccer, LLC is prohibited.
It’s pretty self-explanatory
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BY THE NUMBERS
35
ON THE COVER
36
ON A DESERT ISLAND...
40
THE ADVENTURES OF JORDAN & CRISTIAN
Find out how many beers were downed and scarves were sold at our home opener
Get to know Seattle illustrator Lara Kaminoff, this month’s cover artist
Defender Chad Marshall imagines how he’d cope with being shipwrecked
Follow the hijinks of everybody’s favorite BFFs COMIC BY MLS WATERCOLORIST
1
CLOSER LOOK
MARCH 4, 2017
Forward Will Bruin makes his Sounders debut against his former club, the Houston Dynamo, at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.
MARCH 16, 2017
Forward Clint Dempsey is presented with the Camo Blazer of Glory by Michael Davies and Roger Bennett during the Men in Blazers live show at The Showbox.
MARCH 19, 2017
Forward Jordan Morris and 7-year-old Eli Overa show each other their insulin pumps. Overa, the first participant in the Jordan Morris Type 1 Diabetes Playmakers’ Program, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 1.
2017 SCHEDULE OPPONENT
DAY
DATE
TIME
TV
Houston Dynamo
Sat
March 4
5:30 PM
Q13 Fox
Montreal Impact
Sat
March 11
4:00 PM
JoeTV
New York Red Bulls
Sun
March 19
4:00 PM
FS1
Club Necaxa*
Sat
March 25
7:00 PM
JoeTV
Atlanta United FC
Fri
March 31
7:00 PM
FS1
San Jose Earthquakes
Sat
April 8
7:30 PM
Q13 Fox
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Fri
April 14
7:00 PM
Q13 Fox
LA Galaxy
Sun
April 23
1:00 PM
ESPN
New England Revolution
Sat
April 29
7:00 PM
Q13 Fox
Toronto FC
Sat
May 6
12:00 PM
ESPN
Chicago Fire
Sat
May 13
6:00 PM
Q13 Fox
Sporting Kansas City
Wed
May 17
5:30 PM
JoeTV
Real Salt Lake
Sat
May 20
2:00 PM
JoeTV
Portland Timbers
Sat
May 27
12:00 PM
Q13 Fox
Columbus Crew SC
Wed
May 31
4:30 PM
Q13 Fox
Houston Dynamo
Sun
June 4
7:00 PM
JoeTV
New York City FC
Sat
June 17
10:00 AM
ESPN
Orlando City
Wed
June 21
7:30 PM
JoeTV
Portland Timbers
Sun
June 25
1:00 PM
ESPN
Colorado Rapids
Tue
July 4
6:00 PM
Q13 Fox
Eintracht Frankfurt*
Sat
July 8
1:00 PM
JoeTV
D.C. United
Wed
July 19
7:30 PM
Q13 Fox
San Jose Earthquakes
Sun
July 23
7:30 PM
JoeTV
LA Galaxy
Sat
July 29
7:00 PM
ESPN
Minnesota United FC
Sat
August 5
5:00 PM
Q13 Fox
Sporting Kansas City
Sat
August 12
1:00 PM
JoeTV
Minnesota United FC
Sun
August 20
7:00 PM
FS1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Wed
August 23
7:00 PM
JoeTV
Portland Timbers
Sun
August 27
6:30 PM
FS1
LA Galaxy
Sun
September 10
6:00 PM
FS1
FC Dallas
Sat
September 16
5:00 PM
JoeTV
Real Salt Lake
Sat
September 23
6:30 PM
JoeTV
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Wed
September 27
7:30 PM
JoeTV
Philadelphia Union
Sun
October 1
10:00 AM
ESPN
FC Dallas
Sun
October 15
4:30 PM
JoeTV
Colorado Rapids
Sun
October 22
1:00 PM
JoeTV
HOME MATCH
AWAY MATCH
RESULT
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY All matches broadcast LIVE on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM | El Rey 1360 AM
9
MEET THE TEAM
Prison Break. Every episode is interesting and exciting!
12 SEYI ADEKOYA FORWARD
15 TONY ALFARO DEFENDER
6 OSVALDO ALONSO MIDFIELDER
Prison Break. The plots are really good and I want to watch it every week.
3 BRAD EVANS DEFENDER
8 ÁLVARO FERNÁNDEZ MIDFIELDER
91 ONIEL FISHER DEFENDER
10 NICOLÁS LODEIRO MIDFIELDER
80 VICTOR MANSARAY FORWARD
14 CHAD MARSHALL DEFENDER
The Office. It’s funny and easy to watch. My favorite character is Dwight.
Peaky Blinders. I just watched the second and third season so it’s the freshest thing on my mind.
13 JORDAN MORRIS FORWARD
Peaky Blinders. The acting is really good and there are lots of cliff hangers. I started it during preseason and flew through it!
23 HENRY WINGO MIDFIELDER
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7 CRISTIAN ROLDAN MIDFIELDER
COACHING STAFF
19 HARRY SHIPP MIDFIELDER
BRIAN SCHMETZER HEAD COACH
Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NETFLIX SERIES?
17 WILL BRUIN FORWARD
21 JORDY DELEM MIDFIELDER
2 CLINT DEMPSEY FORWARD
24 STEFAN FREI GOALKEEPER
33 JOEVIN JONES DEFENDER
11 AARON KOVAR MIDFIELDER
All-time I’d say Californication. I like the sarcastic humor that David Duchovny has in it. He has a witty, sarcastic humor that I grew up with in my family.
32 ZACH MATHERS MIDFIELDER
35 BRYAN MEREDITH GOALKEEPER
1 TYLER MILLER GOALKEEPER
4 GUSTAV SVENSSON MIDFIELDER
5 NOUHOU TOLO DEFENDER
29 ROMÁN TORRES DEFENDER
I have a new one, Club de Cuervos. It’s amazing and related to soccer. It’s kind of fun. I like those dramas about the staff and owners of teams.
TOM DUTRA GK COACH
DJIMI TRAORE ASST. COACH
GONZALO PINEDA ASST. COACH
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by Ari Liljenwall
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Cristian Roldan’s unique rise through the professional ranks of American soccer. 13
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Southern California: Impossible is Nothing.
“So, anyway, I’m juggling and getting filmed and out of 110 kids they narrow it down to 10 and eventually I get the part,” Roldan continues. “It took place in Los Angeles. It took about 12 hours to film for a oneminute commercial.”
Cristian Roldan has told the story a million times by now.
It’s been over a decade, but do a quick Google search and you can still find the ad on YouTube.
The Seattle Sounders’ third-year midfielder is sitting at a table across from me in the lobby of Starfire Sports, the team’s practice facility a few miles south of Seattle. I’ve been assigned a feature on him so, naturally, I have to ask him about the commercial. You know, the adidas one he starred in when he was nine years old, long before he became a first round MLS SuperDraft pick turned fulltime starting midfielder.
It opens with kid Roldan’s face peering up at the sky, where he catches a glimpse of a rogue plastic bag floating in the wind a la American Beauty, before he traps it with his foot. He spends the rest of the clip scouring the streets for more bags, systematically grabbing them one by one. He snags one off barbed wire and another from a dumpster outside a convenience store before the owner rushes out and shoos him away.
It’s certainly not the first time he’s been asked about his brief foray into the world of acting, but Roldan humors me anyway.
After he’s collected the last of them, Roldan assembles a makeshift soccer ball by stuffing all of the bags together and tying it off at the top. Then, he starts juggling as the words “Impossible is nothing” materialize on the screen.
“It was kind of out of the blue,” he says me. “I was playing in this league in Norwalk (California). All of the sudden all the coaches get notified that adidas productions are going to come to the field at 3:00 and film us juggling. Almost like a tryout.” Roldan didn’t want to go. He was perfectly content to spend the rest of the day at home playing video games. But his dad, Cesar, wasn’t having it. Cristian was good at juggling, really good, and Cesar thought he had a legitimate chance at getting the part. So, despite Cristian’s adamant protests, Cesar told him to get ready, that they were going to this audition whether he threw a fit or not.
Stills from an adidas commercial Roldan starred in as a nine-year-old.
Impossible is nothing. Knowing what we know now, it’s funny to watch in retrospect. That plastic-bag-juggling nine-year-old is now considered one of the most important players on the Sounders and one of the brightest young talents in MLS. Given that he’s been on the team for just over two seasons, it can be easy to forget that he’s still just 21, that there are still plenty of new heights ahead to be reached. These days, things are going so well it can be easily forgotten that if not for a couple fortuitous twists of fate, Roldan might not be on the Seattle Sounders or playing professional soccer at all.
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San Diego, California: Serendipity at the Surf Cup Roldan was frustrated. He was going into his senior year at El Rancho High School in his hometown of Pico Rivera, Calif. – a year that would eventually see him clown on the competition to the tune of 54 goals, 31 assists and get named the 2013 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year, but he had few college soccer scholarship invitations. His next goal was clear: He wanted to play college soccer. Roldan had offers in high school from the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA youth academies but he passed them up, opting instead to stay and play at El Rancho where he had bonded with his coach Dominic Ticon, and wanted to play with his younger brother, Alex. It was a decision born out of loyalty, but one that also probably limited his exposure to Division I programs. He and Cesar made DVDs of his high school highlights and blasted out countless emails to prospective schools. But no one was calling. He started applying to colleges solely to be a student, the reality setting in that playing collegiate soccer might not be in the cards. “The only thing we never did was put Cristian in a prestigious club, those expensive ones where they have private trainers, private coaches and all that,” Cesar tells me over the phone from the family’s home in Pico Rivera. “We never got to there because, I mean, money was tight. That’s why Cristian didn’t get noticed for a long time. When he became a senior in high school, when it was time to find a college, he didn’t get noticed by anybody.”
A young Roldan poses for a photo during his youth soccer days.
It was a really random chance that saw University of Washington head coach Jamie Clark head to the Surf Cup in San Diego, where Roldan happened to be playing. Clark was in attendance scouting for talent, but Roldan wasn’t on his radar. He had yet to see any potential recruits and was headed home for the day. The only reason he stopped by that field to watch this particular game was because his friend, Matt Broadhead, was coaching Roldan’s opponent. Roldan had already caught Clark’s eye by the time he approached a random parent in the crowd who, as it turned out, was Roldan’s mom, Ana. “(Clark) came up to me and asked me for a roster,” Ana recalls. “And I went to ask a coach for one and the coach said that they didn’t have any more. So, I went up to Jamie to tell him that we don’t have any more rosters. But I said, ‘You know what? If you’re looking for a player, watch No. 11.’” Clark only watched Roldan for 10 minutes but, really, that was all he needed to see. In those 10 minutes, Roldan played out of his mind, making run after run and scoring a goal in the game’s waning moments. Clark was confused – kids this good aren’t supposed to slip through the cracks like this – but he didn’t question it. He just offered Roldan a scholarship. If Clark hadn’t noticed him that day, Roldan probably isn’t on the Sounders. Cesar and Cristian know this and both make a point of singling out and thanking Clark and UW for giving him the shot. “For me, those 10 minutes where Jamie happened to be passing by as he was leaving, me happening to be playing against his friend’s team, my mom saying something, it was a combination of a lot of different things,” Roldan says. “Life could have been different. My career could have been different. “Sometimes you need some luck in your life. I think that was a moment where I got lucky.” In his two seasons at the University of Washington, Roldan was dominant.
17
As a freshman, he was named the Soccer America National Freshman of the Year, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the No. 2 freshman in the country by TopDrawerSoccer. His sophomore year was more of the same as he was named an NSCAA third-team All-American and firstteam All-Pac-12. By this time, he was well on the radar of Sounders Sporting Director Chris Henderson. “I remember when Cristian first came into UW,” Henderson tells me after a recent practice at Stafire. “I remember a whole staff in the bleachers talking about this kid and where he came from. He wasn’t in our academy, but we followed him like he was. He’s from California, but to have him go to UW and play there is something we took close interest in. When we got to the draft table, we had to find a way to trade up to get him.”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: SuperDraft Even after all of that, the fact that Roldan is on the Sounders can be attributed to another instance of happenstance. After deciding to turn pro after his sophomore year at UW, he was projected to go as high as No. 2 in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, considered by many pundits to be the consensus second-best player available, behind current Orlando City star Cyle Larin. The Sounders didn’t pick until much later in the first round and few thought Roldan would be on the board that long.
Roldan on the ball in his University of Washington days.
some pause. Could he really contribute to an MLS attack against the bigger, more physical defenders the league has to offer? By the same token, could he hold up defensively himself against attackers that are that much more dynamic than his DI competition? The Sounders didn’t have these doubts. After he fell past the top 15 picks and was still available at No. 16, Sounders General Manager Garth Lagerwey managed to engineer a trade with Real Salt Lake to move up and take him, ensuring that Roldan was staying in Seattle. “For me, obviously I was bummed that I didn’t go higher. But at the same time, I was thrilled that Seattle picked me up,” Roldan says. “I was thrilled because I was at a team where the coaches believed in me. I think that’s the most important thing. If you’re in an environment where the coaches want you to strive and do great things and have a lot of confidence in you, I think that’s the biggest thing going into the draft.” Falling to the Sounders was a break for Roldan in more ways than one.
But scouts were underwhelmed with his performance at the MLS combine, many of them with the same concerns about his size that had dogged him in high school.
First, it sent him to one of the most prominent markets in the league, a team that perennially breaks or challenges league attendance records and has never missed the playoffs in its eight-season MLS existence.
Even now, Roldan stands at just 5-foot-8. He can jump out of the building and is a much more proficient aerial threat than most players his height, but his stature still gave scouts
But, perhaps more importantly, it kept him where he was comfortable. In a draft that causes most players to have to uproot their lives and move to a different state, Roldan
19
didn’t even have to move out of his house near UW, where he lived with some of his college teammates. Although he’s been at that same house the past two seasons, Roldan says that with most of his friends graduating, he plans on moving in with brother Alex – currently a standout midfielder in his own right at Seattle University – later this year. “We’re living the dream, man,” Cesar says. “It’s hard to believe he made it. He got drafted by Seattle, so he didn’t even need to move. He always wanted to play, be a professional player and it happened to him.”
Seattle, Washington: The Future By most measures, Roldan’s first two seasons in MLS have gone as smoothly as possible. His rookie year in 2015, he played in 22 games and started 11 of them. Last year, he became an integral part of Seattle’s starting XI beside franchise linchpin Ozzie Alonso on the first Sounders team to win an MLS Cup. He’s doing things he never thought he would do, playing on the same team as United States Men’s National Team legend Clint Dempsey. His best friend on the Sounders is forward Jordan Morris, Seattle’s Homegrown goal-scoring wunderkind who just happens to be one of the more polished US soccer prospects in recent memory. Roldan eats dinner with Morris and his family at their house on Mercer Island at least once a week. Life is crazy. Sometimes, it still doesn’t feel like all of this is really happening. “I never thought I would be playing college soccer, let alone going pro. I graduated from high school four years ago,” Roldan said. “It’s a surreal feeling. Seriously, I was applying to colleges hoping I would get admitted just for school. I was planning on staying in California.
“To now be an MLS Cup champion, to be playing alongside the guys I’m playing with? It’s humbling, for sure. It just gives you a perspective on life and what you can accomplish.” Even so, he’s far from a finished product. While Morris has managed to break into the regular rotation with the USMNT, Roldan has yet to procure a senior cap. He has eligibility for both El Salvador and Guatemala through Cesar and Ana and, although it also feels like a matter of time before U.S. coach Bruce Arena gives him a chance, El Salvador and Guatemala have courted him. Should he continue to develop, attention from overseas leagues could also soon follow. It might pain Sounders fans, to hear it but the day could very well come where Roldan has to make a decision on whether to say stateside or try his hand elsewhere. It’s something that Roldan admits he’s thought about, although considering how things have gone thus far with the Sounders, he certainly seems primed to remain a midfield cog for at least the next few seasons to come. At the moment, Roldan finds himself in something of a glory zone. He’s 21, already an MLS Cup champion with his best playing days still in front of him. At some point a decision on what country he represents will have to be made, whether it’s the U.S. or not. The Sounders might not win MLS Cup every year. Lulls in individual and collective form are bound to happen as is the criticism that accompanies that. For the moment, though, all of that can wait for another day. “I’m very, very happy here,” he says. “Seattle’s a good place, it’s been good to me. You never know. Things can happen where maybe you stay here for a long period of time or maybe you head out in a couple years. “But for me, I want to take it day by day. I want to establish myself here as a consistent, very good MLS player first and foremost. What’s important right now is to just play the best I can, the best I can possibly play.”
21
The Team Behind The Team
BY ROBERT CASNER / PHOTOS BY MIKE FIECHTNER
Some may view it as a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but for anyone working on an equipment staff, organization and tidiness is the only way.
24
All the different ways “ the guys can do their socks is amazing... We make these hybrid socks where we actually stitch two socks together.
�
29
FROM THE TOP,
THE ONLY PLACE TO GO IS HIGHER. YOU CAN’T STOP SOUNDERS FC.
OFFICIAL AIRLINE
HERITAGE JERSEYS SOLD
On March 19, Sounders FC played their 2017 MLS home opener against the New York Red Bulls. The match was won 3–1 with goals from Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Harry Shipp bettering Bradley Wright–Phillips’ lone score for the Red Bulls. The day also marked the unveiling of a championship banner in the CenturyLink Field rafters. So, how did the Sounders Matchday add up? Let’s take a deep dive into the numbers.
66
MOST COMPLETED PASSES
82% PERCENT PASS ACCURACY
#33 JOEVIN JONES #10 NICOLÁS LODEIRO
21
MOST PASSES COMPLETED BETWEEN TWO PLAYERS NICOL ÁS LO D EI R O AND JOEVIN JONES
HIGHEST FACT MERCHANDISE SALES FOR A MATCHDAY SINCE THE 2009 INAUGUARL MATCH
32
#6 OSVALDO ALONSO
50º
PARTYLY SUNNY
AERIAL DUELS WON BY CENTER BACK CHAD MARSHALL FROM 5 ATTEMPTS
2017 Home Opener HIGHEST ATTENDANCE FOR A SOUNDERS HOME OPENER
1 #7 CRISTIAN ROLDAN
CHAMPIONSHIP BANNERS UNVEILED IN RAFTERS
7
6
MOST DEFENSIVE TACKLES WON
22
YELLOW CARDS ISSUED 4 TO NEW YORK RED BULLS 2 TO SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
MOST TOTAL DUELS
BEERS BOUGHT AND CONSUMED
BUSIEST CONCESSIONS LOCATION
CHEESE BURGERS EATEN
BAVARIAN PRETZELS DIPPED IN CHEESE
The Eye Bar West (Section 235) 1,228 Transactions 33
ON THE COVER
Lara Kaminoff is an illustrator and comic book artist whose art has appeared in CityArts Magazine and Seattle Weekly, among others. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, and a recipient of a 4Culture Art Project Grant and a SCBWI Scholarship. She is an occasional teacher at Push/Pull, Seattle’s home for alternative art and comics. A native Pacific Northwesterner, she has resided in Seattle since age six. After a childhood spent drawing and making clay creatures while her mother read aloud to her, picking up a paint brush was a natural evolution of her earliest experience. About her art, Lara said, “Telling stories and making stuff is what I’ve always wanted to do and I’m so happy to be doing it.” This month’s cover painting of Cristian Roldan is not the first work Lara has done for Sounders FC. In 2016 her art was featured by Posters By The People for the Sounders FC’s match against the Houston Dynamo. Lara is blown away by the energy and enthusiasm that packs the stadium at a Sounders match. “I don’t feel qualified to evaluate players based on their performance,” she said when quizzed on her favorite player, “but I will say that Cristian has the most perfect eyebrows I’ve ever painted.”
ARTIST LOCATION PORTFOLIO FOLLOW
Lara Kaminoff Seattle, WA LaraKaminoff.com @LaraKaminoff
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Chad Marshall is one of the most distinguished defenders in MLS history. A three-time Defender of the Year winner, Marshall is considered one of the best center backs to ever play in the league. “Air Marshall” is imperious in the air and deceptively good with his feet and field vision. Marshall has earned 11 caps at the international level with the U.S. Men’s National Team.
One item I would want to have... An IPA. I’d have one good night on the island. I probably should bring a hatchet or something but I’m going with beer. I’m going to try and find some kind of branch I can make fishing line out of, peel it… but what can I fish with? Ah, I can probably find some insects.
Teammate I would want with me... Stefan Frei. He’s already
got the Cast Away-beard going, he just looks like he’d be great in a survival situation. We can talk about his tattoos as a conversation starter. I enjoy talking to Stef – he’s a good guy. We could just talk about The Save, his tattoos… maybe I don’t know everything about Stef.
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On my first night I would...
I feel like most people in that situation would probably be stressed out but I would just take it all in and enjoy the first night. We’ll worry about stuff tomorrow, but make sure to have a few beers the first night.
If I could bring one album it would be...
Probably something low-key like the new Lumineers album. That’d be nice to listen to. Relaxing on the beach. I don’t want to rock out by myself to any death metal or anything like that.
The biggest threat I would face would be... Starvation. Lack
of beer. Once the beer ran out I wouldn’t have anymore. Shelter would be vital – not the first night because we’re chilling the first night – that second night though. I think Stef and I could come up with something good. I’m thinking I could go six weeks on the island. I think it’s six weeks before I’m over and I try something dumb like making the boat, leaving, and then dying.
One book I would bring with me... Castaway. I’d probably get
some good ideas from that.
The person I would miss the most... I would miss my daughter
Addie Marshall. She’d be in the little locket around my neck.
I would escape the island by using... It’s got to be a boat. Cut
some trees down. Tie them together. Build a sail. Try and get past the waves and then I’m chilling. I’ll save a couple of beers for the trip and then just call it once the sharks start circling.
Teammate I would not want there with me... Aaron Kovar. I
can’t see him doing very well in a survival situation. He’s one person I wouldn’t want to bring. I would eat Kovar.
37
Explore the world of Minecraft on Xbox One S. In stores now.
Xbox is a Proud Partner of Seattle Sounders FC
40
MILK ISN’ T ORANGE. SO WHY IS YOUR C HEESE?
NATURALLY
WHITE
Cheddar.
Make URBANE part of your game day ritual. Featuring sustainable and farm-to-table fresh ingredients found locally in the Pacific Northwest, Urbane is the perfect location for pre and post match gatherings. Offering easy access to the Link Light Rail, join us for our daily happy hour specials. Urbane is located in Hyatt at Olive 8, the official hotel of Seattle Sounders FC and the only dual LEED and Green Seal certified hotel in town. Happy Hour 4p – 6:30p (daily) 1639 8th Ave (at Olive) 206.676.4600 urbaneseattle.com
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