Sounders FC Kicks Off Busy August Schedule

Leaders in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, Seattle Sounders FC looks to bounce back from a rare home defeat with a visit to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. The match will be the first-ever event held at Levi’s® Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT.

Saturday’s match will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network with John Strong and Stuart Holden calling the action. The match can also be heard on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM with Ross Fletcher and Kasey Keller on the call, and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1490 AM with Rene Aleman and Noe Menendez.

Sounders FC (12-5-2, 38 points) kept its spot atop the Supporters’ Shield standings despite a 3-nil home loss to the LA Galaxy on Monday. Seattle remains the lone team to average two or more points per game this season, and continue to lead the league with 35 goals scored.

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San Jose (5-8-5, 20 points) sits in last place in the Western Conference, but has earned four of its five wins at home. However, the Earthquakes are unbeaten in their last two matches, including a 5-1 win over Chicago on July 23.

This marks the second of three meetings this season between the two Western Conference rivals. Seattle won, 1-0, back on May 17, and the series will conclude on August 20 at CenturyLink Field.

Saturday’s match kicks off a busy month of August for Sounders FC, including six regular season matches, the U.S. Open Cup semifinal and MLS All-Star game. Seattle has dropped just two August matches over the past four seasons, and holds a plus-18 goal differential (37-19).

Tickets for Sounders FC home matches are available now at www.SoundersFC.com and 1-877-MLS-GOAL. The 4-Match ticket package is also available now with expanded seating to include the upper bowl at CenturyLink Field.

Competition Schedule (All times Pacific; subject to change)

August 2, 7:30 p.m. – Sounders FC at San Jose Earthquakes, Levi’s Stadium

August 10, 7:30 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Houston Dynamo, CenturyLink Field

August 13, 7:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Chicago Fire, Starfire Stadium

August 16, 11:30 a.m. – Sounders FC at Real Salt Lake, Rio Tinto Stadium

August 20, 7:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes, CenturyLink Field

August 24, 2:00 p.m. – Sounders FC at Portland Timbers, Providence Park

August 30, 1:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Colorado Rapids, CenturyLink Field

Sounders Remain First in MLS

Despite dropping its first home game since March, Sounders FC remained first in the Supporters’ Shield race. Seattle and Kansas City are tied with 38 points, with Seattle holding the overall wins (12) tiebreaker with two games in hand. Sounders FC first gained the top spot on April 26, now sitting atop the standings for a club record 12 straight weeks. Seattle is guaranteed to remain first in the Western Conference through the weekend’s action, holding a six point lead over second-place Real Salt Lake.

Supporters’ Shield Standings

Team Points GP PPG Record GD (GF/GA) Sounders FC 38 19 2.00 12-5-2 8 (35/27) Kansas City 38 21 1.81 11-5-5 12 (31/19) D.C. United 34 19 1.79 10-5-4 9 (29/20) Salt Lake 32 20 1.60 8-4-8 5 (31/26) Los Angeles 30 18 1.67 8-4-6 13 (29/16)

Bouncing Back

Sounders FC enters Saturday’s match looking to bounce back from last Monday’s defeat to the LA Galaxy. Seattle has not lost back-to-back games in the 2014 season, going 3-0-1 following the four previous losses. In the team’s last defeat by a margin of three or more goals (5-0 at New England, May 11), Sounders FC went on a five-game (4-0-1) unbeaten run, outscoring opponents 11-4.

August Record

With seven matches scheduled over the next four weeks, Seattle will look to continue its trend of performing well over the month of August. Overall, Sounders FC has gone 13-5-4 in August, outscoring opponents 37-19. Seattle has dropped just one August match in each of the past two seasons, and went unbeaten during the month in 2010 and 2011. Last season, Sounders FC won a club record four games in August. The six games scheduled this month matches the club record for most games in August. Seattle also played six MLS matches in May, going 4-1-1. With 151 points (44-22-19) earned from July 1 through the end of the season since 2009, Sounders FC sits second behind the LA Galaxy (161 points).

Winning at San Jose

Winless in its past four visits (0-3-1) to San Jose, Sounders FC enters Saturday’s match in search of its first road win in the series since 2010. Seattle has gone 1-4-1 in six all-time games at San Jose in regular season play, with the lone 1-0 win on July 31, 2010. The team also met in U.S. Open Cup play at Kezar Stadium in 2012, with Seattle advancing to the semifinals, 1-0. Overall, the home team has won eight of the 14 all-time meetings, including four straight wins.

U.S. Teammates Reunite

Clint Dempsey, DeAndre Yedlin and Chris Wondolowski will face off for the first time since helping the United States reach the Round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup. All three players saw action in Brazil, with Dempsey scoring twice in group play. Seattle midfielder Brad Evans and San Jose defender Clarence Goodson were also named to the 30-player preliminary roster.

About San Jose

San Jose currently sits ninth in the Western Conference, 10 points out of a playoff position. Following a four-game losing skid from June 7 to July 12, the Quakes are unbeaten in the past two outings, including a 5-1 win over the Chicago Fire on July 23. In 11 home games this season, San Jose has posted a record of 4-4-3, holding a 17-12 scoring advantage.

Earthquakes Notables

Forward Chris Wondolowski leads the Earthquakes attack with seven goals and one assist in 12 appearances this season. In his 11 games against Sounders FC, he has tallied six goals, including four game-winners. Newcomer Yannick Djalo earned MLS Player of the Week honors after recording a goal and two assists against Chicago. Djalo joined San Jose on March 10 on loan from Portugal’s Benfica and has scored two goals with two assists in 12 appearances. Forward Atiba Harris ranks second on the team with three goals, and three other players (Khari Stephenson, Cordell Cato and Victor Bernardez) have all scored twice. Goalkeeper Jon Busch has started all 18 matches, posting a goals against average of 1.11 with four shutouts.

SEA-SJ Connections

Seattle’s Brad Evans and Chad Marshall played with San Jose’s Steven Lenhart on Sigi Schmid’s 2008 Columbus Crew team. Marshall was also teammates with Shaun Francis with the Crew from 2010-12. Kenny Cooper played with Clarence Goodson in Dallas from 2006-07. Cooper was also teammates with Atiba Harris in 2009 and Brandon Barklage in 2012. Chad Barrett and Quakes goalkeeper Jon Busch were teammates at Chicago in 2007-08, and Marco Pappa also played with Busch from 2008-09. Forward Mike Fucito played for Sounders FC from 2009-11, scoring three goals in 23 appearances. Forward Cordell Cato made eight appearances for Seattle in 2012, and scored the game-winner against San Jose in the 2012 U.S. Open Cup. Goalkeeper Bryan Meredith played for Seattle from 2011-12. Rookies Aaron Kovar and JJ Koval were teammates at Stanford from 2012-13.

Throw-ins

Sitting at 199 regular season victories, Seattle’s Sigi Schmid is looking to become the first coach in MLS history to win 200 games. His .722 winning percentage in 2014 is the best of his 15-year professional career, topping his 2008 MLS Cup winning Columbus Crew side (.667).

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