Seattle Sounders FC vs. FC Dallas October 30, 2016 · CenturyLink Field
3 Matchup
16 Sounders FC Academy Prospects and Alumni Honored with U.S. Soccer 20 Valdez Saves the Day in Postseason Classic 22 2016 Season Stats 24 The NINETY
4 Sounders FC Central 6 Storylines 8 Team Rosters 10 MLS Playoff Info 13 #THISMOMENT
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Sounders FC hosts Supporters’ Shield-winner FC Dallas on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field on Sunday evening. The Rave Green won at home against Sporting Kansas City in the Western Conference Knockout Round to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals, while FC Dallas had a firstround bye. It will be the fourth match of the year against FC Dallas in the 2016 campaign, as the Rave Green most recently fell to the side from North Texas by a score of 2-1 on October 16. FC Dallas comes off a 1-1 draw at the LA Galaxy on Decision Day. Designated Player Mauro Diaz, who leads the team in assists with 13, will miss the match after suffering a season-ending injury against Sounders FC two weeks ago.
DID YOU KNOW??? Sounders FC hasn’t lost at home since the last time it played FC Dallas in the Emerald City. The Rave Green topped FC Dallas 5-0 at CenturyLink Field on July 13, sparking the current nine-match unbeaten streak on the Xbox Pitch. Jordan Morris, Joevin Jones, Andreas Ivanschitz, Cristian Roldan and Clint Dempsey all found the back of the net for the Sounders, marking the highest margin victory in club history. Since then, Seattle has outscored opponents 16-4 at home, posting a 7-0-2 record. Four of those wins came against Western Conference opponents, aiding the Rave Green’s climb up the standings from ninth place. The final regular season win, a 2-1 result over Real Salt Lake, clinched an eighth consecutive playoff berth for the club.
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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. FC Dallas. FREI
first half and the team got a goal from someone they love in Nelson Valdez. The challenge is ratcheted up a bit as FC Dallas is a very formidable opponent.
FC Dallas FC Dallas was sitting, waiting and watching. They now make their way to Seattle after a week off, and I’m sure the rest was welcomed. They face a Sounders team that will be
Thursday to Sunday After Thursday’s thrilling victory over Sporting Kansas City, the Sounders will really only have one day to train and prepare for FC Dallas. Dallas will obviously have the advantage, with their squad being rested and ready, but what the Sounders have is something you can’t count out: momentum. The hard fought victory, who scored the goal and the past 10 or so matches have the Sounders in a position where no one wants to play them. Though at times Thursday’s match wasn’t the prettiest, no one in the locker room or stands cares at this moment. The team has moved onto the Western Conference Semifinals and that’s all that matters. Stefan Frei made some massive saves in the
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DIAZ
few options to try to replace their Designated Player from Uruguay, but it’s flat-out hard to replace someone who’s had double digit assists the past two years. It will be interesting also to see how their coach sets up his club for this match. Keep in mind that this is a two-legged affair with the second coming next Sunday in Texas. FC Dallas has had a tremendous season. Winners of the U.S. Open Cup and the Supporters’ Shield, they are looking to achieve the first American Treble by taking home the MLS Cup, and for them their journey begins at the tough confines of CenturyLink Field.
Enjoy It
playing their third match in eight days (yes, all at home), and that will give them a great advantage. On top of that, the squad from Frisco, Texas is one of the youngest in the league. Unfortunately for the visitors, they will be without one of the most creative midfielders in MLS in Mauro Diaz, who suffered an Achilles injury vs. the Sounders earlier this month. They do have a
This is what it’s all about! Sorry if that’s really obvious, but try to remember back in May (1-3-0) and June (1-2-0) when a road win was out of the question, and being down a goal also meant defeat. This is a different squad at the moment and they are riding something that can’t be stopped: confidence. I love the buildup during the week of the next match, but we don’t have that here, do we? Bring your jerseys, your scarves and YOUR VOICE! It is going to be fun and think BIG. @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
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
No. Name 1 Jesse Gonzalez 2 Aubrey David 3 Moises Hernandez 5 Norberto Paparatto 7 Carlos Gruezo 8 Victor Ulloa 9 Getterson 10 Mauro Diaz 11 Fabian Castillo 12 Ryan Hollingshead 13 Tesho Akindele 14 Atiba Harris 15 Timo Pitter 16 Coy Craft 17 Zach Loyd 18 Chris Seitz 19 Paxton Pomykal 20 Juan Esteban Ortiz 21 Michael Barrios 22 Carlos Lizarazo 23 Kellyn Acosta 24 Matt Hedges 25 Walker Zimmerman 28 Colin Bonner 29 Carlos Ruiz 30 Ryan Herman 31 Maynor Figueroa 33 Aaron Guillen 37 Maximiliano Urruti 77 Mauro Rosales
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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 22 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 33 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 Pos. Height Weight Age GK 6-4 180 21 D 6-2 175 26 D 6-0 155 24 D 6-3 181 32 M 5-7 148 21 M 5-11 165 24 F 5-11 175 25 M 5-7 137 25 M 5-8 150 24 D/M 6-1 180 25 M/F 6-1 170 24 D/M 6-3 185 31 D/M 5-9 150 24 M/F 5-11 175 19 D 5-9 160 29 GK 6-3 236 29 M 5-7 145 16 M 5-10 163 29 M/F 5-4 132 25 M/F 5-7 158 25 M 5-10 150 21 D 6-4 190 26 D 6-3 185 23 F 6-4 215 22 F 5-9 157 37 GK 6-7 220 23 D 5-11 187 33 D 6-3 160 23 F 6-0 165 25 M 5-8 165 35
2016 MLS PLAYOFF INFO Despite sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference to begin the month of September, Sounders FC secured postseason qualification after a 2-1 home win over Real Salt Lake on Decision Day. Earning a playoff spot in each of the past eight seasons since its inaugural 2009 campaign, Sounders FC is currently tied with LA Galaxy for the longest postseason streak in MLS.
FINAL 2016 WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
FINAL 2016 EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS RANK TEAM
PTS GP
W-L-D
1 New York
57 34
16-9-9
58 34 15-6-13
2 New York City 54 34
15-10-9
3 LA Galaxy
52 34
12-6-16
3 Toronto FC
53 34
14-9-11
4 Sounders FC
48 34
14-14-6
4 D.C. United
46 34
11-10-13
5 Sporting KC
47 34
13-13-8
5 Montreal
45 34 11-11-12
6 Real Salt Lake 46 34
12-12-10
6 Philadelphia
42 34 11-14-9
7 Portland
44 34
12-14-8
7 New England
42 34
8 Vancouver
39 34 10-15-9
8 Orlando City SC 41
9 San Jose
38 34
8-12-14
9 Columbus
36 34 8-14-12
10 Houston
34 34
7-14-13
10 Chicago
31
RANK TEAM
PTS GP
W-L-D
1 FC Dallas
60 34
17-8-9
2 Colorado
34 34
11-14-9 9-11-14 7-17-13
THIS WEEK IN MLS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 - KNOCKOUT ROUND Toronto FC 3, Philadelphia Union 1 LA Galaxy 3, Real Salt Lake 1
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 - KNOCKOUT ROUND D.C. United 2, Montreal Impact 4 Sounders FC 1, Sporting KC 0
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 - CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS, FIRST LEG Montreal Impact vs. New York Red Bulls, 12:00 p.m. PT LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids, 2:00 p.m. PT Toronto FC vs. New York City FC, 4:00 p.m. PT Seattle vs. FC Dallas, 6:30 p.m. PT Next Sunday, each matchup will play the second leg at the other club’s venue. The winner of the aggregate series advances to the Conference Championship. The away-goals rule tiebreaker applies to this round, with an overtime period and penalties following if the score remains deadlocked.
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#THISMOMENT: VALDEZ’S GAME WINNER Based on the history between the two sides, it really isn’t much a surprise that Sounders FC beat Sporting KC 1-0 on a late winner. In the 15 times the two Western Conference rivals have met in MLS competitions, 14 have decided by one goal or fewer and 13 featured three combined goals or fewer. On six occasions, Seattle scored in the 90th minute or later. Yet when Nelson Valdez made a diving header to give Seattle the decisive lead in the 88th minute of Thursday’s Knockout Round against Sporting KC at CenturyLink Field, it was anything but ordinary. Moments after netting his second-career postseason goal – just the fifth player in club history to do so – the Paraguayan found a collection of teammates along the south touchline. Amidst their embrace, Valdez dropped to his knees. The weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It had been exactly 365 days since Valdez last scored an MLS goal.
“I can’t think of a better person to be rewarded for this moment because he has worked so hard all year long,” Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said after the match. “I know there have been people out there who have said things, and I get it. We are all pros; we understand the business that we’re in. But for him to come through in such a critical moment is well-deserved, he carried the team on his back here and I am so happy for Nelson Valdez.” After a season that has been seemingly littered with near-misses and goalpost deflections, there was a tangible belief his moment would come. This confidence was instilled in his teammates, who never gave up on him. “I want to just say thank you for my family first, my teammates and my club,” Valdez said. “This team believed in me. I work, everyone who knows me knows how hard it was for me this year. I try every day to make it the best. I am so happy for the goal and the team.”
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Sounders FC Academy Prospects and Alumni Honored With U.S. Soccer By Joe Mondello Several players from Seattle Sounders FC Academy have been invited to the next United States U-15 Boys national team training camp in November. The group received the call-up to represent their country for the first time after commanding performances at Generation Adidas Cup, the premier U-17 MLS Academy showcase event. With four players called into the camp, the Sounders will have more representatives than any other academy side in the country. Striker Alfonso Ocampo Chavez (U-14) turned plenty of heads at GA Cup with five goals and three assists from just three matches. Holding midfielder Josh Atencio (U-14) impressed with his ability to shield the back four, while Ray Serrano (U-14) scored a brace against San Jose. Finally, center back Elias Katsaros (U-14) may have been the best defender at the event despite facing forwards several years his senior. Despite being the most represented club at the U-15 camp, the Academy staff is convinced that there are several more players at this level who are deserving of national team involvement in the near future. There are quite a few others in the pipeline that they are excited about as long-term prospects The recent slate of call-ups continues a trend in 2016 of Sounders Academy players earning national team invitations at every age group. Sota Kitahara, a winger in the 2003 age group, recently received his first call-up to the U-14 Boys national team.
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USMNT – MORRIS Striker Azriel Gonzalez is currently in France with the U.S. U-16s for the Val-De-Marne Tournament in France. Additionally, right back Ben Huynh returned to the Sounders after spending the spring semester with the USYNT U-17 residency program in Bradenton, FL. The trio of Kei Tomozawa, Stirling Russell and Sam Rogers were called into the U-18 national team camp back in January after impressing at last year’s edition of GA Cup. Meanwhile, left back Jake Morris (U-18) and central midfielder Habib Barry (U-18) impressed in a recent tournament for Brad Friedel’s U-19 National Team squad.
Starting goalkeeper Trey Muse recently received his first national team invitation to play with U-18s. His teammate and recent Sounders signee, Milo Barton, was called into the U-19s for his first international involvement as well. Homegrown striker Victor Mansaray has represented the United States at every level since the U-18s and registered an assist in a match for the U-20s against the Netherlands. University of Akron freshman defender Nick Hinds has also played for the U.S. U-20s.
Homegrown striker Jordan Morris represented the U.S. U-23s in the two-leg playoff versus Columbia back in March for Olympic qualifying. Both Morris and former Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin have been capped by the full national team. The recognition at the international level is indicative of the success of Sounders Academy’s scouting and youth programming. Several of the players were brought in at the age of 12 through the Sounders Discovery Program, while others were scouted from Homegrown Territories such as Hawaii (Tomozawa). Meanwhile, several of these national team players were brought in from local clubs such as PacNW. The full list of various U.S. National Team call-ups for Sounders Academy products is provided below.
U-14 YNT
Jake Morris
Sota Kitahara
U-19 MNT
U-15 YNT
Habib Barry Jake Morris Milo Barton
Alfonso Ocampo Chavez Ray Serrano Josh Atencio Elias Katsaros
U-16 YNT Azriel Gonzalez
U-17 YNT Ben Huynh
USMNT – YEDLIN
U-18 YNT
U-20 MNT Victor Mansaray Nick Hinds
U-23 MNT Jordan Morris
USMNT Jordan Morris DeAndre Yedlin
Sam Rogers Kei Tomozawa Stirling Russell Trey Muse
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KNOCKOUT ROUND REVIEW:
Valdez Saves the Day in Postseason Classic
By Ari Liljenwall Substitute Nelson Valdez scored a dramatic, game-winning goal in the 88th minute, sending the Seattle Sounders to a heart-pounding 1-0 win in the Western Conference Knockout Round over Sporting Kansas City at CenturyLink Field on Saturday. It was the first goal in MLS competition of 2016 for Valdez, following a backand-forth affair that saw both sides tally chances but struggle to break through. With the victory, the Sounders advance to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they will meet Supporters’ Shield-winning FC Dallas on Oct. 30 in Seattle and Nov. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
The Sounders are now 3-0 all-time in Knockout Round games, with all three wins coming at CenturyLink Field. They’re also 7-3-3 all-time in the postseason on home turf, and are now unbeaten in their past nine home games overall (7-0-2). Valdez’s game-winner came when he got his head to a cross from left back Joevin Jones, sending the crowd of 36,151 fans at CenturyLink into a frenzy before the final whistle. SKC forced Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei into a handful of saves in the first half, the first coming in the 8th minute off a shot from midfielder
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Paulo Nagamura that forced Frei into a diving deflection. Then, just two minutes later, Nagamura almost struck again, rocketing a shot that forced Frei into another reaction save. The ensuing deflection landed in front of SKC midfielder Graham Zusi, but his shot deflected off the post allowing the Sounders to narrowly avoid conceding the opening goal. The Sounders settled down for the latter part of the second half and almost tallied the opener on the stroke of halftime, but center back Roman Torres’ header off a free kick from Nicolas Lodeiro sailed just over the SKC crossbar, keeping the match scoreless as it hit halftime. Sporting very nearly got the opener in the 53rd minute after a Benny Feilhaber free kick found the head of defender Matt Besler, who headed the ball past Frei and into the net. But Besler was whistled offside by the assistant referee and the goal was negated.
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The Sounders almost found their goahead goal in the 83rd minute, with Lodeiro very nearly finding Torres again at the far post off a free kick. But the Panamanian center back pushed his attempt just wide. This will mark the third straight year the Sounders and FC Dallas will meet in the postseason, with the two teams splitting the results in 2014 and 2015. The Sounders topped FCD in twogame series two years ago before Dallas avenged that loss last year via a dramatic penalty kick shootout in Frisco. FC Dallas won the season series between the two clubs in 2016 with two wins at home: 2-0 on May 14 and a come-from-behind 2-1 win on Oct. 16. The Sounders won the only meeting between the two teams in Seattle on July 13. The Sounders lead the all-time regularseason series 10-5-5 and the teams have split the all-time postseason results, 1-1-2.
2016 MLS REGULAR SEASON STATS UNF POS Player
GP GS MIN
G A SHT SOG FC/FS OFF CK C/E
13 F Jordan Morris
34 32 2856 12 4 71 36 29/24 18 0 0/0
17
2
F
Clint Dempsey
17 1429
8
2
65 22
23/27
6
1
1/1
10
M
Nicolás Lodeiro
13
13 1170
4
8
33 11
8/44
5
40
5/0
M
Cristian Roldan
33
28 2632
4
3
30 11
27/46
4
2
2/0
7
14 D Chad Marshall
30 30 2634 4 0 21 9 13/19 0 0 2/0
23
M
28
25 1910
3
8
36 13
13/30
6 100
5/0
M Osvaldo Alonso
32
32 2826
3
4
43 11
51/63
0
7/1
6
Andreas Ivanschitz
0
33 D Joevin Jones
33 29 2547 2 3 16 5 29/11 1 0 6/0
3 D Brad Evans
23 21 1866 1 1 9 1 12/13 0 0 1/2
21 M Alvaro Fernandez 10 8 530 1 1 5 2 8/11 4 0 0/0 11 M Aaron Kovar
16 10 811 1 0 21 5 11/8 0 10 1/0
8 M Erik Friberg
25 18 1582 0 2 12 2 17/5 1 12 3/0
4 D Tyrone Mears
32 32 2835 0 2 3 0 33/22 1 2 3/0
16 F Nelson Valdez 24 8 900 0 1 30 11 21/22 9 0 4/0 91 D Oniel Fisher
6 2 232 0 1 1 0 10/5 0 0 1/1
24 GK Stefan Frei
33 33 2970 0 0 1 1
0/5 0 0 0/0
20 D Zach Scott
14 9 886 0 0 4 1 7/13 0 0 2/0
9 F Herculez Gomez 21 9 842 0 0 14 7 16/18 2 23 1/0 29 D Román Torres 15
D Dylan Remick
9 8 765 0 0 6 1 11
6
537
0
0
1
0
5/5 1 0 1/0 6/5
0
0
1/0
39 F Oalex Anderson 15 2 334 0 0 9 4 7/14 0 0 0/0 50 D Tony Alfaro
6 1 286 0 0 2 0
1/4 0 0 0/0
1 GK Tyler Miller
1 1 90 0 0 0 0
0/0 0 0 0/0
17 F Darwin Jones
2 0 22 0 0 0 0
1/0 0 0 0/0
Team totals
34
34 3060
44 40 432 153 350/441
58 190 47/5
Opponent totals
34
34 3060
43 43 430 141 441/350
48 181 62/3
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, Roldan 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
24 GK Stefan Frei
33 33 2970 137 91 41 1.24 6 8 14-13-6 8
1 GK Tyler Miller
1 1 90
4 2 2 2.00 0 0 0-1-0 0
Team totals
34 34
3060
141
93
43
1.26
6
8 14-14-6
8
Opponent totals
34 34
3060
153 103
44
1.29
3
4 14-14-6
8
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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!
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