Seattle Sounders FC vs. Chicago Fire September 28, 2016 · CenturyLink Field
3 Matchup
4 Sounders FC Central 6 Match Preview 8 Storylines 10 Team Rosters 12 Posters by the People
15 Morris and Roldan 18 Sounders FC Smashes LA Galaxy and Inches Closer to Postseason Spot 22 Lodeiro Effect 25 2016 Season Stats 28 The NINETY
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MATCHDAY · 1
Coming off a crucial 4-2 road win over the LA Galaxy, Sounders FC returns home for a Wednesday matchup against the Chicago Fire on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Jordan Morris scored the first brace of his professional career on Sunday, becoming the highest-scoring American rookie in league history, as Seattle earned its first road win over the Galaxy since 2009. Unbeaten in eight of its nine matches under Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer, the Rave Green return to Seattle for the last meeting against Eastern Conference opposition this season. Sounders FC currently sits in seventh place in the Western Conference, three points behind Portland for the sixth and final spot in the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, with five matches remaining.
The Fire are in last place in the Eastern Conference and have won just twice since July 16.
DID YOU KNOW??? That Jordan Morris leads MLS in gamewinning goals? On Sunday, the Homegrown Player recorded his sixth-game winning goal of the season – the most of any player in MLS this season and the top mark of any rookie in league history. Half of his 12 goals this season have resulted in game-winners, including each of the past two matches. Teammate Clint Dempsey is tied with league-leading goalscorer Bradley WrightPhillips for the second-most winners with five. Morris and Dempsey have accounted for all 11 of the club’s game-winning tallies this season.
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MATCHDAY · 5
All you need to know when Sounders FC Hosts the Chicago Fire The Seattle Sounders host the Chicago Fire on Wednesday evening. Here is everything you need to know heading into the game. WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT at CenturyLink Field. Tickets are still available for the midweek fixture.
HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN: You can find the match on JOEtv, ROOT SPORTS (outside Seattle) and you can listen on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and El Rey 1360AM. A full list of Sounders FC Pub Partners is here.
RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders (11-13-5, 38 points, 7th in Western Conference), Fire (6-149, 27 points, 10th place in Eastern Conference).
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 6-1-3 against Chicago all time. This is their first and only meeting this year. LAST MEETING: The Fire defeated the Sounders 1-0 in Chicago on July 11, 2015. EVANS UNCERTAIN: Captain Brad Evans has missed the last three matches while recovering from lower back and calf injuries. Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer has said that the coaching staff is evaluating
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him and taking it one day at a time, so Evans will likely be a game-time decision yet again.
HEATING UP: After a recording a brace on Sunday, Sounders forward Jordan Morris now has four goals in as many matches. The rookie now leads the league in game-winning goals and set a new record for goals scored by a U.S. born rookie in Major League Soccer.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Fire enter Seattle for the second of their three-match road swing over nine days. Chicago lost 4-1 to NYCFC last Friday and then head to Columbus for a Saturday tilt against Crew SC.
THREE ON “24 UNDER 24”: The Sounders and Fire combined for three players on the 2016 edition of the annual list comprising MLS’ 24 best players under 24 years old. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris came in at No. 24 and No. 3, respectively, while Chicago midfielder Matt Polster ranked No. 20.
MATCHDAY · 7
MATCHDAY STORYLINES Radio Play-by-Play Commentator Matt Johnson tells you his three storylines to follow in this evening’s match vs. Chicago Fire.
Momentum from LA For full disclosure…I need to tell you that I’m writing this on the airplane home from Sunday’s thrilling 4-2 win over the Galaxy. I think the win over LA needs to be woven into Wednesday’s match because (and maybe I’m too amped up) the LA victory might vault us the rest of the way in qualifying for the playoffs. Did you expect that result? The coaches and players won’t say it until a playoff spot is secured, but I’ll tell you that when you get a win at a venue where you haven’t won since 2009, it’s important. In the last road win vs. LA, Steve Zakuani and Fredy Montero scored. Kasey Keller was in goal and David Beckham was red carded. On Sunday, Seattle came back
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from one-nil down to win on the road…look up that stat. That hasn’t happened for the Sounders much this year let alone most teams in MLS. This win and a proper result vs. Chicago can propel the Sounders over the redline and into the postseason.
Confidence vs. Chicago Do me another favor, don’t look at records this late in the year. Though Chicago is firmly in last place in the East, players still want to impress their new coaching staff and front office to ensure a spot with the squad next year. The Fire did get throttled 4-1 by NYCFC on Friday, but NYC is pretty solid at home. The match was 2-1 and the Fire did have chances before things got out of hand. Maybe this is me just being cautious, but don’t count points before matches are played. Chicago played on Friday, Seattle on Sunday in
the heat. They will be much more rested but they have to come to our park.
Okay, Dare to Dream But, let’s be honest. Chicago comes to CenturyLink Field with a 1-11-2 road record after getting crushed in NYC on Friday. The Sounders are coming home with momentum, confidence and the fight inside them to make the playoffs. With a win over Chicago, the Rave Green would move into sixth place. Keep in mind that the first tie-breaker is wins. Seattle would end the evening with 12 wins to Portland’s 11 with both clubs on 41 points. The playoffs have started, so do me a favor and enjoy the final five matches. @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
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 30 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. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 25 26 28 29 30 66
Name Matt Polster Brandon Vincent Johan Kappelhof Michael Harrington Eric Gehrig John Goossens Michael de Leeuw Luis Solignac David Arshakyan David Accam Arturo Alvarez Rodrigo Ramos Joey Calistri Jonathan Campbell Collin Fernandez Drew Conner Khaly Thiam Nick LaBrocca Patrick Doody Patrick McLain Sean Johnson Michael Stephens Matt Lampson Alex Morrell Razvan Cocis Joao Plata
Pos. Height Weight Age M 6-0 170 23 D 5-11 175 22 D 5-11 165 26 D 6-0 170 30 D 6-1 175 28 M 5-9 170 29 F 5-10 150 29 F 6-0 171 25 F 6-4 190 22 F/M 5-9 174 25 M 5-9 170 31 D 5-10 170 21 M 5-10 160 22 D 6-2 190 23 M 5-8 140 19 M 5-11 165 22 M 6-1 183 22 M 5-10 165 31 D 6-0 180 24 GK 6-3 205 28 GK 6-3 217 27 M 5-9 155 27 GK 6-3 190 27 M 5-7 135 22 M 5-11 161 33 D/M 6-1 170 29
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
2016 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved. The LEED Certification Mark is a registered trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council and is used by permission.
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ARTIST: STEFAN FREI This is the second poster created by Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei for the Posters by the People program. The design went through multiple stages, starting out as a more abstract painting with lots of geometric shapes in the letters and covering the poster. Stefan has been really fond of low poly artwork as of late, so he wanted to somehow add it into the artwork. The final product depicts the two skylines of Seattle and Chicago and an epic battle between Water and Fire (water is winning). Furthermore, he wanted to design the poster so that it could be flipped and viewed either way.
BUY NOW: Wednesday’s Matchday Poster
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MATCHDAY · 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. Here’s to another raving season.
SCARVES UP!
MORRIS AND ROLDAN
When General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey joined the Sounders FC organization in January 2015, Cristian Roldan had just wrapped up his sophomore season at the University of Washington ahead of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, while Jordan Morris returned to classes at Stanford University. Fast forward to the present-day, and the two 21-year-old workhorses are central components to Lagerwey’s vision of developing an integrated system of young and skilled players, as the Rave Green look to reach the postseason for the eighth consecutive season. And while the Sounders faithful are well-accustomed to the talents of Morris and Roldan, the league has shown proper appreciation, as well. Last week, the two Sounders were unveiled on the MLSSoccer.com 24 Under 24 presented by EA Sports, which is an annual ranking of the league’s best young players under the age of 24 determined by soccer media members.
Roldan kicked-off the list’s rundown as the 24th player. The second-year player from Pico Rivera, California, who was selected 16th overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft as Lagerwey’s first major move, has emerged as a mainstay in the midfield for Seattle. Roldan has appeared in 28 matches this season, including 23 starts, with three goals and three assists. In Brian Schmetzer’s 4-2-3-1 formation, Roldan has been an effective partner alongside Osvaldo Alonso in the defensive midfield. Morris, meanwhile, earned the third position on the list, marking the fifth time in seven editions of the rankings that a Sounders FC player earned a top-five spot. In his rookie season, Morris has scored a team-high 12 goals, which is the most by an American rookie in MLS history. The Homegrown Player from Mercer Island currently leads MLS with six gamewinning goals, including the winner in a 4-2 victory at the LA Galaxy on Sunday.
MATCHDAY · 15
Sounders FC Smashes LA Galaxy and Inches Closer to Postseason Spot By Will Parchman The Sounders have spent the better part of the last month frantically applying life support to their flagging postseason hopes. And Sunday might’ve provided the most impressive jolt all season. The Sounders’ massive 4-2 win over the LA Galaxy in Carson, Calif. reversed seven years of futility. Seattle hadn’t won at the StubHub Center since 2009, a run of 11 straight trips without a win. Further, the Galaxy had chalked up just three home defeats since the start of the 2014 season. The place was a fortress, and the Sounders reduced its thick walls to rubble over 90 minutes. The Sounders had patently struggled to lift their attack off the ground since Clint Dempsey left the lineup with an irregular heartbeat that’s kept him sidelined still. But Sunday proved that even against a Galaxy team with an outside shot at the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Sounders can score. And score often, from a variety of positions. And now, as a result, the Sounders are three points closer to what we once thought defiantly improbable just six weeks ago: a spot in the postseason. Here’s a look at three things we learned.
Jordan Morris rules the roost We’ve talked about Jordan Morris’ tear before in this space, but it bears repeating that only one rookie in history has had a season like his. The fact
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that it was Cyle Larin, and it happened to come last year, may compel you to take some shine off his massive performance this season. But don’t let it, because not even Larin did what Morris is doing. With his 11th and 12th goals of the season against the Galaxy, Morris chalked up his sixth game with a match-winning goal. That’s two more than any rookie in league history, and two of those came over the Sounders’ last two games, both must-wins to keep Seattle in playoff contention. What’s more, Morris has five goals in the Sounders’ last seven, a 4-1-2 run that has the Sounders breathing down Portland’s neck for sixth place in the Western Conference. Morris has essentially turned his biggest weakness - his left foot - into his biggest strength by developing his
right into an especially lethal weapon. Morris’s first, the ultimate match-winner that gave the Sounders a 2-1 lead, came on a turn-and-burn off a 50-50 long ball from Alvaro Fernandez. Morris charred Daniel Steres and cleaved into open space for a one-on-one with ‘keeper Brian Rowe. The only problem? Morris was coming right to left, an ideal spot to load the ball onto your left and curl it inside the far post. But necessity is the mother of invention, and Morris opted to outside foot it with his much more comfortable right foot. It turned out to be the correct decision, because Morris used the pace he’d built and his strong right leg to paint the far upper corner like Bob Ross dropping a mountain onto a canvas. Morris cleaned up his day with a wellstruck rebound off a Nelson Valdez blocked shot to polish the game. This came less than a week after Morris
threw out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game. Not too shabby. “It’s been a fun week,” Morris said. “We needed to come in here and get the three points, so that was the most important thing.”
Sounders quiet Dos Santos’ thunder yet again With all apologies to Robbie Keane, perhaps the greatest on-field Designated Player in MLS history, Giovani Dos Santos has been the Galaxy’s most valuable attacking player this season. Seemingly his only kryptonite has been playing with Keane. Of Dos Santos’ 14 goals, 13 came without Keane playing next to him. There are a few reasons for that, notably that both generally prefer to occupy the same spaces of the field. But when they play together, Dos Santos inevitably ends up occupying the sinew between the midfield and Keane, and if there’s one thing Dos Santos is not, it’s a creator. He can help set up goals with quick one-twos around the box, and he’s happy to get most of his assists this way, but he won’t crack open defenses like Nicolas Lodeiro (who had yet another assist on Sunday). He wants to run and he wants to shoot. The Sounders explicitly targeted Dos Santos as an item of interest, and Osvaldo Alonso and Cristian Roldan did a tremendous job in keeping him from dangerous spaces for much of the match.
MATCHDAY · 19
Dos Santos managed 30 passes in Seattle’s end of the field, but many of them occurred in and around the box: aside from the corners, that total was one. And it was incomplete. Everything else was pushed either high or wide, away from danger and certainly away from any wider connection with Keane. In fact, Dos Santos only found Keane with passes three times. In three games against the Sounders this year, Dos Santos, the league’s sixth-leading scorer, has no goals and few chances. That’s efficiency. And this time, the Sounders got the goals to make the Galaxy pay.
Sounders gain ground in the West In the first half, the Galaxy nearly stretched their advantage to 2-0 when Dos Santos wriggled free for his only dangerous opportunity of the match. Stefan Frei emerged to challenge the breakaway and his reaction save forced the shot out. The Sounders got a goal from a corner minutes later, the first of four unanswered goals. That was a watershed moment in the Sounders’ push for the postseason, because life on that front has never looked rosier. It wasn’t a perfect weekend in games elsewhere for Seattle, but it was close. Sporting Kansas City won late to all but affirm its spot in the postseason, but the Portland Timbers’ road woes crushed them on Saturday night. The last-place Houston Dynamo managed a frankly shocking 3-1 win over the Timbers that made the Sounders’ three points on Sunday all the more significant. Take a look at the standings amongst the bottom five now.
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MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE POSTSEASON RACE 5. Kansas City
43
3 (1/2)
6. Portland
41
3 (1/2)
7. Seattle
38
5 (3/2)
8. Vancouver
35
3 (2/1)
9. San Jose
34
5 (2/3)
That’s a pretty picture from Seattle’s perspective. The Sounders are just three points off Portland with an all-important two matches in hand. The Sounders will make up one of those when they host an eminently winnable match against reeling Chicago on Wednesday before trekking up to face a Vancouver Whitecaps FC team that’s won just two of its last 14 games. Win even one of those and the Sounders are essentially level with Portland on points with a game still in hand. There is still work to be done, but each win creaks the door open a bit more. And Sunday was perhaps the biggest effort on that front yet.
Since making his MLS debut on July 31 versus the LA Galaxy, Seattle midfielder Nico Lodeiro has played every minute and has propelled Sounders FC back into the postseason hunt with a record of 5-1-3. The 27-year-old Uruguayan international, who starred at the two most recent FIFA World Cups, previously played for Argentine power Boca Junior before joining the Rave Green. On September 1, Lodeiro was named Etihad Airways Player of the Month for the month of August. His eight assists currently rank first on the team for the 2016 season.
SOUNDERS FC RESULTS SINCE SIGNING LODEIRO OPPONENT
DATE
RESULT
LODEIRO STATS
LA Galaxy
July 31
D, 1-1
124 touches (club-best in 2016)
Orlando City SC
Aug. 7
W, 3-1
Two assists
Real Salt Lake
Aug. 14
W, 2-1
One goal, game-winning assist
Portland
Aug. 21
W, 3-1
One assist
Houston
Aug. 24
D, 1-1
One goal (90’+4’)
Portland
Aug. 28
L, 2-4
Two assists
San Jose
Sept. 10
D, 1-1
One goal
Vancouver
Sept. 17
W, 1-0
Game-winning assist
LA Galaxy
Sept. 25
W, 4-2
One assist
Total: 3 goals, 8 assists, 5-1-3 record
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2016 MLS REGULAR SEASON STATS UNF POS Player
GP GS MIN
13 F Jordan Morris
29 27 2407 12 3 66 34 23/21 14 0 0/0
2
F
Clint Dempsey
17
17
1429
G A SHT SOG FC/FS OFF CK C/E 8
2
65 22
23/27 6
1
1/1
10 M Nicolás Lodeiro
9 9 810 3 8 27 8 4/30 1 18 4/0
23
26
M
Andreas Ivanschitz
7 M Cristian Roldan
23
1823
3
7
34 12
13/28 6
95
5/0
28 23 2182 3 3 24 9 21/32 4 2 2/0
14 D Chad Marshall
25 25 2211 3 0 18 8 11/17 0 0 1/0
28
6
M Osvaldo Alonso
28
2492
2
4
34
9
47/51 0
0
7/0
33 D Joevin Jones
29 25 2187 2 2 15 5 25/9 0 0 6/0
11 M Aaron Kovar
15 10 795 1 0 21 5 11/8 0 10 1/0
8 M Erik Friberg
20 15 1237 0 2 11 1 15/5 1 12 3/0
4 D Tyrone Mears
27 27 2385 0 1 2 0 26/20 1 2 2/0
3 D Brad Evans
21 21 1835 0 1 8 0 11/13 0 0 1/1
16 F Nelson Valdez
20 8 821 0 1 24 8 18/18 8 0 3/0
91 D Oniel Fisher
4 2 174 0 1 1 0
8/3 0 0 0/1
24 GK Stefan Frei
28 28 2520 0 0 0 0
0/4 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 17 6 601 0 0 12 6 11/11 1 19 1/0 15
D Dylan Remick
39 F Oalex Anderson
11
6
537
0
0
1
0
6/5 0
0
1/0
14 2 318 0 0 7 2 7/14 0 0 0/0
21 M Alvaro Fernandez 6 4 312 0 0 2 0
1/8 2 0 0/0
50 D Tony Alfaro
1/1 0 0 0/0
5 0 212 0 0 1 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
29
29
2610
38 36 377 130 296/360 45 159
42/3
Opponent totals
29
29
2610
39 40 370 123 360/296 43 114
51/2
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 GAME-WINNING ASSISTS: Ivanschitz 2, Morris 2, Roldan 2, Lodeiro 2, Friberg 1, Dempsey 1 PENALTY KICK GOALS/ATTEMPTS: Dempsey 2-3
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
28 28
GK
Tyler Miller
1
1
1
2520
119
78
37
1.32
5
7 11-12-5
6
90
4
2
2
2.00
0
0
0-1-0
0
Team totals
29 29
2610
123
80
39
1.34
5
7 11-13-5
6
Opponent totals
29 29
2610
130
87
38
1.31
2
3 13-11-5
7
MATCHDAY · 25
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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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MILK ISN’T ORANGE. SO WHY IS YOUR CHEESE?
NATURALLY
WHITE
Cheddar.