Matchday Magazine: Sounders FC vs. Houston Dynamo - October 12, 2016 by Seattle Sounders FC

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Houston Dynamo

October 12, 2016 Â· CenturyLink Field

PRESENTED BY

3 Matchup

4 Sounders FC Central 6 Match Preview 8 Storylines 10 Team Rosters 12 Posters by the People

15 Air Marshall 18 Sounders Face Dynamo for Third and Final Time this Season 22 The Turnaround 27 2016 Season Stats 29 The NINETY

Seattle Sounders FC Editorial Offices 159 South Jackson, Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 512-1200 Editorial · Sounders FC Communications Advertising · JT Newton Program Design · Janet Jensen, Jensen Graphics Photography · Corky Trewin, USA TODAY Sports Images, Rod Mar, Jane Gershovich, Josh Weisberg, Jeff Marsch and Dan Poss

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Winner of four straight matches, Sounders FC returns home for a mid-week matchup with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday evening. On October 2, Seattle came from behind to win 2-1 at Vancouver’s BC Place, putting the Rave Green in fifth place on the Western Conference table. Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso and captain Brad Evans provided the scoring for Sounders FC. Unbeaten in 10 of 11 matches under Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer, Seattle will be without Evans on Wednesday, who is suspended due to being issued a red card against Vancouver. With 44 points, Sounders FC currently sits just one point shy of Real Salt Lake for the fourth position in the conference. Seattle can clinch a spot in the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs with a win on Wednesday, while Houston is eliminated from postseason contention.

DID YOU KNOW??? Chad Marshall became the first defender to win Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month since… Chad Marshall? The 32-year old Stanford product earned the monthly honor after helping Seattle post a 3-0-1 mark in September. Marshall helped anchor a backline that allowed a league-low three goals in September and added a game-winning header in a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire on September 28. The only player in league history to win MLS Defender of the Year three times (2008, 2009, 2014), Marshall was the last defender to be named MLS Player of the Month in August 2009.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16TH COVERAGE STARTS AT 3:30P MATCHDAY Â· 5

All you need to know when Sounders FC Hosts the Houston Dynamo The Seattle Sounders host the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday evening. Here is everything you need to know heading into the game. WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is

as 7:30 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

WHERE TO WATCH: The game will be telecast on JOEtv. Coverage starts at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE TO LISTEN: The game will air on KIRO Radio 97.3FM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM. RECORDS AND STANDINGS:

Sounders (13-13-5, 44 points, fifth place in the Western Conference), Dynamo (7-13-11, 32 points, 10th in the West).

ALL-TIME HISTORY: The

Sounders are 5-3-5 all time against Houston and have not lost to the Dynamo since 2013.

LAST MEETING: The Sounders and Dynamo drew 1-1 on August 24 in Houston. Nicolás Lodeiro scored the equalizer for Seattle in the 94th minute after Andrew Wenger gave the hosts the lead in the 75th. PLAYOFF BERTH ON THE LINE: The Sounders can clinch

a postseason spot with a win on Wednesday night, which would be their fifth consecutive. Seattle is currently projected at a 97 percent chance of making the playoffs and would leap Real Salt Lake for fourth place in the West with a victory.

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MATCH SUSPENSIONS:

Seattle’s Brad Evans and Houston’s Alex will each be serving suspensions for Wednesday’s match. Evans was ejected minutes after scoring the eventual game-winning goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps on October 2 due to a red card. The Sounders decided last week not to appeal the suspension. Alex will serve a one-game ban for yellow-card accumulation after being booked in the 92nd minute for dissent in the Dynamo’s 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rapids over the weekend.

MORRIS AND LODEIRO RETURN: Jordan Morris and Nicolás

Lodeiro have returned early from national team duties and are expected to play on Wednesday. Morris played 30 minutes as a substitute in the United States’ 2-0 friendly win over Cuba on Saturday, but U.S. Soccer released him before their next friendly against New Zealand on Tuesday Oct. 11. Lodeiro scored in Uruguay’s 3-0 win over Venezuela in CONMEBOL 2018 World Cup Qualifying, but was booked later in the match and is now suspended for La Celeste’s next match against Colombia. He returned to Seattle on Sunday.

DYNAMO OUT OF POSTSEASON CONTENTION: Houston was eliminated from the playoff race in its loss to the Colorado Rapids over the weekend. Houston had gone 3-1-3 from August 14 to September 24 to keep its slight hopes alive, but it’s lost its last two matches to New York City FC and the Rapids to close that window.

CLASH OF THE INTERIMS:

Brian Schmetzer and Wade Barrett are the league’s only two interim head coaches after the Sounders parted ways with Sigi Schmid and the Dynamo did the same with Owen Coyle. Schmetzer has gone 7-1-3 (24 points) and has led Seattle to the brink of a postseason berth after the club had just 20 points from 20 matches. Barrett has gone 4-6-9 (21 points) since taking over for a club sat at 3-7-2 through its first 12 matches.

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MATCHDAY STORYLINES Radio Play-by-Play Commentator Matt Johnson tells you his three storylines to follow in this evening’s match vs. Houston Dynamo. Don’t Count the Points Yet Get to know me. I’m a worrywort when it comes to predicting positive results for the teams that I cheer for. Maybe I’m too paranoid, but I don’t like counting victories before they happen. I’m saying this even as the squad hosts last-place Houston on Wednesday. Yes, the Sounders are in the midst of a historic run, but in their last five the Dynamo are 2-1-2, highlighted by a road win over RSL on September 17th. On Saturday, the Texans hung with Colorado before the Rapids opened it up to 3-1 in the 79th. Mauro Manotas made it 3-2 in the 81st during a match that the Rapids needed to secure a first-round bye. This Houston team has not given up on the season despite being out of playoff contention for the last month. The Dynamo would love to come here and play the role of spoiler. Remember, the Sounders shocked Houston at BBVA Compass Stadium not once, but twice with late tying goals to grab points on the road.

Internationals Are Back in Training The Sounders had fortunate news come their way this weekend as both Nicolás Lodeiro and Jordan Morris were excused from their national teams and made the trip back to the Pacific Northwest. The team will still be without Joevin Jones and Oniel Fisher,

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but obviously with Morris and Lodeiro ready to go vs. Houston the coaching staff will not have to scramble to find replacements for at least three starters. Add to the fact that Brad Evans will be serving his suspension and Alvaro Fernandez’s availability uncertain (hamstring strain suffered in Vancouver), Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer will only have one, maybe two question marks in the starting 11. Veteran Herculez Gomez went 90 vs. Vancouver and featured in the matches vs. Chicago and LA. He will give Schmetzer an option up front, as would Nelson Valdez. But let’s not downplay of the significance of Lodeiro and Morris on the pitch from the opening whistle. Massive!

have your tickets to the October 23rd showdown vs. RSL at Century Link Field? With a win or a tie on the 23rd the Sounders could finish 4th and host a playoff game…yes, look at my first paragraph because I’m being a hypocrite right now, but c’mon, we deserve to dream a bit.

A Look Ahead After Wednesday, we will be even in “games played” with everyone in the West except for Colorado, and with the win on Saturday the Rapids cannot be caught by the Sounders…so let’s throw them out of this conversation. A month ago I figured that the two games in hand were the Wednesday matches vs. Chicago and Houston. If we come away with three on Wednesday, we would again move above another squad, this time Real Salt Lake with both clubs having played 32 matches. Seattle travels to play Dallas on Sunday, while RSL hosts Sporting KC. Bottom line – do you

@MattJStretch

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No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 29 31 33 39 80 91

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Name Tyler Miller Clint Dempsey Brad Evans Tyrone Mears Jimmy Ockford Osvaldo Alonso Cristian Roldan Erik Friberg Herculez Gomez Nicolás Lodeiro Aaron Kovar Michael Farfan Jordan Morris Chad Marshall Dylan Remick Nelson Valdez Darwin Jones Nathan Sturgis Zach Scott Alvaro Fernandez Charlie Lyon Andreas Ivanschitz Stefan Frei Tony Alfaro Román Torres Damion Lowe Joevin Jones Oalex Anderson Victor Mansaray Oniel Fisher

Pos. Height Weight Age GK 6-4 195 23 F 6-1 170 33 D 6-1 170 31 D 5-11 163 33 D 6-1 185 24 M 5-11 155 30 M 5-8 165 21 M 5-11 154 30 F 5-9 161 34 M 5-7 150 27 M 5-10 155 23 M 5-19 160 28 F 6-0 185 21 D 6-4 190 32 D 6-0 165 25 F 5-10 160 32 F 5-10 175 24 M 5-10 160 29 D 5-11 175 36 M 6-1 159 31 GK 6-2 215 24 M 6-0 180 32 GK 6-3 195 30 D 6-2 190 23 D 6-2 195 30 D 6-3 175 23 D 5-11 160 25 F 5-8 155 20 F 5-11 180 19 D 5-9 155 24

No. Name 1 Tyler Deric 2 Jalil Anibaba 3 Rob Lovejoy 4 Agus 5 Raúl Rodriguez 6 Eric Alexander 7 DaMarcus Beasley 8 Cristian Maidana 9 Erick Torres 11 Andrew Wenger 12 Will Bruin 13 Ricardo Clark 14 Alex 16 Kevin Garcia 18 David Horst 19 Mauro Manotas 20 Abdoulie Mansally 21 Zach Steinberger 22 Sheanon Williams 23 José Escalante 24 Calle Brown 26 Collen Warner 27 Boniek Garcia 28 Yair Arboleda 29 Christian Lucatero 30 Keyner Brown 31 Joe Willis 34 Sebastien Ibeagha

Pos. Height Weight Age GK 6-3 185 28 D 6-0 185 27 M 6-0 165 24 D 6-1 180 31 D 6-0 165 29 M 6-1 165 28 D 5-8 145 34 M 5-11 165 29 F 5-11 168 23 M 6-0 185 25 F 6-2 195 26 M 5-10 160 33 M 5-8 155 27 D 6-0 180 26 D 6-4 210 30 F 6-0 155 21 D 5-10 160 27 M 5-11 172 24 D 5-11 170 26 M 5-10 168 21 GK 6-5 200 24 M 5-10 178 28 M 5-9 150 32 M 5-8 160 20 M 5-9 145 19 D 6-1 183 24 GK 6-5 200 28 D 6-2 187 24

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Presented by:

ARTIST: LARA KAMINOFF This poster was created by Seattle-based artist Lara Kaminoff and is the second of two posters commissioned by City Arts this season. Lara’s design was inspired by her love for dancing because the dancer inhabits their body completely, brain chatter cuts out and they become pure movement. She tried to capture that feeling in this piece by keeping her brushstrokes fluid and composing around the swerve and chaos of players on the field. See more of Lara’s work at larakaminoff.com.

BUY NOW: Wednesday’s Matchday Poster

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MATCHDAY Â· 11

LET THE

MARCH BEGIN. THE STARTING XI IS READY. Delta is proud to kick off the season as the presenting partner of the Starting XI. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to another raving season.

SCARVES UP!

AIR MARSHALL

Despite being known for his aerial prowess, the lumbering 6-4 defender stood alone – six Chicago Fire red shirts were close, but not close enough. Moments later, Andreas Ivanschitz whipped-in a dangerous corner, where Chad Marshall jumped from his position – six yards out, directly in front of goal – and sent a bouncing header into the back of the net. The goal, which put Sounders FC ahead 1-0 in the 24th minute, ended up being the lone score of a home win as the Rave Green vaulted into postseason position. It also punctuated an impressive month of September for Marshall, who won Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month for his efforts. In September, Marshall helped put Sounders FC back into position for the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs as the club posted an unblemished mark

of 3-0-1. Not only did Marshall help Seattle allow a league-low three goals during this stretch, his game-winning header against Chicago on September 28 matched his career-high with four goals on the season. The only player to win MLS Defender of the Year three times (2008, 2009, 2014), Marshall was also the last defender to take home the monthly honor, back in August 2009 while with Columbus. The 32-year-old Stanford product is in his third season with Sounders FC, where he has started each of his 27 appearances in the 2016 MLS campaign. “The entire team is defending well,” Marshall said. “Everyone has bought into what the coaching staff is selling. [Interim Head Coach Brian] Schmetzer has been honest about being good on both sides of the ball.”

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Sounders Face Dynamo for Third and Final Time this Season

By Will Parchman The first time the Sounders played Houston this year, they were desperately trying to pull up out of a frantic tailspin to start the year. The second time, they were in the midst of sparking a turnaround that would lead them to the doorstep of the postseason. The third time? On this occasion, they can batter down that door entirely. During that second meeting between Houston and Seattle, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw on August 24, it wasn’t entirely clear what the Sounders needed to do to put themselves into position for the playoffs. At the time they were still a half dozen points off the pace and, with just two months left in the season, it was almost assured

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that they’d need some help to qualify for the postseason. Sometimes the best help is self-help. Since that game, the Sounders are 4-11, part of a larger streak of seven wins in 11 games and just a single loss. And, as an almost unthinkable eventuality even six weeks ago, the Sounders can play themselves into the playoffs with two games to go regardless of any other result with a win against Houston at home on Wednesday. The Dynamo, it should be noted, have never won in Seattle. This has been an undeniably odd fixture this year. The newly minted Western Conference rivals - Houston only moved from the Eastern Conference in 2015 – have played twice this year at BBVA Compass Stadium with both games ending 1-1. Bizarrely, the

Sounders rescued both draws with 94th-minute equalizers in more or less the same spot in the box from crosses from the same area of the right side of the area. The only difference was seemingly the players who got the goals, the first coming from Chad Marshall and the second from Nicolás Lodeiro. The Dynamo are limping into this road match with nothing on the line but their own pride. They gave up a pair of second-half goals in the league’s lone game on Saturday to drop a 3-2 result to the Colorado Rapids. That finally put Houston’s season to pasture, ending its already slim chances at making the playoffs. On a short week, that’ll either make the Dynamo dangerous or listless on the road. It’s worth noting, though, that Seattle’s had its struggles in breaking down the Dynamo this year. And the primary architects of that wall are no doubt already reinforcing the concrete for Wednesday. Because thanks to an unexpected yellow card he picked up on international duty, Lodeiro is back

early. So too is Jordan Morris, who was released from U.S. Men’s National Team camp after a cameo in a win over Cuba last week. You can almost see them already loading up the trebuchets to break down a Dynamo defensive wall that’s been notoriously difficult for the Sounders to crack this year. Houston might not have much in the way of dynamism going forward this year, but they’ve typically been able to rely on compactness and decent defensive organization. In the last meeting between this teams - also at midweek - Houston under interim coach Wade Barrett turned the match into a slog. The Dynamo sliced passing lanes in half, constricted space for Lodeiro in the final third and put the torch to Seattle’s already limited width. Late in the season, Houston’s tended to rely on the defensive midfield partnership of Alex and Collen Warner. It’s what Barrett used on Saturday, and it’s what he used the last time these teams played. With veteran Ricardo Clark also in the XI, Houston has three defensively minded midfielders crashing space and looking to spring quick-fire attacks. This tends to put a leash on the pocket of space between the back line and the midfield. There simply isn’t much room to maneuver. In August, the Sounders’ biggest problem was in width. More specifically, the lack of it. Houston is not a particularly quick team, especially at the back, and the Sounders were unable to test their fullbacks and pull the immobile center back combination of Raul Rodriguez and David Horst out of position. Of course, the Sounders notably played both their wide midfielders out of position that game themselves. Neither Cristian Roldan on

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the right or Alvaro Fernandez on the left provided much width at all. Fernandez prefers the other flank, and Roldan is a central midfielder through and through. The Sounders should be significantly more multi-faceted this time around. Lodeiro is even more comfortable in his role than he was two months ago (on average he was actually higher upfield than starting striker Nelson Valdez the last time these teams played), and starting Morris this time gives the Sounders another attacking dimension. Both are in absolutely terrifying form right now. Yet again, Sounders interim coach Brian Schmetzer can put off figuring out how to deploy captain Brad Evans. The utility man picked up a red card in Seattle’s last game against Vancouver and will miss this game on suspension. Evans subbed in for a brief stint at right

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mid, meaning he’ll probably displace Fernandez when he returns. Until then, expect the lineup to look and play the same as it has for most of the past few months. The Dynamo occupy a peculiar role for the rest of their season. Like Schmetzer, Barrett’s half-season at the rudder in Houston has been an on-thejob interview of sorts. Houston’s been better under Barrett than they were under previous coach Owen Coyle, but their season is still effectively over. That could mean wholesale changes to the XI – putting the Sounders in an awkward spot in terms of scouting – or it could mean nothing at all. Either way, the Sounders know their job. Play the way they’re capable and they’ll be in the playoffs by the time the lights shut off at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday night.

THE TURNAROUND Win and you’re in.

That’s the situation that Sounders FC finds itself in going into Wednesday’s matchup with the Houston Dynamo. Currently fifth place in the Western Conference with 44 points, the Rave Green need just three points over their final three games to secure a spot in the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. With the last-place Dynamo coming to town, Seattle has a great opportunity on

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Wednesday to complete the historic turnaround. Sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference heading into the last week of July, the Rave Green made a pair of giant changes – first replacing Head Coach Sigi Schmid with longtime assistant Brian Schmetzer, then signing Designated Player Nicolás Lodeiro the

following day. Schmetzer previously helmed the USL Sounders from 20022008, leading them to a pair of league titles before joining Schmid’s staff as Top Assistant Coach in 2009. Lodeiro came to Seattle from Argentine power Boca Juniors, bringing a wealth of club and international experience to a position of great need. Amazing what a shakeup can do. Since those two changes, Sounders FC has been the best team in MLS, accumulating a 7-1-3 record – including a current four-match winning streak – and leap-frogging four teams into postseason position. Schmetzer’s change in style has guided the club to just one loss in 11 games, while Lodeiro has burst onto the scene with three goals and eight assists in 10 appearances. Along the way, Seattle has passed Vancouver, San Jose, Portland and Sporting Kansas City in the standings.

In addition to Schmetzer & Co. needing just three points to clinch an eighth consecutive postseason berth, a win against Houston on Wednesday would put the club into fourth place in the West – prime position to host a Knockout Round game. The two remaining fixtures after Wednesday could provide ideal playoff preparation, beginning Sunday with a road clash against first-place FC Dallas, a team Seattle has faced in each of the past two postseasons. To close the regular season, Real Salt Lake comes to town on October 23 in a match that could well determine who hosts the Knockout Round match. Considering their form over the past 11 games, you can bet that no team wants to face the Rave Green come playoff time.

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2016 MLS REGULAR SEASON STATS UNF POS Player 13

Jordan Morris

GP GS MIN 31

29 2586

G A SHT SOG FC/FS OFF CK C/E 12

68 36

26/22 16

0/0

2 F Clint Dempsey

17 17 1429 8 2 65 22 23/27 6 1 1/1

14 D Chad Marshall

27 27 2391 4 0 19 9 11/19 0 0 1/0

23 M Andreas Ivanschitz 27 24 1894 3 8 35 12 13/30 6 99 5/0 10 M Nicolás Lodeiro

M Osvaldo Alonso

7 M Cristian Roldan

10 10 900 3 8 30 9 30

30 2672

39 10

4/32 3 19 5/0 49/56

7/0

30 25 2362 3 3 26 10 23/35 4 2 2/0

33 D Joevin Jones

31 27 2367 2 3 16 5 28/10 1 0 6/0

3 D Brad Evans

22 21 1854 1 1 9 1 12/13 0 0 1/2

11 M Aaron Kovar

15 10 795 1 0 21 5

11/8 0 10 1/0

8 M Erik Friberg

22 16 1349 0 2 11 1

15/5 1 12 3/0

4 D Tyrone Mears

29 29 2565 0 1 2 0 29/21 1 2 2/0

Nelson Valdez

851

28 10

20/20

4/0

21 M Alvaro Fernandez 8

6 378 0 1 2 0

4/9 3 0 0/0

91 D Oniel Fisher

2 230 0 1 1 0

10/5 0 0 1/1

24 GK Stefan Frei

30 30 2700 0 0 0 0

0/5 0 0 0/0

20 D Zach Scott

13 9 859 0 0 4 1

7/13 0 0 2/0

9 F Herculez Gomez

19 7 692 0 0 13 7 13/14 1 23 1/0

D Dylan Remick

537

39 F Oalex Anderson

14 2 318 0 0 7 2

50 D Tony Alfaro

0 212 0 0 1 0

6/5

1/0

7/14 0 0 0/0 1/1 0 0 0/0

1 GK Tyler Miller

1 90 0 0 0 0

0/0 0 0 0/0

17 F Darwin Jones

0 22 0 0 0 0

1/0 0 0 0/0

Team totals

31 2790

41 38 399 140 317/393 52 168 44/4

Opponent totals

31 2790

40 40 395 129 393/317 44 119 54/3

GP-games played; GS-games started; MIN-minutes; G-goals; A-assists; P-points; SHT-shots; SOG-shots on goal; FC/FS-fouls committed/fouls suffered; CK-corner kicks; OFF-offsides; C/E-cautions/ejections

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Morris 6, Dempsey 5, Marshall 1, Evans 1 GAME-WINNING ASSISTS: Ivanschitz 3, Morris 2, Roldan 2, Lodeiro 2, Friberg 2, Dempsey 1 PENALTY KICK GOALS/ATTEMPTS: Dempsey 2-3, Brad Evans 1-1

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC INDIVIDUAL GOALKEEPING UNF POS Player

GP GS MIN SHTS SV GA GAA PG PA W-L-D SO

Stefan Frei

30 30 2700 125

Tyler Miller

1.27

8 13-12-5 7

2.00

0-1-0 0

Team totals

31 31 2790 129

1.29

8 13-13-5 7

Opponent totals

31 31 2790 140

1.32

4 13-12-5 7

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What is THE NINETY? THE NINETY, located at 406 Occidental Avenue S., is a cultural hub of soccer and a gathering place for all soccer fans to celebrate the world’s game.

What type of events are held at THE NINETY? Be on the lookout for new events every week! We will host radio shows and podcasts, Sounders FC player autograph sessions, chalk talks, speaker series and more. THE NINETY is also open before every home match and hosts away match viewing parties while the team is on the road. Follow along at #TheNINETY and check our calendar frequently to plan your next visit!

Season Ticket Members, it’s time to bolster your Sounders FC apparel collection with this opportunity to purchase player worn gear and many other Sounders FC items. Join us in the Ninety for this exclusive event where all proceeds will go to The Rave Foundation and American Cancer Society.

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MILK ISNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T ORANGE. SO WHY IS YOUR CHEESE?

NATURALLY

WHITE

Cheddar.