I wrote about this earlier in the week, but here's a reminder that the soccer gets going early Saturday, with a pair of fund-raising games that you don't need Sounders tickets to watch.

Here's the official release:

Anywhere the game is played in the Puget Sound area you’re sure to spot the Rave Green jersey of the Seattle Sounders FC. On Microsoft’s Redmond campus, it’s a similar story where employees purchase their green kits directly from the Microsoft Company Store and utilize the company’s playfields as a part the Microsoft Soccer League.

On Saturday, June 13 Microsoft puts forward their league all-star team who will step onto Qwest Field’s Xbox Pitch alongside similarly-assembled, soccer teams from Boeing, Expedia and Starbucks for a day of corporate networking, philanthropy, spirited competition and fun.

The event is open to the public and a suggested $5 donation will be collected at the gates. All proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska, which provides a “home-away-from-home” for seriously ill children and their families.

WHEN: Saturday, June 13, 2009
WHERE: Qwest Field – Xbox Pitch, Seattle, WA
WHAT: 10:30 AM – Gates open for charity matches 11:00 AM – Boeing vs. Microsoft 1:00 PM – Starbucks vs. Expedia 3:30 PM – All charity match attendees and players exit Qwest 6:00 PM – Gates open for Sounders FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes (match ticket required)

History
The Boeing vs. Microsoft pre-Sounders matches started in 1997 and throughout the years have moved along with the USL Sounders to Renton, Seattle’s Memorial Stadium, Starfire Stadium and Qwest Field. In 2008 the Puget Sound Corporate Soccer Challenge formalized to expand the scope of the event to include more Northwest corporations and make it a philanthropic effort. In 2009, the event continues in coordination with the MLS Seattle Sounders FC.

Here's the website.

Here's a quick early look at the game:

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (2-7-3; 9 pts.)
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-3-5; 17 pts.)
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Qwest Field.
TV: KING 5.
Radio: 97.3 FM (in Spanish on 1210 AM).

Head to head: The Sounders won the inaugural meeting, 2-0, on April 25 in Seattle. Steve Zakuani and Brad Evans scored for Seattle, while Kasey Keller got the shutout. Seattle will visit San Jose on Aug. 2.

Team leaders: For San Jose, G 5 Ryan Johnson; A 4 Chris Leitch; Sh 28 Arturo Alvarez; SOG 19 Johnson. For Seattle, G 4 Fredy Montero; A 4 Nate Jaqua; Sh 33 Montero; SOG 9 Montero.

Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “They’re a team that obviously hasn’t done nearly as well as they’d hoped to do. They’re a team that can play pretty loose and sort of throw everything out there and say, ‘Hey we’re just going to go for it. We’re trying to win games. We’re trying to get points.’ And the longer a team like that hangs around, the more dangerous they become.”

Notes: The Quakes rank last in the MLS Western Conference and tied for last in the league. They allow a league-high two-goal-per-game average. … San Jose shook up its roster this week, trading Kent-native Cam Weaver to Houston for forward Chris Wondolowski and sending defender Nick Garcia to Toronto for a draft pick. … The Sounders have won once over their last nine games, and that win was against San Jose. The Earthquakes have one once in their last 10, however they are 1-0-2 over their last three games. … Alvarez has scored goals in back-to-back games. … Sounders midfielder Jaqua is out due to red-card suspension and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is out due to yellow-card accumulation. Defender Tyrone Marshall returns from red-card suspension. Midfielder Peter Vagenas (ankle) and midfielder Osvaldo Alonso (quad) aren’t expected to start. … Keller is second in MLS with a 0.68 goals-against average and third with a 77.8 saves percentage. … Defender James Riley came to the Sounders from San Jose in the expansion draft. … This will be the first of two games played for the Heritage Cup, marking these teams’ distinction as the only MLS sides playing under their historic names from the North American Soccer League. … The game is sold out.

Next: D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Qwest Field; sold out; ESPN2.

After the Sounder concluded practie today, coach Sigi Schmid seems to be leaning toward not starting midfielder Osvaldo Alonso tomorrow when San Jose visits Qwest Field.

"We've got three games coming up," Schmid said. "We've got this game and the one on Wednesday and then the one in New York. What's important right now is when he's playing -- when I watch him play -- he's very comfortable playing short passes, etc., but he still hesitates to hit a long ball with his right foot at this stage. He hits them at the end of practice in a controlled setting. So until I think he's 100 percent comfortable hitting that ball with his right foot we're probably not going to start him, but he'll be on the bench and be available to us."

Schmid indicated that Tyrone Marshall and Patrick Ianni would likely form the defensive middle tomorrow. (Ianni was the subject of my story in today's paper.)

"I thought Patrick played all right pretty much (against Chivas)," Schmid said. "The breakdown on the goal, him and a couple of other guys were involved in that aspect of it. Tyrone and Patrick should be a good combination in the back. They both play well and deservce to be in there. We've got to make sure we play to zero again in the back -- I think that's important. But the most important thing for us is to finish the chances we create, because I think we created chances against Chivas and we created chances in the game before against Columbus, but we didn't finish them. We need to finish more of our chances."