I realize it's still early in the season. However, ever since the Sounders' 3-0 start the tendency has been to look ahead and wonder about the Western title or Supporters Shield or MLS Cup.

Yet, now we check the rear-view mirror and notice that objects are be closer than they appear.

The Sounders steady stream of draws has brought a 4-2-5 record and 17 points ... which is now behind both Chivas and Houston in the Western standings. The Colorado Rapids (4-2-4; 16) are just one point behind.

Eight teams make the MLS playoffs -- the top two finishers in each conference and the teams with next four best records regardless of conference. With the season’s midpoint approaching, the Sounders still have the league’s fourth-best point total, behind Chivas, Houston and Eastern-leader Chicago. That seems safe enough, however four teams – Kansas City, D.C. United, Toronto FC and Colorado – are just one point behind.

The nearest competitors looking to move up -- and thereby bump one of those eight from the playofss -- are Columbus and New England (13 points each) in the East, and Los Angeles (12) and Real Salt Lake (11) in the West.

Coach Sigi Schmid wasn't happy after the game tonight. And he apparently expressed that to his team far longer than usual tonight, as he didn't come into the media room for about 25 minutes after the game. About twice as long as usual.

When he arrived, he made it clear that he thought some of his players became more interested in complaining to the referee than playing the game.

"I was disappointed in terms of our team’s focus at times," he said. "I thought we got overly concerned about the referee and weren’t concerned enough about our play. I’m a big believer that you’ve got so much energy to expend over 90 minutes and if you expend a lot of energy dealing with the referee, you’re not going to have that energy to deal with the game. And that was the thing that we just talked about.”

As for that late red card on Tyrone Marshall, that was due to the referee's assistant seeing Marshall throw a punch. And after the game, Marshall didn't exactly deny that.

"The referee said I punched a guy, the striker," Marshall said. "When that happens, you always see the what happened afterward, and not what happened before. He was coming in being very aggressive, I think he ran into me with his elbow, and being the competitor that I am, I’m not going to take that. ... I mean punch thrown or not, I think it was one of those games that was really scrappy and things were going on, so if they want to call a red card and give me a red card and not the other guy, I don’t think that’s fair. If he’s going to give a red card, I think both persons have to get a red card."

We know the drill by now: Marshall will miss next week's game. And it happens to be a big one at conference-leading Chivas USA.

Here's the game report:

Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Alejandro Moreno 2 (Pat Noonan 1, Jed Zayner 1) 12
SEA -- Nate Jaqua 3 (Freddie Ljungberg 2) 58

Columbus Crew -- Andy Gruenebaum, Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula, Emmanuel Ekpo (Steven Lenhart 80), Eddie Gaven, Danny O'Rourke (Duncan Oughton 89), Robbie Rogers, Pat Noonan (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 69), Alejandro Moreno.

Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Burns, Jason Garey, Alex Grendi, Alec Duffy.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (3 tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (5 tied with 1); FOULS: 22 (Emmanuel Ekpo 4, Jed Zayner 4); OFFSIDES: 2 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 1, Pat Noonan 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Eddie Gaven 2); SAVES: 1 (Andy Gruenebaum 1)

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg, Peter Vagenas (Patrick Ianni 64), Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero (Nathan Sturgis 89), Nate Jaqua (Sebastien Le Toux 83).

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Roger Levesque, Sanna Nyassi, Ben Dragovan.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Fredy Montero 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Nate Jaqua 1, Fredy Montero 1); FOULS: 14 (Jhon Kennedy Hurtado 3); OFFSIDES: 3 (Nate Jaqua 2); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Freddie Ljungberg 7); SAVES: 4 (Kasey Keller 4)

Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Peter Vagenas (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 37
SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Dissent) 68
CLB -- Guillermo Barros Schelotto (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 73
CLB – Emmanuel Ekpo (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 73
SEA -- Freddie Ljungberg (caution; Dissent) 89
SEA -- Tyrone Marshall (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 92+

Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: -Emiliano Monje; David Bragg
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 29,126
Time of Game: 1:54
Weather: Sunny-and-72-degrees

This was the Sounders' fifth straight draw drops them into third place in the Western Conference, now behind Chivas and Houston. It also drops them in history behind the 1998 Chicago Fire, whose 6-5 start now ranks as the best by an MLS expansion team after 11 games.

=> Read more!

Here's my preview story from today's paper. And here's the Crew coverage from the Columbus Dispatch.

And though Sigi Schmid's Columbus connection makes for an interesting sidelight, the real importance seems to be that the Sounders are back home against a struggling team and they see this as a chance for three points and anything else will be a disappointment.

Especially because Chivas USA's late and controversial loss to Chicago on Thursday really created an opportunity for the Sounders. Seattle will kick off tonight eight points behind Chivas -- 24 points to 16 -- in the Western Conference standings. However, the Sounders now fully control their own destiny to shaving off six of those points with a win tonight and then a win in their head-to-head battle at Chivas a week from tonight.

Schmid acknowledged the opportunity this week. But, of course, it all starts with taking care of business tonight.

The game is sold out, but will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel and FSE.

Here's the game report. (I don't want to give too much away for those who taped it, but I will say this: I hope your tape started right on time.)

And as I mentioned in my preview post, both sides are of special interest to Sounders fans, as Chelsea will play in Seattle on July 18, while Everton will meet the MLS all-stars July 29 at Sandy, Utah.

=> Read more!

One of Sigi Schmid' many charms is his ability to give nice clean clear scouting reports of each week's opponents.

He did again today, starting with a little joke:

"Whoever put that team together originally did a good job."

The joke, of course, is that Schmid was the guy who put most of this team together.

But that also makes his scouting report all the more interesting, because few people know this roster better than he does.

"They’re a good team," he said. "They haven’t always gotten the results that they wanted this year, but they’re a dangerous team. There’s good speed on the flanks with (Emmanuel) Ekpo and (Robbie) Rogers. Schelotto is Guillermo -- he’s a player who lives for big games, lives for big moments. When he comes on the field he’ll be motivated – he’s a big game player. (Alejandro) Moreno plays very very hard. Those front four you’ve got to be concerned about. Their midfield right now is in a little bit of flux with (Brian) Carroll being hurt, but they have enough bodies there. Chad Marshall is very very dangerous on set pieces, so we’ve got to be aware of that as well."

As for Schmid's current team, the coach said his Sounders are getting healthier.
It looks like Freddie Ljungberg is ready. Brad Evans seems about 50-50. And Osvaldo Alonso is out.

However, Schmid indicated that any openings at midfield might not be solved simply by moving in another midfielder such as Pete Vagenas or Stephen King, as he suggested that defenders Nathan Sturgis or Patrick Ianni might be moved forward, thereby creating another opening to be filled on the back line.

Good as Schmid is at scouting reports, he's at least as good at keeping his lineups secrets.

I'm about to head out to Sounders training, and might pick up a news item or two there.

Meanwhile, here's an early look at tomorrow's game against the Columbus Crew.

COLUMBUS CREW (2-2-6; 10 pts.)
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-2-4; 16 pts.)
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Qwest Field.
TV: FSC/FSE.
Radio: 97.3 FM, and in Spanish on 1210 AM.
Head to head: This is the first meeting. The Sounders will visit Columbus on Oct. 3.
Statistical leaders: For Columbus, G 6 Guillermo Barros Schelotto; A Emmanuel Ekpo; Sh 19 Schelotto/Ekpo; SOG 10 Eddie Gaven. For Seattle, G 4 Fredy Montero; A 4 Nate Jaqua; Sh 25 Montero; SOG 8 Steve Zakuani.
Notes: Columbus is the defending MLS Cup and Supporters Shield champion, a double won last season under Schmid. … Seattle has played four straight league draws, while Columbus has won two of its last three and hasn’t lost since April 5. … Schelotto, who won the league MVP award last season, is tied for the league lead in goals. Seattle’s Kasey Keller has moved back into the MLS goalkeeping lead, with a 0.60 goals-against average. … Both teams have scored 14 goals. However, Columbus has allowed 16, twice as many as Seattle. The Sounders (9) and Columbus (8) are 1-2 in MLS in first-half goals. … The Crew will be without midfielder Brian Carroll, who suffered a shoulder injury in Columbus’ win over San Jose on Wednesday. … Seattle may welcome back midfielders Freddie Ljungberg (migraines) and Brad Evans (ankle). … Seattle is 3-1-1 at home, Columbus is 0-2-3 on the road. … The game is sold out.
Next: 7:30 p.m. June 6, at Chivas USA; Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.; KING 5.

Fascinating game in a lot of ways. Three of the goals came on penalty kicks, including the game-winner in stoppage time. Chivas played a man down for the last half hour. The LA crowd seemed as eager to cheer Blanco -- who scored two goals, both on PKs -- than to cheer the home team. The Fire remains the only unbeaten team in MLS.

Here's the game report from MLSnet.com.

But for all that, the bottom line is that the Sounders have a chance to pick up three points in the standings if they take care of business at home Saturday against Columbus.

Thinking outside the box makes my head hurt, so I went with the obvious today and asked coach Sigi Schmid how he feels about going against his former team this weekend: the Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m., at Qwest Field. And that topic also is the focus of my story in our Friday paper.

"I have a lot of friends there," he said. "When you work with a staff for three years you obviously stay in contact. Because of the league rules you don’t want to be accused of tampering or anything like that, so you can’t stay in touch with the players. But there are a lot of players that I have known for a lot of years there."

We asked him about his decision to leave Columbus after leading them to the Supports Shield and MLS Cup: "It was hard. It was hard. Obviously it had taken us three years to put the team together. You can see even despite their record it’s still a quality team, a quality group. And winning a championship always puts it in a special place. But the way things happened, it is what it is. I’m here now, and so we move forward."

When Schmid was hired in Seattle, I asked him if he would have stayed there had Columbus management instantly offered the kind of contract that he thought he deserved.

This was his answer from those months ago:

“It was a situation in Columbus where things didn’t proceed as I thought they were going to proceed in our negotiations, especially early on in that stage. At that point, I wanted to look at what other opportunities are out there. I’m getting older, so maybe I’m a little more limited as to how many more years I can do this. When I was presented with the opportunity (in Seattle) and came out to visit, it just seemed like the right fit.”

Remembering that answer, I asked if that for all his feelings for all his friends among the players and staff in Columbus, if there also was some feeling that he hadn't been shown proper respect by the front office there.

"That’s a front office decision, and that’s the way the negotiations went," he said. "I try not to worry about that."

The Sounders trained at Qwest Field this morning, and the injury updates were generally good.

Both Freddie Ljungberg and Brad Evans said they expect to play Saturday against Columbus, assuming no setbacks. (Ljungberg, in fact, appeared to be feeling very good. He celebrated loudly when putting a volley into the back of the net, and then ended practice by filling in in goal.

Meanwhile, coach Sigi Schmid said that Zach Scott's lower abdominal strain likely will not land him on the injured reserve as previously assumed.

Schmid also said that Osvaldo Alondo (quadriceps strain) is coming along well, perhaps better than expected.

Even at that, the Sounders have two players on the IR -- defender Taylor Graham and keeper Chris Eylander -- so Schmid admitted that a new player could be added "if the right situation presents itself."

The Columbus Crew will arrive at Qwest Field on Saturday fresh from a 2-1 win Wednesday against the San Jose Earthquakes.

However, the apparently came at the price of
defensive midfielder Brian Carroll, who suffered what the team doctor called a "significant" injury to his right shoulder. He will be evaluated today, but surgery that could sideline him for months is considered likely.

Here's the MLS web report.

It's not quite Barca-ManU, but the Chicago Fire and Chivas USA will meet tonight in a rare pairing of MLS conference leaders ... and, of course, a game with Sounders implications.

With Seattle at home vs. slow-starting Columbus this weekend, there is every chance to pick up a needed two or three points in the standings, depedning on tonight's result.

Kickoff is a 7:30 p.m. and the game will be shown on ESPN2.

Here's a pregame release sent out by MLS:

For just the fifth time in a decade, two teams in sole possession of first place in their respective conferences will meet when Chivas USA hosts the Chicago Fire Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The old adage is that defense wins championships, but in the regular season, does offense rule? That question will be tested Thursday.

The Fire (4-0-6) are the only remaining undefeated team in Major League Soccer. The Fire lead the League in goals scored with 17, an average of 1.70 per game, and they have not been shut out. Brian McBride is tied for the League lead with six goals in 10 games. Mexican playmaker Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who will report for Mexico’s World Cup qualifiers next week, is as crafty as ever, providing a goal and five assists (tied for 2nd in the league), for the Fire.

Chivas USA coach Preki has his squad atop the Western Conference and top of the overall MLS table with a 7-1-3 record and 24 points. Chivas USA has allowed only six goals in 11 matches. Much credit goes to five-time MLS All-Star goalkeeper Zach Thornton, who has rejuvenated his career after playing just nine games in the past two seasons. He leads the League with six shutouts and a 0.55 goals against average. Chivas USA are 5-0-1 at home this season.

Current Chivas USA squad members Zach Thornton, Jesse Marsch, and Ante Razov all played for the Chicago Fire’s 1998 MLS Cup Championship team and defender Jim Curtin spent his first eight seasons with the Fire. The 1998 Fire are the only team to win MLS Cup in their inaugural season.

In the past 10 seasons, the only other meetings between two teams in sole possession of the conference leads occurred later in the season (records entering the match):

08/08/2004 LA Galaxy (9-5-6) 0, at MetroStars (8-6-5) 3
07/04/2006 D.C. United (10-1-5) 1, at FC Dallas (8-4-3) 0
07/22/2007 Houston Dynamo (10-5-3) 3, at New England Revolution (7-3-5) 3
07/04/2008 New England Revolution (9-4-3) 2, at LA Galaxy (6-5-3) 1

If you're planning to follow the Sounders down to their (big) game at Chivas on June 6 or their (Beckham)game at the Galaxy, you are invited to contact a group called SoCal Sound. It's an LA-based Sounders supporters group (regional sub-group of Emerald City Supporters) that is aimed at bringing big crowds to all Sounders games in LA.

Here's some of the info I received from them:

We strive for a lively, but family-friendly atmosphere, singing, standing, beating our drum, and waving our scarves whether our boys are winning, losing, or tied. We require no membership dues, but just encourage people to get to the games and have fun with us. We anticipate having shirts for sale soon. At our first game (4/18 vs Chivas USA), we had 80+ in one section - and it was beautiful!

*More general info about SoCal Sound can be found at: http://www.weareecs.com/groups/socal-sound/
The main push is for 6/6 Sat 7:30pm in LA (Carson, CA) at the Home Depot Center - vs Chivas USA.

We have set up an arrangement with Alaska Airlines so that flights are at 10% discount *from* any Alaska/Horizon Airlines city *to* any LA area airport 3 days before gameday, including gameday, and 3 days after gameday for the trip home. For the 6/6 game, the discount can only be applied on over-the-phone reservations (because they haven't set-up the web code yet), and they definitely are waiving the normal $15 fee for over-the-phone reservations. Call Alaska group reservations at 1-800-445-4435.
Monday-Friday: 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. (PT); Saturday: 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The code is CMB1000 and will not work on web reservations.

Game Tickets for 6/6 vs Chivas USA- 105 tickets are reserved for SSFC fans. $18 each + $5 per order (not per ticket). Call Julie 310 630 4586

*Note that for this game, it is a possibility that we will have a meet & greet with one of the sounders players after the game. Our Chivas USA ticket rep (Julie) has been in contact with the Sounders FO and has submitted an official request to have one of the players come to meet w/ us after the game. Originally, this was based upon having 80 people, but we've been asking them to consider it regardless of how many we have. We currently have 35 people, and want more!

-We will be meeting at 3 pm on the June 6 gameday in lot 6 of Home Depot Center and encourage everyone to get there around then to meet one another, enjoy some food, and practice our chants.

Game tickets for 8/15: vs. Galaxy - a full 284 tickets (a whole section!) are on hold for Sounders fans. $25 each. These are actually "$50 tickets", but we've been upgraded because we had too many people! We currently have 120 confirmed paid as of a few days ago, and this will be (barring any shenanigans by Beckham) Beckham's 1st MLS game back in LA - and we want to welcome him back. Call Sid: (310)-630-2236. Please refer to the ECS forum (weareecs.com) for pregame meetup info closer to gameday.

*The Socal Sound main base of operations is a "socal sound" sub-forum on the Emerald City Supporters forum.

The forum is the best to get in the middle of things, but our email is socalsound@gmail.com

The Sounders don't practice today, so my plan is to keep this blog post open most of the day for anyone who wants to discuss ManU-Barca. And I'll keep the result out of the headline, so there's less chance of spoiling it for those who are taping the game. But, of course, once you click in, the result will be included.

The UEFA championship game kicked off on ESPN at 11:45 a.m.

Here's the ESPN page, which includes just about any info you might like.

I'm not a particular fan of either team; but I guess I'll be pulling for Barcelona today, just because it would add even a little more to the Aug. 5 Sounders-Barca match. (Here's the Sounders' release on that game:)

The Seattle Sounders FC will play FC Barcelona on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field on Wednesday, August 5. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT).

Sounders FC season ticket holders have received tickets to the game as part of their 18-match package, which also includes Chelsea and the MLS Cup.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 15th at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available at www.SoundersFC.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

FC Barcelona, whose heralded roster of international superstars currently includes Lionel Messi, Rafa Marquez, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta – who scored the goal that propelled Barca into the Champion’s League Final – will look to secure its third UEFA Champions League crown on Wednesday, May 27 against Manchester United, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

FC Barcelona has more than 150,000 voting members. Barcelona inspired formation of the Sounders FC Alliance, a supporters association which empowers members to have a vote in the club's direction.

Here's my game story.

The Sounders started only four players who started Saturday at Colorado. And coach Sigi Schmid said he wouldn't have started that many except for a series of injuries that forced him to. (Good news: Freddie Ljungberg expected back Saturday; bad news: Taylor Graham on injured list with foot injury and out at least six weeks.)

However, even at that, Schmid said that moving into the main portion of the U.S. Open Cup was important to him.

"It matters," he said. "It’s been a while since I’ve been able to be in the U.S. Open Cup because when I got to Columbus the team hadn’t made the playoffs the year before, and we got knocked out in the play-in game, and we got knocked out in the play-in game in year two. And then last year we thought we were going to get in and we got knocked out in the second play-in game by Chicago on penalty kicks in the end of the game. So it was real frustrating, because I wanted to get back in the tournament. But for us, starting starters was really out of necessity."

Now he's back in ... although the Sounders won't return to Cup play until on or around June 30, with site and opponent yet to be determined. (elmocatt has more information in the comments section below... thanks EC.)

I thought the best player on the field today was Sanna Nyassi, who posed many threats speeding down the right side.

However, his prime contribution ended up being a long throw in that Roger Levesque sent on to Kevin Forrest, who scored the game's lone goal.

"To be honest, I didn’t have that great of a game," Forrest said. "But you just go out, and Sigi always tells me it’s just thinking, thinking ahead, thinking at a faster pace, and that’s what I’m working on. It wasn’t a great game, but you just keep going, keep improving, keep working. It’s nice to contribute. That’s the biggest thing for the team."

Here's Levesque's take on the throw-in that started it all:

"I think everyone on the field, including our entire team, was surprised that Senna had a long throw. I’ve never seen it in practice before, but he stepped up, chucked it in the box, and I was standing at the right place at the right time, just trying to get anything I could on it to direct it to the goal, Kevin Forrest came in, made a strong run right to the center of the goal and was in the right place at the right time and had a great finish on it. I don’t think there was anything Preston could have done about it."

=> Read more!

Fans -- presumably Sounders fans -- are voting Seattle Sounders FC players to nine of the top 11 all-star positions after two weeks of voting.

The only non-Sounders currently in First XI positions are Toronto's Dwayne DeRosario and LA's Landon Donovan. The nine Sounders are Kasey Keller, Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero, Osvaldo Alonso, Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Steve Zakuani, Sebastien Le Toux and Brad Evans.

Here's the full story from MLSnet.com.

One thing we know for sure is that the Sounders run of draws will end Tuesday night, when they meet the Colorado Rapids at Starfire. It's the U.S. Open Cup, and that's a tournament, and that demands a result. So it's regulation; followed by a 30-minute overtime, if necessary; followed by PKs, if necessary.

That's the topic of my preview story in the Tuesday paper. But meanwhile, here are the ways -- all different -- that three of the Sounders' top offensive players approach PKs:

Fredy Montero: “I just prepare, pick a spot and just hit it.”

Sebastien Le Toux: “I pick a spot first, but I’m still watching him. If, of course, I see him moving to the side I choose, I change at the end. If he doesn’t move, I keep my side.”

Freddie Ljungberg: “Sometimes I look at the keeper, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes goalkeepers look at video, so you want to do it different every time so they can’t read you.”

Freddie Lungberg practiced with the Sounders today, after missing back-to-back games with migraines, but his status for the U.S. Open Cup game Tuesday against Colorado or the MLS match Saturday against Columbus remains uncertain.

“Freddie is feeling better,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “… He went through training on Saturday pretty much, and went through training today. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow morning, and then we’ll make a determination on the rest of the week with him.”

The same uncertainly shrouds the status of Brad Evans (ankle) and Zach Scott (abdominal strain), while Osvaldo Alonso (quadriceps) has been ruled out for tomorrow and probably this weekend.

“It’s the way the season goes,” Schmid said. “You’re going to go through a period of situations where you’re going to have injuries. We’ve got some. We’ve been able to handle them and still come out with results, and we’ve got to continue to do that. As I’ve said before, it’s all about the players on the field.”

Happy Memorial Day. And if there are any veterans reading: Thanks.

The Sounders draw at Colorado ended their first 10 games and exactly the first third of their season. That seemed to make it an appropriate time to take stock of a team that started 3-0 and has gone 1-2-4 since. That's the topic of my story in today's paper. And the bottom line seemed to be that they think the wobbly record of the past seven games reflects injuries, red cards and road games more than any regression by the team. And -- for what it's worth -- they remain one point ahead of the 1998 expansion Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion for the title of best MLS expansion team through 10 games.

Memorial day aside, this isn't a holiday for the Sounders, who will practice at Starfire, getting ready for their U.S. Open Cup match game against Colorado at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Starfire. I'll pop back in with news from that this afternoon.

Sometimes professional goalkeepers make saves so quickly that they seem to be almost pure instinct. However, when Kasey Keller talked about his best saves from last night's 2-2 draw at Colorado, it was obvious that thought and experience are huge parts of the package.

First, here's how today's Denver Post described the saves:

Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller showed off his four World Cups of experience by denying Nick LaBrocca's breakaway just before halftime and somehow managing to glove away Casey's air hammer of a header in the 35th.

"He got down real quick," said Casey, trying to shake the replay from his eyes. "It was a great save."

And here's how Keller described them:

"The hardest one was the header against Conor Casey, to be honest. That was the most difficult save.

"But I think the one against LaBrocca at the end of the first half … I knew he didn’t see where I was. What I wanted to do was try to narrow that angle pretty quickly on him until he got his head up. I tried to spread by legs a little bit to be sure that he couldn’t slide it underneath me. I knew it would be really tough to beat me on my left side so I showed him a little bit to the right, and he put it in a place where I could save it.

"The second one was just standing big and hoping that he’d hit it somewhere where I can save it – especially when he’s at a little bit of an angle. I was very happy with the angle. He would have had to do something special to beat me from there. But don’t make his mind up for him. Don’t be leaning one way. Stand up and make him beat you. And fortunately I was able to get my hand on it and get it over the bar."

By the way, Keller went into the Colorado game as the league-leading goalkeeper with a 0.41 goals-against average. However, the Rapids’ two goals raised Keller's average to 0.60 and dropped him to second in the league behind Zach Thornton of Chivas USA.

Here's my game story. Here's the version from The Denver Post.

Just as there are good witches and bad witches, there also are good draws and bad draws. This strikes me as a pretty good draw, as the Sounders get a point while coming from behind at high altitude with 75 percent of its starting midfield missing. And that point keeps them alone in second place in the West, ahead of the Dynamo and Rapids. And they lost no ground to Chivas.

And when I got down to the Sounders locker room, that seemed to be their attitude, too.

"Like a win, almost," James Riley said. "We had a chance to win it at the end, and we almost clould have lost that game. Kasey made two out-of-this-world saves to keep us in the game and we kept battling and grinding away and those are the results that you have to grind out and these points will come to fruition at the end of the season."

Coach Sigi Schmid had much the same attitude, and also was eager to praise Keller's performance.

“Kasey Keller played very well in the first half and kept us in the game with some very big saves,” Schmid said. “… That’s a big change when you’ve got an entirely new midfield that’s playing together for the first time. I thought we were a little disjointed in the first half – our wide midfielders were a little too wide, so we gave them a lot of space. We knew they were a very direct team, and they got in behind us quite a few times. The second half, I thought we played a little bit better even though we gave up that early goal.”

Seattle's tying goal came in the 76th minute when Riley made a steal that the Rapids thought was a handball. However, there was no whistle. And while the Rapids complained, Riley pushed forward.

“It was more ball-to-arm, to be honest,” he said. “It was pretty high, so it’s one of those that gets played. You’ve still got to complete the play. I kept playing it.”

Riley sent a cross into the penalty area, where Montero won it and headed it down to Nate Jaqua, who notched his second goal of the season.

“Right place at the right time,” Jaqua said. “But it feels good to get the back of the net.”

Seattle's fourth straight draw leaves them with a 4-2-4 record, which keeps them ahead of Houston (4-2-3) and Colorado (3-2-4) in the standings.

As for that mile-high altitude, none of the Sounders reported much of a problem with that either.

“It wasn’t actually too bad, I didn’t think,” Riley said. “They’re just a good team in general; so our spacing was a bit off, and I think we ran a bit more than we wanted to. But I’ve definitely played here where it’s 10 times worse. I thought it was all right.”

"I thought the last 10 or 15 minutes we were still running," Schmid said.

And as for all that nasty pre-game weather ... it went away. It was still raining a bit as I left the stadium, but the really bad stuff went through before the game and weather didn't seem to be much of a factor.

Here's a full game report, complete with stats.

The teams will see each other again Tuesday – closer to sea level. The Rapids will travel to Starfire Sports Stadium for a U.S. Open Cup play-in match at Starfire Sports Complex. The winner advances to the round of 16. (Last I heard, some tickets remain.) But Sigi had no interest in discussing that tonight.

Seattle will return to league play -- and Qwest Field -- Saturday against Sigi's old team, the Columbus Crew.

=> Read more!

I'm going to be talking Sounders with Ian Furness at 11:35 this morning on KRJ 950-AM.

You can also listen online at the KJR website.

The Sounders and Rapids kick off at 6:30 p.m. at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., a suburb northeast of Denver. The game will be shown on KONG 6/16. We'll keep our usual semi-running blog from the press box. I'll pop in with more on that this evening.

Meanwhile, here's my preview story from this morning's paper. The key issues covered are the mile-high elevation, the missing Sounders, and the interesting personnel links between the two rosters.

I haven't picked up a copy of the Denver Post yet, but here's a link to their Rapids coverage.

Some big thunderstorms passed through the area last night, but Saturday has begun with a calm, cool and cloudy morning. However, scattered storms are still in the forecast for today and tonight.

Elsewhere around the league, the big games seem to be Chivas USA at Kansas City and San Jose at Houston. The Dynamo -- like the Rapids -- can pull even with Seattle in the Western standings if the Sounders don't pick up at least a point tonight. Meanwhile, Chivas and the Wizards seems to be the MLS game of the week as Chivas has the league's best record and KC is just one point off the Eastern Conference lead. You can keep track of all the games at the MLS Match Center.

I've arrived in mile-high Denver, and if the writing in this post is any weaker than usual, well, I'm still adjusting to the altitude.

Actually, I don't notice a thing. However, soccer is a different matter, and since Saturday night will mark the Sounders' first game at altitude, that was one of the topics that came up for Sigi Schmid during this week's training.

"The thing is, altitude effects you most in that 48 to 72 hour period," he said. "So if you can get in there, and we usually try to get in there so that we’re within about 24 hours of the game. And you try and play the game, and get in as late as possible and play the game, and get out. Certainly it’s there and it’s present. You can’t say it’s not. But also, the first day of it is less of an impact on your body physically.”

Not surprisingly, this game seems to be flying under the radar in the Denver area, with the Nuggets win over the Lakers last night dominating the headlines. However, there was a nice look at the Sounders organization back on Page 3 of today's Denver Post sports section.

Unfortunately for the Rapids, the next game in the series is Saturday night at Denver's Pepsi Center -- a direct conflict with the Sounders-Rapids game.

The soccer game also could have some weather issues. The Denver area forecast for Saturday calls for temperatures ranging from 70-51, which is nice enough, but with a 40 percent chance of rain and even a chance of thundershowers.

Finally, I got in early enough today to take a little scouting trip over to Dick's Sporting Goods Park. It's a really nice-looking facility -- a lot like the one in Dallas in that it's way out in the suburbs and is surrounded by soccer fields. (The hotel I'm staying at it crawling with youth soccer teams apparently in for a tournament.)

Tide vs Portland - Saturday, May 23 @ 7pm - Curtis HS Stadium

The Tacoma Tide gave fans their money’s worth last weekend for the 2009 home opener. It took a 90th minute goal from Nick Besagno for the Tide to come away with a 4-3 victory over the Cascade Surge of Salem, Oregon. Besagno’s goal gave the Tide their first victory of the young 2009 season and the team now hasn’t lost at home since 2006.

This Saturday the Tide will host the Portland Timbers U-23s. The Timbers (2-1-1) are currently tied for second in the Northwest Division with seven points through four games. The Timbers are coming off their first loss of the season after falling to the Seattle Wolves 3-1 on Wednesday in Tukwila. Despite scoring only one goal, the Timbers still lead the PDL’s Western Conference in goals scored with 15. The Timbers offensive skill was on display last week when they poured in eight goals against the Spokane Spiders en route to an 8-2 victory.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, SEE THE TIDE WEBSITE - TacomaTideSports.com

I'm just about to hop a plane for Denver. And here's a list of Sounders who are making the trip. You'll notice the absence of Freddie Ljungberg and Brad Evans.

GK: Kasey Keller
GK: Ben Dragavon
D: Patrick Ianni
D: Taylor Graham
MF: Osvaldo Alonso
MF: Peter Vagenas
D: Tyson Wahl
F: Nate Jaqua
D: James Riley
D: Tyrone Marshall
D: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
MF: Sanna Nyassi
F: Roger Levesque
MF: Stephen King
D: Nathan Sturgis
MF: Sebastien Le Toux
MF: Steve Zakuani
F: Fredy Montero

More tonight from Denver.

I'm on the road today, so I won't be able to post much more for a while. And on top of that, coach Sigi Schmid isn't meeting with the media today, so that probably means little news out of the Sounders today.

Therefore, I'm just opening this post as a place for you all to start any conversations you might like among yourself or to post any suggestions about soccer stories you'd like me to pursue over the next few week or ... well, the topic line says it all.

Sounds like the key topic at Sounders training today was the injury situation. Although it doesn't seem like much has been clarified yet regarding the availablity of Freddy Ljungberg, Zack Scott or Brad Evans for Saturday, when Seattle plays a pretty significant game at Colorado.

Here's coach Sigi Schmid:

On Ljungberg’s migraine: “We got to take it day-by-day. He’s had a history of these. He knows what it takes to come back. He doesn’t get them all that often. It’s something that usually happens every year to two years. So right now it’s just a matter of him knowing his body, and us being careful so that it doesn’t become a long-term thing.”

On concern about Ljungberg not being ready for the Rapids: “There’s always a concern whenever you’re missing a player. But the thing that I’ve learned over coaching over all the years is you focus on the guys who are going to play. We can have post mortems and talk about all the guys who are missing all the time, but then it takes away the focus from what we’re trying to do which is prepare for the game. So our preparation and our work and our focus is based upon the guys who are coming to play.”

On Scott and Evans’ MRIs: “Basically with Brad it’s just a pain-tolerance thing. How he does. Like he was in today, his ankle was almost bothering him more than anything else. It’s just a day-by-day situation with him. With Zach Scott it’s more of an abdominal injury, so just trying to again give it a couple of more days. He’ll definitely not be in this weekend. He’ll be out this weekend. We want to see, make sure, is it a sports hernia or is it just the abdominal? And that’s something that we still need a couple of days to decide… It’s good news. It’s just he’s (Evans), he could be back out trying to do more things tomorrow, or it could be a week, but we doubt it’s going to be much longer than that.”

On Pete Vagenas being ready: “He played 90 minutes in the other practice game. So I don’t know if he’s 90 minutes MLS fit at this stage, but I think he’s ready to start if we need him.”

One week into fans' all-star voting, the Sounders popularity is showing up in the online ballot box.

Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller is the overall leader in fan votes. And fellow-Sounders Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero, Osvaldo Alonso, Tyrone Marshall, Steve Zakuani and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Sebastian Le Toux have also accumulated high enough totals in the first week of fan voting to be in the top 11.

Fans vote can vote up to 10 times per day through July 6 for one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards. The online fan balloting will comprise 25 percent of the total vote for the All-Star First XI, with coaches and general managers, players, and media each holding 25 percent of the vote.

The MLS all-stars will meet Everton of the English Premier League at Rio Tinto Stadiun in Sandy, Utah -- home of Real Salt Lake -- on July 29 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be show on ESPN2.

Here's the full story from the MLS website.

I'm taking a few days off between the game in Dallas last weekend and the game in Colorado this weekend.

However, the Sounders have been kind enough to provide this injury update:

Midfielder Brad Evans is scheduled for an MRI on his left knee on Tuesday. Evans left the FC Dallas game in the 79th minute following a collision with FCD keeper Ray Burse. Evans sustained a mild concussion on the play.

Defender Zach Scott left last week’s game in the 18th minute with a groin injury and will see a specialist Tuesday.

Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg is recovering from a migraine last Friday.

Forward Jarrod Smith and midfielder Nathan Sturgis (both hamstring strains) continue to make progress.

Goalkeeper Chris Eylander was placed on injured reserve last week with a left medial knee bone bruise. Eylander will eligible to return to action for the June 20 game at New York.

The Sounders also provided these quotes from coach Sigi Schmid after today's training session at Starfire:

On execution and finishing: “It’s a little bit of both. It’s obviously the technical execution of striking the ball and meeting the ball, the timing of your runs, etcetera. There’s also a mental thing. Sometimes you get into a funk, and for some reason it always seems to get behind you or doesn’t hit your foot right or something like that. But it’s a combination of both things. Good forwards have amnesia. They can’t remember when they miss. And all that they remember is the ones they score. But you also got to have good timing of your runs and good execution.”

On the focus going forward: “Focus on two things. We’re focused on what we want to achieve as a team, which is one. And the second thing we’re focused on is as well that we’re basically almost a third into the season, and we’re sitting in second place in the west, which I don’t think is too bad. But obviously we have our sights set on doing really well and that’s just the ambition that we have for ourselves. So we feel disappointed when we have draws, especially when we had an opportunity to put the game away in the first half. And when you don’t do that then you allow a team to hang on, and then they have a chance to win in the second half. So we’re definitely focused on making sure that we finish better and that we put away the chances that we are creating.”

On Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg, Nathan Sturgis and Zach Scott’s availability: “Really don’t know yet. Really don’t know. I’ll know once we get all the information and so forth. Obviously Sturgis was at practice training today, so that was good. Evans, we just wanted to be cautious today and see what the other examinations shows, and then we’ll decide what to do with him tomorrow. And with Freddie we’re taking it one day at a time, with Ljungberg as he comes back from it. And Scott, we’ll have a better idea after he meets this afternoon. I don’t think they all will be back, but I think some of them will be back.”

On playing in Colorado's Rocky Mountain high: Obviously you’re playing at altitude. But the thing is altitude effects you most in that 48 to 72 hour period. So if you can get in there, and we usually try to get in there so that we’re within about 24 hours of the game. And you try and play the game, and get in as late as possible and play the game, and get out. Certainly it’s there and it’s present. You can’t say it’s not. But also, the first day of it is less of an impact on your body physically.”

On being satisfied with the performances of the players that have stepped in: “Guys have come on and they’ve played well. Patrick Ianni I thought had a pretty good game. I thought Dave van der Bergh with the exception of a couple of crosses that he hit in the second half really didn’t have much of an impact on the game. And he’s as good a wide left player as there is in the league, so I was happy with that. Tyson (Wahl) got thrown into the fray obviously without having much benefit of a warm-up. And I thought he was pretty solid as well. And different people have stepped in at different times, whether Seba (Le Toux), (Sanna) Nyassi up front, and all kinds of different people. So that part of it has been very good.”

On the importance of having depth: “You have to have depth. And as an expansion team, it’s tough to get depth this early. You and try and build it each year, and try and get your team deeper and deeper each year as well…It’s always good to get them involved early, so that there ready for games. As the season progresses, you’ve got people missing games because of yellow card accumulations. Obviously injuries pile up and things like that. It’s more than 11 players in order to be successful.”

The Sounders return to the practice pitch today, so perhaps some health updates will be coming this afternoon.

Meanwhile, TNT columnist Dave Boling gets out Sounders coverage off to an early start with this excellent piece on Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso.

Meanwhile, Kansas City's Josh Wolff was selected MLS player of the week.

The Sounders are off today. They'll return to training on Tuesday, and that's when we're likely to get our first update on their health situation as they begin work for what seems to be an increasingly important game Saturday at the Colorado Rapids.

Meanwhile, here's a bit up an update from this morning's paper in the wake of the 1-1 draw at Dallas and looking ahead to Colorado.

I haven't read the comments yet, but I've got a hunch Sounders fans weren't any happier than the Sounders themselves.

Even playing on the road with four starters missing, coach Sigi Schmid and his players clearly thought of this as a missed opportunity.

“We should be pretty down,” Schmid said. “I feel a little more like we left two points here. We had a chance to get three here. We left two points on the table. These guys are professionals. They know it wasn’t a good effort.”

The result seemed to hurt all the more because Seattle dominated the first half so soundly that they could have take a 3- or 4-0 lead that would have finished the Hoops early.

“In the first half, it could have been four or five (goals) easily before they scored,” Seattle midfielder Steve Zakuani said. “The game should have been settled in the first half.”

The game turned a lot in the second half, when Dallas switched to a 3-5-2. I don't know how it came across on TV, but I thought the Sounders looked frustrated and seemed to get a little chippy with each other. Soon enough, it was Dallas getting the chances, and as the Hoops walked off the field, they also were grumbling about two points that got away.

“I didn't think we played that well in the first half,” said Dallas forward Brek Shea, who played so well I can't believe he didn't start. “In the second half, I think we could have won it, but we missed a few chances.”

The end result was Seattle’s third straight draw and failed to close ground on Western Division leader Chivas USA, which drew against DC United.

“Certainly it’s a point; it’s better than a loss,” Schmid said. “But we don’t want to be the inchworm, just inching forward a point at a time. We want to get a little bit more than that when we get those opportunities.”

Here are the cold hard facts:

Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-3) ­ Kasey Keller, Zach Scott (Tyson Wahl 18),
Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo
Alonso, Brad Evans (Sanna Nyassi 79), Sebastien Le Toux, Fredy Montero, Nate
Jaqua (Stephen King 74)

Subs not used: Ben Dragavon, Peter Vagenas, Roger Levesque, Taylor Graham

FC Dallas (1-6-2) ­ Ray Burse, Drew Moor, George John (Daniel Torres 28),
Steve Purdy (Bruno Guarda 46), Marcelo Saragosa, Pablo Ricchetti, Dave van
den Bergh, David Ferreira, Andre Rocha, Kenny Cooper, Jeff Cunningham (Brek
Shea 24)

Subs not used: Josh Lambo, Dax McCarty, Alvaro Sanchez, Anthony Wallace

Scoring Summary
SEA: Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Nate Jaqua) 18
DAL: Rocha (Saragosa) 48+

Misconduct Summary
DAL -- Andre Rocha (caution; Reckless Tackle) 20
SEA -- Steve Zakuani (caution; Dissent) 48+
SEA -- Tyrone Marshall (caution; Persistent Infringement) 64
DAL -- Marcelo Saragosa (caution; Dissent) 75
DAL -- Bruno Guarda (caution; Reckless Tackle) 80

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee's Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Jeff Muschik
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Time of Game: 90:00
Weather: Cloudy, 66 degrees
Attendance: 8,247

=> Read more!

Tacoma Tide 1 - 1 Kitsap Pumas
Two days after the Tide drew with one puget sound rival, they fought back to grab a point against another local rival. The professional newcomers to the PDL, the Kitsap Pumas, got out to a lead from a Spencer Schomaker goal. The former Tacoma Tide striker found the net for his new team in the 12th minute. The Tide showed resilience in their second game away from home, and eventually it paid off in the form of a Machael David equalizer. The UCSB freshman made it 1-1 after Rory Agu’s effort to drive the ball in from the side met the goal keepers touch. When he couldn’t hold it, Machael David was there to tap it home less than 20 minutes from the final whistle. The match would end with that score and put the Tide on 2 points from two draws. The Pumas move to 7 points on the season from 3 games.

For the full match statistics, click HERE

The Tide play their PDL season opener on this Sunday, May 17 vs the Cascade Surge. The match will kick off at 3:00pm at Curtis HS. Tickets are available online for $9-adults and $4-students or $10 and $5 at the gate.

Game day. And even though Dallas is off to an awful start -- especially because Dallas is off to an awful start -- it's a big game for the Sounders. After a pair of draws, they need three points -- even on the road.

Here's a game preview from the Dallas Morning News, focusing largely on how bad the Hoops have been.

And here's my story from this morning's paper, also focusing on how bad the Hoops have been ... and why they might still be dangerous.

And one of those reasons could be weather. Here's a report.

Unless news breaks, my next post will be from the press box of Pizza Hut Park.

Meanwhile, a quick scouting report:

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-2-2, 14 pts)
AT FC DALLAS (1-6-1; 4 pts)
5:30 p.m., Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas.
TV: KONG 6/16.
Radio: 97.3 FM, and in Spanish on 1210 AM.

Head to head: This is the first meeting. FC Dallas visits Seattle on Oct. 24.

Stats: For Seattle: G 3 Fredy Montero; A 3 three players tied; Sh 18 Montero; SOG 6 Montero. For Dallas, G: 4 Kenny Cooper; A: 2 Dave van den Bergh; Sh: 31 Cooper; SOG 19 Cooper.

Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “With Kenny Cooper there is a good, strong, big center forward. Right now they are playing (Jeff) Cunningham up with him, who is an experienced goal-scorer in this league. They have a play-maker in (David) Ferreira, who is quick and fast and good off the dribble. Dax McCarty is a good passer of the ball. It gets them a lot of good options in terms of going forward. Defensively, they are a little bit younger … but they have good size in the back for sure.

Notes: Seattle is without half of its starting defenders: Nathan Sturgis (hamstring) and James Riley (red-card suspension). …Dallas has allowed the second-most goals (15) in MLS and has scored the second-fewest (7). The minus-eight goal differential is tied for worst in the league. … Dallas has played three straight road games, all losses. FCD’s lone victory came in its last home game, 3-2, over Toronto on April 19. … Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman made three changes to his lineup last week, and Schmid said the team is difficult to prepare for because he expects more changes may be made. … Cooper leads MLS in shots and shots on goal. He has scored four of Dallas’ seven goals this season. … Dallas rookie George John was born in Shoreline and played at the University of Washington. … Dallas is an MLS charter member, which began its history as the Dallas Burn. The team is now sometimes called the Hoops because of the horizontal stripes around their jerseys.

Next: Colorado Rapids, 6:30 p.m. May 23, Dick’s Sporting Good Park, Commerce City, Colo.; KONG 6/16.

Seattle Sounders FC will fly to Dallas today without either starting defender Nate Sturgis or reserve keeper Chris Eylander.

Sturgis has been nursing a hamstring, but didn't recover in time to play in tomorrow night's game at FC Dallas. That means the Sounders will be without two starting fullbacks against the Hoops, as James Riley also will be out due to a red-card suspension.

Eylander is unavailable due to a knee injury that coach Sigi Schmid suggested this morning might be serious enough to land Eylander on the injured list. In his absence, the team has brought back Ben Dragavon under the league's "extreme hardship" rule. Dragavon is a 25-year-old former USL Sounder who is part of the MLS pool of goalkeepers. He played 61 minutes in SSFC's game against Kansas City when Eylander was injured and No. 1 keeper Kasey Keller was ejected.

The Tacoma Tide crosses the Narrows tonight, heading up for a 7:30 p.m. date with the Kitsap Pumas.

The Pumas are new to the PDL and a pretty interesting story that is well-told in this article by the Kitsap Sun.

The Sounders have an early practice at Starfire before heading deep in the heart of Texas for their game tomorrow at FC Dallas -- the Hoops.

And for the first time this season, we'll be traveling too, brining you coverage from the Dallas game tomorrow and the game at Colorado next week.

Meanwhile, here's my story from today, a variation on the issue of referees and fouls, which has been the main topic of the week. This one is on Fredy Montero and Freddie Ljungberg, who are two of the most-fouled players in MLS -- despite both missing the better part of two of the team's eight games.

Meanwhile, here's the FC Dallas coverage from the Dallas Morning News.

Fredy Montero practiced with the Sounders again this morning at Starfire, and all indications are that he'll be back in the lineup Saturday at FC Dallas -- although those words haven't yet come out of the mouth of coach Sigi Schmid, who wasn't available to the media today. (A new Thursday policy.)

Montero had missed last week's game -- with Sebastien Le Toux moving into his forward spot -- due to red card suspension. And Montero used part of his time off to take a short visit back to his native Colombia.

He said today that he thinks the time away was not only good for him personally, but good for his game as well.

"It was great," he said today (with Taylor Graham serving as translator.) "It was very relaxing and comfortable. It was not only a vacation, but a chance to clear (my) head and mentally think about the things that (I) need to improve on."

That's what the Sounders were hoping, too.

“I think being able to get away, get home as well was good for him," Schmid said yesterday. "He worked hard last week before he left. That was the idea was to really push him last week, which we did, and then to allow him to clear his head a little bit and get down there. I can’t imagine some of the things that he’s gone through at his and being in a foreign country. So I think that’s a good thing for us.”

Tacoma Tide 0 - 0 Seattle Wolves
The 2009 Premier Development League season is one of numerous unknowns and questions. The new season brings new players to meld in with the veterans, it brings new challengers to the Tide’s NW Divisional crown, and it brings new rivalries. Wednesday night at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA, the Tide began to answer those questions.

In the pouring down rain, a Tide starting 11 that had never played together (not even in practice), controlled a game in the heated rivalry. Both teams created decent chances, but in the end, a draw seemed a fair result.

Click Here to read the game report.

You can watch the game for FREE on Comcast On Demand. To watch, turn to Channel 1, then choose Get Local, then Local Sports, and Tacoma Tide.

Tacoma Tide FC opened its fourth season of Premier Development League soccer with a scoreless draw against the Seattle Wolves tonight at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila.

The Tide controlled the run of play, especially early and late, but couldn’t get the ball into the net.

The Wolves moved to 1-1-1 in what was their home opener.

The Tide visits the Kitsap Pumas at 7:30 p.m. Friday, then plays its home opener against the Cascade Surge of Salem, Ore., at 3 p.m. Sunday at Vikings Stadium at Curtis High School.

Fans can go to the MLS website and cast their votes for this season's all-star team.

“Maybe some of (the players') friends are out there getting on the computers and punching in names and numbers," coach Sigi Schmid said when asked about it today. "I’m sure the Salt Lake fans will be behind getting their guys in. It’s something I don’t pay a lot of attention to. I don’t know how much attention the players pay to it. You can sort of ask them. Obviously I think we have some guys who are worthy of consideration for the all-star team, and at the end of the day hopefully they’ll get rewarded.”

The MLS stars will take on Everton FC of the English Premier League in the 14 annual MLS game July 29 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, the home of Real Salt Lake.

The game will be televised in the U.S. on ESPN2 and Telefutura at 6:30 p.m.

Here are the details from the league:

=> Read more!

The Sounders have completed one of their longest practices of the season. However, one player who simply jogged while the team worked was starting defender Nate Sturgis. And when I talked to him after practice, he didn't seem especially optimistic about being ready for Saturday, when the Sounders visit Dallas.

That, of course, would be double trouble for the guys in green because we already know starting back James Riley is out due to picking up that red card Sunday against LA.

Naturally, we asked Sigi Schmid what he's got in mind for filling the one or two openings in the back.

"We’ve had different guys who have played outside back," he said."Obviously, Evan Brown is an option there. Tyson Wahl is an option at left outside back. Patrick Ianni is an option at right back as well. … I think we have some options. We can also bring (Taylor) Graham inside and move Jhon Kennedy (Hurtado) outside. There are different ways to look at it for us. That’s something we’ll use this week to decide."

Tacoma Tide FC opens its fourth PDL season against a new rival tonight, meeting the Seattle Wolves at Starfire Sports Stadium.

However, there's not going to be anything unusual about that, as the PDL Northwest Division is a true Northwest division this season, with every opponent a rival of one kind or another. Here's my story from today's paper previewing the Tide season.

And while we're linking, here's ...

the Tide website

the Tide schedule

the Wolves website

the Kitsap Pumas website

and the USL Premier Development Leagues website.

Already assured of selling out its first nine home games, Seattle Sounders FC has decided to increase the capacity of its Qwest Field seating configuration.

The team has announced it will open seating in the south end zone starting with the June 28 game against Colorado. That will increase capacity from just over 29,000 to about 32,000 - similar to the Sounders’ inaugural game on March 19, when 32,523 saw them beat New York, 3-0.

The Sounders are the first team in MLS history to have 28,000 or more fans at five consecutive matches, and they already have sold all tickets available to the next four matches through June 28. But even though the new sections will open on that day, the June 28 game remains listed as a sellout because the additional seats will go to servicemen and women as part of a military tribute.

The additional seating will be available to the general public for the first time for the July 11 game against Houston.

The Sounders will use the entire stadium’s capacity — 67,000 — by opening the upper decks for international friendlies July 18 against Chelsea and Aug. 5 against FC Barcelona.

MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin has released the following statement regarding referee Tim Weyland, who the Sounders have criticized for his work in Sunday's 1-1 draw with LA:

“He is an experienced referee who didn’t have his best day. As we saw in the recent UEFA Champions League semifinals, referees in soccer will always come under scrutiny because their decisions can have significant impact on the game. But that is a function of the sport, not our League. It happens throughout the world.

“We provide input to U.S. Soccer for their review of all our matches to ensure the best available referees work our games. That process is ongoing and rigorous. If a referee is not performing well, U.S. Soccer has, and will, remove that official from future MLS matches.”

The Sounders are off today, and therefore no news is expects out of Tukwila today. However, that gives us a good day to discuss some of that's been going on with the team recently.

Here's Dave Boling's column from today which notes what may be soccer's growing problem with flopping, but also notes the Sounders' advantage of having straight-talking advocate like Sigi Schmid in their corner.

Here's John McGrath's column on what he sees as soccer's problem with draws. And while I think it's a great conversation starter, I don't agree with John. Draws don't represent a non-result. A draw is a result -- sometimes a fair one and sometimes, as Schmid noted, there are good draws and bad draws. The idea that MLS teams have to draw three times to get the benefit in the standings of a single win should be enough to give incentive to play for the win. The Sounders have had an odd couple of weeks in that they've played Chicago and LA -- both tie machines -- and tied each. But that shouldn't be an ongoing issue. And if the Sounders draw again this week at Dallas ... well, that will be a bad result.

In any case, here's your chance to talk back to the columnists.

And oh yes, one other matter worthy of comment. As you may have noticed at the bottom of my story today, Sigi Schmid did not commit yesterday to restoring Fredy Montero to the starting 11. My guess is that it's simply Schmid's admitted aversion to tipping his hand regarding lineups ... but ... might it be something else. Is there really any chance -- any team benefit -- to keeping the fowards and midfield intact this week, while being forced to make a change in the back due to Riley's unavailbility?

After practice today, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid stuck by his criticism of referee Tim Weyland’s performance in the Sounders’ 1-1 draw with Los Angeles.

And he got backing from general manager Adrian Hanauer, who expanded the topic beyond a single game or a referee into a problem of leaguewide importance.

“My bigger concern is that we are working hard here in Seattle and a lot of other teams around the country are working hard to get fans in the building and we owe a good experience to our fans,” Hanauer said. “And that means referees that maintain control of the game, referees that keep the flow of the game going, referees that don’t become the center of attention, referees that keep the players on the field – because quite frankly the fans are there to see the players, not the referees.”

I'm going to write more about that in the Tuesday paper.

After yesterday's game, Schmid had suggested Weyland had been “confused and dazed” and mentioning that he and Weyland had a history dating to Schmid’s days coaching UCLA, when he specifically requested that Weyland not work his team’s games.

Schmid said he has been fined by the league for criticism of officials before, but isn't certain that will happen this time.

“I can’t ever speak for the league,” he said. “… Hopefully it’ll be something that will be looked at. It doesn’t change what happened. And I do feel that the situation of the, whatever you want to call it, the melee, the fracas, the altercation that occurred, I just think that could’ve been managed better. I think it could’ve and should’ve been managed much better.”

A couple of other notes:
Schmid would not say who will take James Riley’s place in the starting lineup Saturday at Dallas. For that matter, he would not even commit to Fredy Montero returning to the starting lineup now that he's free of his red-card suspension.

The Sounders reserves played to a 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps PDL team Monday at Starfire. Kevin Forrest got Seattle’s lone goal.

The MLS's 16th team -- which joins the league next spring -- will be called the Philadephia Union. (And good luck to the poor sportswriters covering the first Union-United game.) They'll wear light blue and gold. Their crest features a coiled snake.

If you want to know more, click here.

More than 60,000 tickets have been sold for Seattle Sounders FC's July 18 match against Chelsea.

Tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. this morning -- although that doesn't mean 60,000 tickets were sold today, as tickets are included in the season ticket package and other tickets were made available before today's general release.

However, the bottom line for those of you interested in attending is that fewer than 7,000 tickets remain. They are available at www.SoundersFC.com, by calling 800-745-3000, or at Ticketmaster outlets and the Qwest Field Box office.

One more note from the Sounders' 1-1 draw with LA.

At one point in the second half of the chippy game, did anyone else notice Sounders midfielder Freddie Ljungberg point what appeared to be a hand sign at one of the LA players?

It happened to be a finger I had never before seen pointed in anger: an extended pinky. So after the game, I asked Ljungberg if that's some sort of obscene gesture in Europe.

He laughed. No, he assured me. Then he explained that he had been frustrated by the player taking what he thought was a dive after minimal contact. So Ljungberg said he extended his pinky finger and told the player, "You must be about this skinny if that little bump knocked you down."

One final reminder that tickets for Chelsea's game against Sounders FC go on sale at 10 o'clock this morning.

Call 1-877-MLS-goal or visit www.soundersfc.com.

The game will be played July 18 game at Qwest.

This could be the start of a beautiful rivalry.

Teams from Seattle and LA have had their share of those, and there was no mistaking the hard feelings today as the Sounders and Galaxy rumbled to a 1-1 draw. Here's a photo gallery from TNT photographer Peter Haley. Here is columnist John McGrath's take on the draw.

The key moment was a scuffle in the 57th minute, which involved several players and resulted in James Riley being sent off with a red card and the Sounders playing a man down, while LA seemed content to take its point and go home ... an attitude that coach Sigi Schmid seemed to hold in low regard.

“I’m very proud of our team from the standpoint of playing a man down and still trying to go for the win," Schmid said. "Whereas, the opponent was a man up and they were very content to tie the game take it to 90 minutes. I’m very disappointed in the ejection and I’m disappointed in the refereeing.”

As for that Riley, he seemed surprised that he was sent off -- or that he was the only player sent off. But he had no excuses.

“I take full responsibility,” Riley said. “It’s a red, so it’s a red. Obviously, people have their different interpretations, but I’m disappointed that I let my team play (a man down for) 30 minutes. We thought we let two points slip away."

Both goals already had been scored by the 57th minute when possession turned to Seattle. However, L.A.’s Gregg Berhalter grabbed the ball and held it, preventing the Sounders from restarting play.

Riley tried to take the ball, and a scuffle developed involving several players. At one point, Los Angeles’ Mike Mcgee grabbed Riley, and Riley responded by swinging his hand toward the back of Mcgee’s neck. It wasn’t quite a punch, and Riley initially drew only a yellow card. But after the referee conferred with his assistant, it was upgraded to red.

“It was definitely not a punch,” Riley said. “I was just trying to grab him because I thought he came in from behind me. But again, I take full responsibility. By no means do I ever intend to strike any player in the face or anywhere. That’s definitely not the intent, so I want to make that clear.”

Schmid had more criticism for the Galaxy than for Riley ... and far more for referee Tim Weyland.

“I guess (Berhalter) thought it was his free kick, I don’t know,” Schmid said. “Maybe he was momentarily confused or dazed, and the referee was confused and dazed. There ended up being a melee and a scrum. That’s about all I can say right now. I’ve known the referee for a long time. When I was coaching in college we were allowed to list a couple of referees who would not be put on your games. He hasn’t refereed many games that I’ve coached. The assistant referee told the referee that in his estimation it was a red for violent conduct. The other ref told him something else, but he chose to ignore that piece of advice. I’ll let you draw judgments on the refereeing.”

Either way, Riley was sent off and the Sounders played the final 33 minutes one man down. Riley also will have to miss Seattle’s next game, Saturday at FC Dallas. He also picked up his third yellow card of the season, and will be suspended for another game if his total reaches five. (All of this seems especially amazing to me because of the pitch, Riley is the nicest guy in the world.)

Riley becomes the third Sounder to pick up a red card this season, following goalkeeper Kasey Keller and leading scorer Fredy Montero, who served his one-game suspension Sunday. The Sounders are 0-1-2 in the three games they have played shorthanded.

By settling for one point Sunday, they lost ground to Western Conference leader Chivas USA, which added three points with a win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Here's the game summary:

Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Sebastien Le Toux 1 (Nate Jaqua 3, Steve Zakuani 3) 22
LA -- Alan Gordon 2 (Mike Magee 1) 35

Los Angeles Galaxy -- Donovan Ricketts, Tony Sanneh, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Stefani Miglioranzi, Jovan Kirovski (Chris Klein 63), Dema Kovalenko (Edson Buddle 84), Mike Magee, Alan Gordon (Eddie Lewis 76), Landon Donovan.

Substitutes Not Used: A.J. DeLaGarza, Bryan Jordan, Josh Saunders, Josh Tudela.

TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (6 tied with 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Alan Gordon 1, Chris Klein 1); FOULS: 16 (Gregg Berhalter 4); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 8 (Landon Donovan 8); SAVES: 1 (Donovan Ricketts 1)

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Nathan Sturgis (Zach Scott 72), Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Freddie Ljungberg, Steve Zakuani (Sanna Nyassi 73), Nate Jaqua, Sebastien Le Toux (Stephen King 87).

Substitutes Not Used: Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl.

TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (7 tied with 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Sebastien Le Toux 1, Steve Zakuani 1); FOULS: 11 (Freddie Ljungberg 3); OFFSIDES: 4 (Nate Jaqua 3); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Freddie Ljungberg 5); SAVES: 1 (Kasey Keller 1)

Misconduct Summary:
LA -- Alan Gordon (caution; Reckless Foul) 32
SEA -- Brad Evans (caution; Dissent) 45
SEA -- James Riley (ejection; Violent Conduct) 57
SEA -- Freddie Ljungberg (caution; Dissent) 58
SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Dissent) 59
LA -- Landon Donovan (caution; Dissent) 61
SEA -- Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless Tackle) 80
LA -- Stefani Miglioranzi (caution; Reckless Tackle) 83

Referee: Tim Weyland
Referee's Assistants: -Darren Clark; Emiliano Monje
4th Official: Yader Reyes
Attendance: 29,025
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-55-degrees

Thanks for the comments that are in so far. More always welcome.

=> Read more!

Today's game between Los Angeles and Sounders FC is sold out, like all those that came before it. It can be watched on KONG 6/16 at noon.

However, a variety of other Sounders tickets are on sale or about to go on sale for those planning ahead:

US Open Cup: The Sounders will host the Colorado Rapids in a U.S. open Cup play-in match at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila. Tickets are now on sale, All are general admission: $15 for covered grandstand seating and $10 for uncovered bleacher seats. Information is available at SounderFC.com.

CONCACAF Gold Cup: The two-time defending champion USA will play a first-round match of the 2009 Gold Cup on Saturday, July 4. The U.S. will face Grenada at 6 p.m. in the second match of the Gold Cup double header. The first match will pair Haiti and Honduras at 4 p.m. pt. for ticket purchases and information visit www.ticketmaster.com, www.GoldCup.org and www.Copaoro.org.

Chelsea: At 10 a.m. Monday, tickets will go on sale for the Sounders' July 18 game against English Premier League side Chelsea. Call 1-877-MLS-goal or visit www.soundersfc.com.

Barcelona: Announced just this week, the Sounders will play FC Barcelona at Qwest Field on Aug. 5. Tickets for that game go on sale June 15.

Partial plan: By the way, the Sounders have still have available some partial season ticket plans, which include the Chelsea and Barca games.

Here's a bit from the Sounders that puts their attendance run in perspective:

Seattle has played to capacity crowds in each of its first four matches on the Xbox pitch at Qwest Field, and the Galaxy game marks the fifth
sellout. More than 118,000 fans have watched the first four home Sounders FC games. A throng of 32,523 had watched the inaugural home match versus new York. the last three home games have also
sold out: real salt lake (28,548), Kansas City (28,746) and San Jose (28,838). In addition to this week’s game with the Galaxy (May 10), the next four dates are also sold out: Columbus Crew (May 30), San Jose (June 13), D.C. united (June 17) and Colorado Rapids (June 28). Stadium capacity for the remaining MLS matches is listed as 27,700. The
average attendance through four home dates is 29,664.

By the way, this might be the week that the Sounders announce they are opening up some additional seats in the south end zone to create some additional ticket availability for the remaining regular-season matches.

Sizzling Chivas USA took a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday, moving to 7-1-1 on the season, and adding pressure to Seattle's noon match with the Galaxy.

Here's the Chivas-RSL game report.

Elsewhere in the West, Houston kept stuggling Dallas struggling with a 1-0 win. The Sounders visit Dallas next Saturday.

It feels a little odd to be sitting here on a Saturday afternoon with no game to go to. The upside, I guess, is a chance to watch FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo at 6 p.m. on ESPN2, and get in a little advance scouting for the Sounders game in Dallas next week.

Today also gave us one extra day to get Sigi Schmid to spill his guts about tomorrow's starting lineup, although that didn't go over so well.

Me: "Is today the day you're going to tell us your lineup?"

Schmid: "No."

We got a little more out of him on a couple of other topics:

On LA: "They’ve got a couple of very gifted individuals up front in Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. And then they have guys who have a lot of experience and serve a good ball on the flanks in Eddie Lewis and (Chris) Klein. So when you have people like that on the field it makes them very dangerous."

On whether LA's Landon Donovan belongs in the discussion as MLS' best player: "He does. When Landon comes to play, there’s nobody who can do some of the things that he can do. His fitness level is supurb. He’s technically very clean. He gets up and down the field."

On LA's record, which includes a one-goal win, a one-goal loss and five draws: "They’re playing a style that allows them to stay in the game. What’s what every coach wants to do, he wants to give his team a chance to win the game. Right now they style that they’re playing and the manner in which they’re playing gives them a chance to win the game."

Finally, a short look ahead to tomorrow's game:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY (1-1-5, 8 pts.)
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-2-1; 14 pts.)
Noon Sunday, Qwest Field.
TV: KONG 6/16.
Radio: 97.3 FM, and in Spanish on 1210 AM.

Head-to-head: This is the first regular-season meeting. The Sounders visit Los Angeles on Aug. 15.

Statistical leaders: For LA, G: 5 Landon Donovan; A: 3 Donovan; Sh: 19 Donovan; SOG: 9 Donovan. For Seattle: G: 3 Fredy Montero; A: 3 Osvaldo Alonso; Sh: 18 Montero; SOG: 6 Montero.

Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “L.A. is an interesting team from the standpoint that they try and stay in every game. … They sort of play it somewhat conservatively. They don’t push out real high and pressure you in your end of the field, although they will do it once in a while. But they try and give themselves a chance to be in a game, to hang around, and to rely on the individual abilities of some very talented players like Landon Donovan and (Edson) Buddle and Eddie Lewis, looking for a set piece, looking for a bit of magic from some of those players. So we have to be careful. We can’t get lulled in and get caught with too many guys forward at the wrong times.”

Notes: Montero is ineligible after being assessed with a red card last weekend at Chicago. … L.A.’s best-known player – David Beckham – as is unavailable while on loan to AC Milan. … Donovan is the MLS scoring leader with five goals and three assists. … The Galaxy is unbeaten over its last five games. They scored twice in stoppage time last week to draw at Real Salt Lake. … Schmid coached the Galaxy from 1999-2004. L.A. coach Bruce Arena got his first coaching job at the University of Puget Sound. … The game is sold out.

Next: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, at FC Dallas, Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas; KONG 6/16.

Two of the brighter stars in MLS will be missing tomorrow when the Galaxy visits the Sounders.

Seattle will be without Fredy Montero, and LA without David Beckham.

Those holes in the lineup were discussed yesterday:

From Sounders coach Sigi Schmid: “We’ve got different options there. Obviously we played Freddie Ljungberg there in the game against Toronto. Sebastien (Le Toux) played there in the Open Cup game, so he’s a possibility. We were concerned that Roger (Levesque) had injured himself on Tuesday, but he’s okay now again. And we saw Jarrod Smith went off a little early today, but we have to see how Jarrod Smith is. So those are four pretty good options, and we have (Sanna) Nyassi as well.”

However, Ljungberg didn't seem to think he was in the mix to move up. Here's his take: "I played that at Arsenal a lot of times if we were tracking a goal. If we needed a goal I stepped up and played as a second striker, but I would imagine that they maybe want to keep me in the position that I always play and learn to know the players at midfield. But yeah, personally I have absolutely no problem with it, I like to play there, but I would imagine I’ll stay in my midfield position to get everything right with the guys in midfield."

Meanwhile, the Galaxy hasn't had Beckham all season, so they're used to playing without him. But that doesn't mean it does disrupt things.

This from Bruce Arena (who I wrote about in today's paper): "It impacts us a little bit on the planning side and how we can build our roster throughout the year, the implications on the salary cap, the implications on the roster -- that's an impact. I think on the financial side, I believe it's viewed as a positive for the league with David returning in July. I know that when he returns and he's healthy he makes us a better team. Obviously, it's not a perfect situation for the team itself, having a player who's probably only going to be involved in 10 games this year."

Arena said Beckham will be back in time for the Galaxy's friendly against FC Barcelona on Aug. 1 ... and also for Seattle's visit to LA on Aug. 15.

The official announcement will come Monday, but apparently the new franchise that will join MLS next season will be called the Philadelphia Union.

This story in the Philadelphia Inquirer also shows the colors -- a none-too-original blue and gold -- and the crest -- cool enough with a hissing snake.

The news ends my dream that the new franchise might be known as Philadelphia PC; standing, of course, for Philadelphia Phootball Club.

The Sounders are off the practice pitch for another day. There were some questions today about the LA Galaxy, and I'll write about some of that over the next coupld of days leading up to the Sunday match.

But today most questions centered on the Sounders' Aug. 5 match against FC Barcelona.
I figured one good source might be Sounders' keeper Kasey Keller.

Here's part of what he had to say.

On FCB's standing in the world: "You have probably five, 10, of the biggest clubs in the world, and Barcelona is obviously one of those. They’re in the same breath as your Bayern Munichs, Real Madrids, Manchester Uniteds – top five. And right now they’re playing some of the most attractive football in the world. So that’s a pretty good combination.

On what game with Barca and Chelsea can mean for a first-year team: Sets the standard real high for the fans. But mostly it’s real cool. It shows the respect that our ownership group has, that our fan base has, that they can go out and secure those games. That’s obviously a very good thing. That doesn’t happen overnight. That’s something that takes time to organize and you have to have the right connects and the right people. It’s going to be fun.

On whether high-profile friendlies distract the Sounders from league play: No question. And it takes a lot of experience for people to take it for what it is. Obviously if somebody is a little bit banged up and they really want to play against Barcelona, well, what’s important is the Saturday. (The friendly) is something that’s cool and it gives everybody an opportunity to showcase their talent against some of the best, but you have to understand what it is. At the same time, it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve been fortunate: I’ve played against both of them a few times – Chelsea a bunch of times. It’ll be fun for a lot of guys who haven’t had that opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world.

Here's what coach Sigi Schmid had to say:

“Something like that is not a distraction from that standpoint, it’s just something that brings a smile to your face. When you think that you’re going to have an opportunity to play against Chelsea, you’re playing against Barcelona, two teams that all of the guys were watching play in the Champions League. For a lot of guys being able, today (Steve) Zakuani scored a very Thierry Henry type of goal in training, so we were joking around about that and saying ‘maybe you can exchange jerseys with him’. But it’s a great opportunity for this organization. It’s a great opportunity for the team. It’s a great opportunity for the fans in this city to be able to see a team like that up close. Just to digress a second, for me, I think I said it once to you guys. When I was seven years old I had the chance to watch Real Madrid play. And it was a memory that always stayed with me and I never forgot that day. So for the kids out there and the fans to be able to come into our stadium and watch Chelsea, to come in our stadium and watch Barcelona, it’s a day they’ll never forget.”

Finally, a little less enthusiasm from Freddie Ljungberg: "I’ve played against them lots of times before in real game. I know myself from Arsenal that when you play an exhibition game, it’s very different than playing a competition game. It’s more for the fans to see the players. But I think it’s great for the young players that have mostly seen them on TV to play against the players on the big teams. They’re going to be in the middle of preseason as well, so there will probably be a lot of substitutions and a lot of players that maybe regularly don’t play will play, but like I said, it’s a great opportunity for the people of Seattle to see those teams and the young players to play against them."

Here's the Sounders' release:

RENTON, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders FC will play FC Barcelona on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest
Field on Wednesday, August 5, the team announced today. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT).

Sounders FC season ticket holders have received tickets to the game as part of their 18-match
package, which also includes Chelsea and the MLS Cup.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 15th at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available at www.soundersfc.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

“We have stayed consistent with our commitment to provide value and an unparalleled fan experience for our season ticket holders who have supported us from day one,” said majority owner Joe Roth. “We are thrilled to include matches featuring two of the world’s most popular teams in Chelsea and FC Barcelona and the MLS Cup.”

FC Barcelona, whose heralded roster of international superstars currently includes Lionel Messi, Rafa Marquez, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta – who scored the goal that propelled Barca into the Champion’s League Final – will look to secure its third UEFA Champions League
crown on Wednesday, May 27 against Manchester United, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

FC Barcelona has more than 150,000 voting members. Barcelona inspired formation of the Sounders
FC Alliance, a supporters association which empowers members to have a vote in the club's
direction.

Here's our story from this morning's paper.

More details should come later today, when the official announcement of Barcelona's Aug. 5 visit is expected.

And then we should get some reaction from the Sounders around noon when they wrap today's training session.

However, there's no way to see this except as a towering home run for the franchise. They sold 18-game season ticket packages as 15 MLS games and three other games they'd put together later ... asking for something of a leap of faith by fans.

And now we know how they filled those three games: Barcelona, Chelsea, MLS Cup. Amazing.

Update: And now, here's the official release from MLS:

FC Barcelona, one of the world’s most popular and successful clubs – and the current UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey finalists – will return to the United States this summer for the second consecutive year. FC Barcelona will tour the west coast, taking on the LA Galaxy on Saturday, August 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (8 p.m.), and the Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday, August 5 at Qwest Field in Seattle (7:30 p.m.). There will be a third game to conclude the FCB Tour. Details are being finalized and will be announced shortly. The preseason tour was announced today by Major League Soccer (MLS) in conjunction with FC Barcelona and the MLS teams.

Tickets to see the Spanish giant, whose honors include 18 La Liga trophies, a record-setting 24 Copa del Rey championships and two UEFA Champions League titles, will go on sale to the general public in the coming weeks. Tickets will be available for purchase at www.Ticketmaster.com/mls, the MLS team websites and by calling 1-800-745-3000.

FC Barcelona, whose heralded roster of international superstars currently includes Lionel Messi, Rafa Marquez, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta – who scored the goal that propelled Barça into the Champion’s League final – will look to secure its third UEFA Champions League crown on Wednesday, May 27 against Manchester United, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

Barça is in the midst of one of their best campaigns in recent history, and in position to win all three of their major tournaments: Spain’s La Liga, UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey. After defeating Real Madrid 6-2 in La Liga’s Clasico this past weekend, FC Barcelona is at the top of its league’s standings with 85 points, within range of conquering their 19th domestic title. The club also advanced to the prestigious Copa del Rey final and will face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, May 13.

=> Read more!

I stopped by Curtis High School tonight, where the Tacoma Tide was practicing for its coming PDL season.

This season will be unlike any other, as the Tide suddenly has lots of company in the Northwest with new teams in Seattle, Bremerton, Portland and Victoria. That should make for some good rivalries and save on travel expenses, but it also could make it difficult for the Tide to find players capable of living up to the club's recent on-field successes.

In any case, they'll get a look at their rivals early: the season opens Wednesday at Starfire against the Seattle Wolves, then visit the Kitsap Pumas a couple of nights later, before playing their home opener against Cascade on May 17.

More info later, both in the paper and on this blog.

The Sounders have the day off, so I don't know if there will be any news coming out of SSFC today. So, here's some other reading material to pick up the slack:

Here's the Salt Lake Tribune's report on what it calls "one of the wildest finishes in MLS history," last night as the LA Galaxy -- the Sounders' next opponent -- pulled out a 2-2- draw with RSL.

Meanwhile, here's a story I did on Sigi Schmid and his dismissal from the LA Galaxy.

That paired today with a very nice Dave Boling column on Sounders defender Tyrone Marshall.

And finally, here's a follow-up on the referee controversy in yesterday's Barcelona-Chelsea match.

And here they are:

The Seattle Sounders FC will host the Colorado Rapids in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in match on Tuesday, May 26 at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Pre-sale tickets will be offered to season ticket holders before being made available to the general public on May 9 at 10 a.m. All tickets are general admission and priced at $15 for covered grandstand seating and $10 for uncovered bleacher seats. There will be limited seating capacity.

For information on Open Cup tickets please visit www.soundersfc.com and www.ticketmaster.com.

If Seattle defeats Colorado, it will advance to the Open Cup Round of 16. The other MLS play-in game features New York Red Bulls at D.C. United.

The top six Major League Soccer teams from 2008 qualified for the Open Cup, while Sounders FC and the other seven MLS teams must qualify to reach the tournament. Seattle defeated Real Salt Lake, 4-1, at Starfire on April 28 in its first play-in game.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world.

The LA Galaxy picked up a point on the road tonight with a 2-2 draw at Salt Lake.

Here's a recap from the MLS website.

LA is an odd 1-5-1 on the season, and hasn't lost in six games dating back to the season opener.

The Galaxy now has a quick turnaround, as they will be in Seattle on Sunday to meet the Sounders at Qwest Field.

This blog comment from JoePublic seemed worth a free-standing post on today's game:

We've had some interesting conversations about referee decisions on this blog, so I'm figuring people will have something to say about the two or seven in this game.

1: The Barcelona sendoff seemed a phantom to me -- in all the replays I couldn't see the defender make any contact at all with Anelka. But if it was a foul, it was definitely a last-man situation.

2: The Pique handling in the area -- not given -- sure looked like it could have been given for a penalty. The arm was straight out -- not in a natural position. But in fairness to Pique, he had his arm out there even before the Chelsea attacker played it into him.

3: The alleged handling at the end, the one the Chelsea players were so irate about, was definitely NOT handling -- especially not handling worthy of a penalty at that late stage of the game. The defender turned his back, had his arm in a natural position and it looked like the ball hit his shoulder more than anything else.

It is amazing though how a team so deep and talented like Barcelona can only play one way. They came at Chelsea with the same maddeningly patient buildup and possession. If only they would have had some other option than Dani Alves, who was terrible and really hurt them with wasted balls again and again. Chelsea just soaked it all up.

Great drama. Shocking behavior by the Chelsea players at the end. Controversial refereeing decisions. The play was not anything of beauty but man what an exciting game.

The Sounders are off the rainy practice pitch for another day without much news breaking.

I spoke to Peter Vagenas -- who was the only player expected not to be available this week -- and he said he might be available this week. And, of course, he'd love to return this weekend, since the Sounders are facing his old team: the LA Galaxy.

We also asked coach Sigi Schmid about the game against his one of his former teams -- and the only one that fired him -- but he gave the respectful, professional just-another-game-worth-three-points answer. Still, I'll prop that up into a full story for tomorrow's paper.

Meanwhile, things are probably a little more active with the Galaxy, who aren't yet focusing on Seattle, but instead on Real Salt Lake, who they visit tonight. Here's a preview of that one, from the MLS site.

Unfortunately, between the rain and the wind and interviews of players not involved with the reserve game, I wasn't able to watch very closely.

Roger Levesque scored twice, with the middle two goals coming from Jarrod Smith and Kevin Forrest.

Here's the lineup the Sounders went with: Chris Eylander, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl, Taylor Graham, Evan Brown, Stephen King, Patrick Ianni, Peter Vagenas (Kevin Forrest 46), Sanna Nyassi, Roger Levesque (Sebastien Le Toux 70), Jarrod Smith (Fredy Montero 60).

"Jarrod today got almost 60 minutes in," coach Sigi Schmid said. "So he's getting better and sharper. And he ended up scoring two goals in his last 10-15 minutes of the game when he was probably most fatigued. So I think he's getting sharper and stronger all the time."

However, Schmid wasn't yet ready to say whether Smith or any of the other players returning to health might see the pitch on Sunday.

"It's all a reflection of the game," he said. "We obviously came back fairly well in the second half and played alright. Some guys are fighting for chances to get on the field, but the guys on the field are not doing anything to relinquish their opportunity to stay on the field. So it's good that we got more guys healthy. It's good to see guys play in the reserve game. It's good to see Jarrod Smith step up and score a couple goals, and to get a little closer to being ready. We made a couple of changes on the 18 last week when we travelled, so that's probably something that we will look at again."

One change that will have to happen is someone filling in for Montero, who picked up a red card Saturday in Chicago. But Schmid wasn't ready to commit on that, either.

"There's different ways we an go," he said. "Certainly in Toronto, we played Freddie Ljungberg as the second forward and brought Brad Evans into the middle of the field, and Seba wide. So that's an option. There's an option of either Roger or Jarrod Smith stepping in up front. There's an option of Sebastien stepping in up front. So there's different ways that we can go. So we'll decide that this week."

As for the card itself, Schmid didn't seem that happy with anyone. He agreed that Montero threw his arm back, but he seemed to think Chicago's Gonzalo Segares milked it for more than it was worth and that the referee bit.

"Did (Montero) get his arm up? Was his elbow near Segares head? yes. There's no disputing that. But did he throw an elbow? I think when you watch it it becomes pretty obvious that didn't happen. For me the bigger concern right now is I think sometimes situations occur on the field that players embelish and overdramatize what happens."

Then Schmid went on into a pretty funny monologue about players milking fouls. More on that in the Wednesday paper.

I'll be talking Sounders on KJR 950 AM at 3:20 today with Dave "The Groz" Grosby.

(Or at least I think I am. I mean, I'm scheduled to be on today at 3:20 p.m. But I'm only assuming the topic will be Sounders. Now that I think about it, I've never been on with Groz for anything but UW football or UW basketball -- and he has always been a good friend of those blogs. But since they're out of season and MLS is very much in season, I'm sure we'll be talking soccer. I'm, uh, sure.)

In any case, you can also listen in online from the KJR website.

May 9: Washington Youth Soccer’s annual day-long celebration, SoccerPalooza, at the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center. SoccerPalooza is a free event featuring workshops, vendor booths and culminating with the awards dinner in the evening. Gary Wright, Sounders FC senior vice president for business operations, will deliver the dinner’s keynote address.

May 9:Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. for the MLS All-Star game vs. Everton. The game will be played July 29 in Sandy, Utah.

May 10: Prior to Sunday’s game will be the inaugural Sounders FC Mother’s Day Brunch at the Qwest Field Event Center. The brunch begins at 9:30 a.m., and tickets are required. Tony Ventrella will serve as emcee. General manager/minority owner Adrian Hanauer and his mother will also take part in the short program, which concludes at 10:45 a.m. Kickoff of LA-Sounders is noon.

May 11: Tickets for the Sounders FC-Chelsea match on July 18 will go on sale May 11 at 10 a.m. They will be available at 1-877-MLS-GOAL or www.SoundersFC.com.

May 26: The Sounders kick off against Colorado at 7 p.m. at Starfire, with the winner advancing to the U.S. Open Cup round of 16. This one comes just three days after the Sounders and Rapids meet in an MLS regular season game in Colorado.

July 4: The two-time defending champion USA will play a first-round match of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday, July 4, at Qwest Field. The U.S. will face Grenada at 6 p.m. in the second match of the Gold Cup double header. The first match will feature Haiti and Honduras at 4 p.m. Tickets are on sale at www.Ticketmaster.com, www.GoldCup.org and www.CopaOro.org.

July 11: Houston Dynamo visits Qwest Field ... and the next Sounders game for which tickets are available.

No Sounders practice or interviews today, but a few other issues from around the league:

In my last reference to the current MLS standings I referenced only the team above Seattle: Chivas USA. However, this week there's a new team directly in the rear-view mirror: Colorado. So I'm wondering what you make of the standings below the Sounders: Is the bigger threat Salt Lake or Colorado ... or someone else? Or is the West just going to play out as a team-team race?

Looking ahead, here's a link to the LA Galaxy website. And here's a feature on LA's early-season improvement, from the MLS site.

Here's an early overview from the Sounders:

Unbeaten in its last three games overall and owning the second-highest point total in MLS, the Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-1) returns to play before another sellout crowd for a Mother’s Day game on Sunday, May 10, against the Los Angeles Galaxy (1-1-4). Kickoff on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field is 12 noon PT.

The match will be aired live on KONG 6/16 and News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM. Kevin Calabro will call the action with analysis from Greg Vanney. The game will be aired nationally in Spanish on TeleFutura. It can also be heard locally on 1210 AM Ke Buena with Rene Aleman, Noe Menendez and Victor Hernandez.

Sounders FC is off to the best start by an MLS expansion team. It is 2-0-1 in its last three games overall, including last week’s 1-1 road draw at Chicago and a 4-1 home win over Real Salt Lake in a U.S. Open Cup play-in. Seattle’s four victories and 13 points are second only to Western Conference leader Chivas USA (6-1-1).

Los Angeles Galaxy is undefeated in its last five matches, and earned its first victory last Saturday, 1-0, over New York. The Galaxy is in sixth place in the West with seven points. It faces Real Salt Lake on Wednesday in Utah before traveling to Seattle for Sunday’s contest.

Seattle’s next five MLS home games through the June 28 game with Colorado are also sold out. There are tickets on sale for the other remaining home dates. To purchase, call 1-877-MLS-GOAL or visit www.SoundersFC.com.

As expected, DC United's Jamie Moreno won MLS player of the week honors.

Looking back, the Sounders have sounded appropriately pleased to have picked up a point in Chicago, especially coming from a goal down while a man down. But not surprisingly from the other side, the Fire wasn't satisfied with yet another draw.

Here are the new Major League Soccer standings, with another week of play behind us.

The Sounders have the second-highest point total in the league (13), but the highest -- Chivas -- is pulling away with 19.

Chicago remains the only team that hasn't lost, Columbus the only team that hasn't won, and Salt Lake the only team that hasn't tied.

We are at approximately the one-quarter mark through the season.

By noon Monday, I'm due to send in my MLS Player of the Week ballot. As always, I'm happy to hear any suggestions you might have.

Another thing I'd like to hear your thoughts on: How do the Sounders adjust their lineup Sunday with no Montero? I've got an idea, but I'd like to hear from you. And in any case, we'll need to wait until at least Tuesday to hear from Sigi Schmid -- and I don't expect a full answer even then -- because the Sounders are off Monday.

With no real Sounders news cooking, I'll have an MLS soccer column in the paper on Monday. The topic is the value of stars and superstars in the league.

Final: Seattle steals a point, getting outplayed through the first half, playing shorthanded through the second half, all on the road.

The TV guys picked Tyrone Marshall as the man of the match, and I'd second that.

Seattle moves to 4-2-1 on the season. Chicago remains undefeated, but draws for the fourth straight game and fifth of the season.

(Btw, I asked Sigi Schmid this week if there is anything in a team's personnel or style that might lead to that many draws. He didn't think so: “Sometimes it just happens. You get into games where you draw. Obviously they were disappointed when they had the draw with Kansas City, because they were leading two-nothing and they were ecstatic when they drew in Columbus because they were down two-nothing. So there’s good draws. There’s bad draws. We would’ve probably taken a draw out of the Kansas City game if we could’ve, but it didn’t happen that way. So it’s a situation that just happens sometimes in games. I wouldn’t say that a team plays to try to get to a draw. I don’t think that’s Chicago’s style.”)

Here are the basics:

Seattle Sounders FC (4-2-1) vs. Chicago Fire (2-0-5)
May 02, 2009 – Bridgeview, Ill. (Toyota Park)

Scoring Summary:
CHI -- Marco Pappa 3 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 3) 68
SEA -- Tyrone Marshall 1 (Freddie Ljungberg 1) 74

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Nathan Sturgis, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Freddie Ljungberg (Stephen King 81), Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 56), Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua.

Substitutes Not Used: Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Patrick Ianni, Sanna Nyassi, Zach Scott

Chicago Fire -- Jon Busch, Tim Ward, Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares (Brandon Prideaux 71), John Thorrington (Chris Rolfe 66), Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Logan Pause, Marco Pappa (Mike Banner 82), Brian McBride, Patrick Nyarko.

Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Dykstra, Baggio Husidic, Dasan Robinson, Austin Washington

Total Shots: SEA 4, CHI 15
Shots on Goal: SEA 1, CHI 5
Fouls: SEA 9, CHI 8
Corner kicks: SEA 3, CHI 7
Saves: SEA 4 (Kasey Keller 4), CHI 0 (Jon Busch 0)

Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Tyrone Marshall (caution; Reckless Tackle) 1
SEA -- Fredy Montero (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 48
CHI -- Bakary Soumare (caution; Goalkeeper Interference) 55
SEA -- James Riley (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 95+
CHI -- Chris Rolfe (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 95+

Referee: Jasen Anno
Referee's Assistants: Sean Hurd; Peter Manikowski
4th official: Michael Kennedy time of game: 1:52
Attendance: 10,288
Weather: Clear -and- 60 degrees

Here's some reaction:

Seattle Head Coach Sigi Schmidt:
On playing against the Fire: In the first half they were the better team. We were having trouble matching up and we got drawn over into different spaces, but credit to them they did a good job.

On the game: We have to play them better next time we face them. We’re fortunate to get a point, but we showed a lot of character, too. Going down 1-0, with a man down and getting a goal off our first corner kick goal of the year is huge for us.

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller:
On the game: I thought Chicago was the better team in the first half, and we rode our luck a little in the first half. At the half we sorted out our issues, but the red card changed everything.

On earning the point: Credit to everybody that they continued to battle, got the corner kick, scored on it and we just closed up shop. It’s a great point for us and one we’re very happy about. It’s just nice that we fought back and got a point. You go a man down, you go a goal down and to come back and get something out of it is tremendous. Anytime you can do that you have to be proud.

Tyron Marshall:
On his first goal since 2007: "It was a long time coming. I knew coming over here I’d have the opportunity to be involved on set plays. We’ve scored every way, except a set piece so far this season. We really wanted to get goal and it came at the right time tonight."

On the game: I thought we played well with ten men and for the first 65 minutes. They scored on a good goal and hats off to them. After the last time we went a man down coach said, ‘I don’t want anyone quit out there, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1-0, 0-0 you just keep going until the whistle blows.’ We kept plugging and we got the corner kick.

Chicago Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett:
On the game: They had one chance on goal and they scored, it wasn’t like we were on our heels we just need to stop giving up easy goals. Those easy goals are killing us. We’re playing good soccer, we’re attacking and now the onus is on us. We can’t give up ten goals in seven games. We’ve played well, created chances, and have just given up too many goals.

Fire forward Brian McBride
On thefgame: “Everyone put in a lot of effort. We had a lot of possession; they got their goal on a corner kick, but they didn’t have much other than that. [Marco] Pappa took his goal very well. We have to start winning games. We can’t have these ties, especially in a game like that.”

Fire midfielder Marco Pappa
On his goal: “Seattle lost concentration during the play and it was a nice pass from Cuauhtémoc. I’m glad that I could help my team with the goal but we have to continue to work hard through the week to get three points instead of one, especially at home in front of our fans.”

How'd you see it?

=> Read more!

Here's my game preview from this morning. Here's one from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Weather doesn't seem like it will be a factor.

By the way, I also received a note from some Sounders fans who will be watching the game from O'Henrys sports bar in Puyallup, and they invite anyone 21 or older to join them. Contact Joel Mailand for more information: jmail13789@yahoo.com.
O'Henry's is located at 715 River Road in Puyallup.

Meanwhile, I'll be watching from home and will keep the blog open for comments. I'll also pop in with some halftime and postgame observations. Hope you will too.

Meanwhile, some other interesting games dot the league schedule today.

There's New York at Los Angeles, featuring the two big-media-market teams that could probably help MLS by fielding decent teams ... but alas.

There's Columbus at Toronto, which could be as interesting off the pitch as on. You may recall that there was a parking lot incident with helicopters and mace and arrests in the earlier game when Reds fans traveled to Columbus.

And then there's that other scoreboard that Sounders FC fans will be watching as West-leading Chivas visits San Jose.

That's kind of the point of my story for the Saturday paper: That these Sounders might actually have more of a rivalry with the ghosts of the 1998 Chicago Fire than they do with the current team they'll be playing at Toyota Field.

1998 was Chicago's first season in the league, and the Fire achieved MLS immortality by immediately winning the Supporters Shield and the MLS Cup. So whenever anyone mentions these Sounders' so-far successful expansion season, that success is largely weighed against the standard set by that 1998 team from Chicago.

However, that question may never be settled. What is upon us is the Saturday game. And that one has its own interests.

Most of all, what to make of the Fire? They seem to be a pair of superstars surrounded by a hive of worker bees. And what to make of that 2-0-4 record: Are they to be praised as MLS' only unbeaten team, or dismissed as a side that hasn't won in almost a month?

A quick look ahead:

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-2-0; 12 pts.)
AT CHICAGO FIRE (2-0-4; 10 pts.)
5:30 p.m. Saturday, Toyota Park (20,000/120x75/grass), Bridgeview, Ill.
TV: KONG 6/16.
Radio: 97.3 FM, and in Spanish on 1210 AM.
Head to head: This is the first meeting. The Fire will visit Seattle on July 25.
Statistical leaders: For Seattle, G: 3 Fredy Montero; A: 3 Osvaldo Alonso; SH: 18 Montero; SOG: 6 Montero. For Chicago, G: 5 Brian McBride; A: 2 three players tied; SH: 18 Marco Pappa; SOG: 19 McBride.
Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “(Forward Brian) McBride is a quality experienced center forward. (Forward/midfielder Cuauhtemoc) Blanco is a difficult guy because he doesn’t really play a set position -- he’s all over the place, so he’s hard to pick up. And the other eight guys work their rear ends off. They’re a good, hard-working team that has had a full year together pretty much as a group and they know their roles.”
Notes: Freddie Ljungberg practiced with his teammates Friday and joined them on their early afternoon flight to Chicago. He had been excused over the past week so that he could attend his grandmother’s funeral in Sweden. ... Chicago has played to three consecutive draws but remains the only unbeaten team in MLS. … The Fire has scored the most goals in MLS (12), while the Sounders have allowed the fewest (three). Kasey Keller hasn’t allowed a goal over the 389 minutes he has played this season. The Fire has allowed seven goals over its last three games. … This game pairs the first two players of the month of this MLS season: Montero won the award in March, McBride in April. McBride also leads the MLS Golden Boot standings with five goals, including three over his last two games. … Chicago returns 21 of the 24 players from their 13-10-7 team of last season, including MLS Best XI selections Blanco, Bakary Soumare and goalkeeper of the year Jon Busch. … Both teams played mid-week non-league games. Seattle beat Real Salt Lake in a U.S. Open Cup play Tuesday, while Chicago lost 2-1 in a friendly against Club America. … This is the first of three road games over the next four matches for Seattle.
Next: Noon May 10, Los Angeles Galaxy, Qwest Field; KONG 6/16. Sold out.

The Sounders won the coin flip and therefore will host their next U.S. Open Cup match against the Colorado Rapids.

The game will be played at Starfire. The game is expected to be played in late May. The official announcement of the date and of ticket information could come next week.

The Sounders-Rapids winner will advance into the Open Cup round of 16.

At that point, this U.S. Open Cup timetable kicks in.