League-leading Seattle Sounders FC returns to MLS action next Monday night against Western Conference rivals LA Galaxy. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

The match was originally scheduled for July 26 but has been moved to Monday, July 28. All tickets and parking passes issued for the original date will be honored.

Monday’s match will be nationally televised on ESPN2, and can be heard on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1490 AM.

Sounders FC (12-4-2, 38 points) has held the top spot in MLS since mid-April, largely due to its stellar home record. Seattle has posted a league-best six straight home wins dating back to April 26, outscoring opponents 15-3. The Sounders FC defense has allowed the fewest home goals (7) in MLS and has kept the opposition scoreless in the past 344 minutes of action at CenturyLink Field.

With its recent eight-game (5-0-3) unbeaten streak snapped at Kansas City on Saturday, the LA Galaxy (7-4-6, 27 points) look to regain its road form after earning just two wins in its first nine away outings. Los Angeles boasts the third-best goals against average (0.94) while posting just four shutouts through 17 games.

The Galaxy lead the regular season series at 5-3-4, and hold a 3-1-0 advantage in postseason play. Winless in the past four contests (0-2-2) against Los Angeles, Seattle will look to take the advantage in the home series, which is currently level at 2-2-2. In the last three home games against the Galaxy, Sounders FC has earned two wins with one draw, scoring seven goals while allowing one.

Monday’s match marks the first of three meetings this season between the two sides. The series will resume in the final two weeks of the season as Seattle visits Los Angeles on October 19 before concluding the regular season against the Galaxy at home on October 25.

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).

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)

July 28, 7:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. LA Galaxy, CenturyLink Field

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

Date Change Reminder: Sounders FC to Host LA Galaxy on July 28

Seattle Sounders FC will host the LA Galaxy on Monday, July 28 at 7 p.m. PT. The match was originally scheduled for July 26, and was moved in order to accommodate city-wide events and the national television schedule. All tickets and parking passes issued for the original date will be honored.

Sounders Streaking at CenturyLink

Seattle is riding a strong run of form at home over the past three months, winning its past six home outings by a combined score of 15-3. The run began on April 26 with a 4-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, and continued with victories over Philadelphia, Dallas, San Jose, Salt Lake and Portland. The six-game home winning streak is the longest in MLS this season, and the team’s seven home wins matches FC Dallas for the most in the league. Seattle has amassed the second-most home points (21), leading the league with an average of 2.33 points per game. Seattle’s six-game run has also tied the club record for most consecutive home wins, matching last season’s streak from July 28–September 13.

Home Winning Streak Leaders – 2014

Team Wins Start Stop Sounders FC 6 April 26 New England 4 April 12 May 24 5 Times 3 N/A N/A

344 Minutes and Counting

Seattle’s home success is largely a result of a stingy defense. The team has posted three consecutive shutouts at CenturyLink Field, keeping the opposition scoreless for the past 344 minutes. With a penalty kick allowed against Dallas and an own goal conceded against Philadelphia, the last time the opposition scored from the run of play at CenturyLink Field was on April 46, totaling 478 minutes. Sounders FC has allowed the fewest goals (7) at home this season, and holds the best home goal differential (+11) in MLS.

First in the Supporters’ Shield Race

Sounders FC remained atop the Supporters’ Shield standings for a club record 10th consecutive week, sitting seven points ahead of D.C. United and Real Salt Lake. Sounders FC first gained the top spot on April 26, and is guaranteed to hold its position through the weekend’s action. Seattle has also won the most games (12) and scored the most goals (35) in MLS, and is the lone team to average over two points per game (2.11) this season.

The League’s Elite

The two most successful teams in MLS over the past six years will face off Monday night at CenturyLink Field. Since Sounders FC joined MLS in 2009, LA is the only team to earn more points and wins than Sigi Schmid’s club, with the two teams’ records nearly mirroring each other. The two teams are separated by just four points, one win, five goals scored, and .011 winning percentage.

Team Points W-L-D PCT. Goals LA Galaxy 308 87-45-46 .617 266 Sounders FC 304 86-48-46 .606 261

Busy Days Ahead

Faced with a congested schedule, Sounders FC readies for a busy month that features eight games in 34 days. Five of the eight matches will be played at home, including the U.S. Open Cup fixture against the Chicago Fire at Starfire Stadium. The remaining three matches will be short-distance trips with visits to San Jose, Salt Lake and Portland. Six of the seven league matches will be played against Western Conference opponents as the Houston Dynamo are the lone team from the East. Of the seven opponents, just three (LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids) currently hold a playoff spot. By the end of August, Sounders FC will have just nine remaining league matches, including eight contests against the Western Conference.

At the Helm

Tonight’s match features the top two coaches in MLS history as Seattle skipper Sigi Schmid faces off against Galaxy head man Bruce Arena. On the verge of his 200th regular season victory, Schmid sits atop the record books with 199 wins. His overall record is 199-134-103, and his teams have gone 23-14-6 in postseason play. In 18 all-time games against the Galaxy, Schmid has guided his teams to a record of 6-6-6. At 166 regular season wins, Arena sits second in the record books behind Schmid, and leads all coaches with 27 postseason victories.

Aside from being the winningest coaches in league history, Schmid and Arena share other unique connections. Schmid began his MLS coaching career with Los Angeles in 1999, serving as head coach of the Galaxy for six seasons (1999-2004). Schmid won four major competitions, including the 2002 MLS Cup, and he was voted MLS Coach of the Year in his first season. Schmid also spent two decades in the Los Angeles area coaching at UCLA, where he won three College Cups. Arena served as coach for the University of Puget Sound in 1976 and previously played for the Tacoma Tides of the American Soccer League. As the U.S. Men’s National Team coach, he returned to Seattle to coach four games between 2002-05.

All-Time MLS Coaching Leaders

Coach Team* W-L-D PCT. PTS. Sigi Schmid Seattle 199-134-103 .575 698 Bruce Arena Los Angeles 166-101-60 .599 534 Dominic Kinnear Houston 133-98-105 .522 523 Bob Bradley Chivas USA 124-94-54 .555 416 Frank Yallop Chicago 120-111-95 .514 455

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MLS All-Star 2014

A league-high five Sounders FC players have been named to the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, including three players selected to the Fan XI. Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and DeAndre Yedlin were all voted to the Fan XI for the August 6 exhibition against Bayern Munich at Portland’s Providence Park, while Chad Marshall and Osvaldo Alonso were named to the roster by Coach Caleb Porter.

It marks the four career All-Star appearance for Alonso (2011-13), third for Demspey (2005, 2006) and Marshall (2009, 2010), and second for Yedlin, who was selected as the Commissioner’s pick as a rookie last season. Martins makes his first All-Star appearance after winning the AT&T/EA SPORTS MLS All-Star ‘More than a Vote’ Challenge, where goals scored by players on FIFA 15 counted as votes.

The five selections this season are the most in franchise history for Seattle, besting the four named in 2009. Sounders FC have now had multiple All-Stars in each of its six years of existence.

Dempsey, Yedlin Named Grand Marshals of the 2014 Seafair Torchlight Parade

Seattle Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey and defender DeAndre Yedlin have been named Grand Marshals of the 2014 Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade. The Torchlight Parade will take place on Saturday, July 26, beginning near the Seattle Center and continuing down Fourth Ave. Fans can expect to see an array of festivities including live bands, high-energy drill and dance teams, floats, marching bands, the scurvy Seafair Pirates, Seafair Clowns, gigantic character balloons, local celebrities and more. The parade is one of the most iconic events of the summer, drawing over 150,000 spectators to downtown Seattle.

Series Notes

The Galaxy lead the all-time regular season series with Seattle at 5-3-4 with a 16-12 goal advantage. Sounders FC is winless in the past four matchups with LA (0-2-2), but is unbeaten in the past three at CenturyLink Field (2-0-1). Including playoffs, Monday’s match marks the 17th all-time meeting between the two sides, matching Salt Lake for the most MLS games against a single opponent in Sounders FC history. Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan lead the series with four goals and four assists, respectively.

About Los Angeles

Los Angeles is currently in a three-way tie for fourth in the Western Conference with 27 points (7-4-6), but ranks third in MLS with a plus-10 goal differential (26-16). The Galaxy most recently lost, 2-1, to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, ending an eight-match unbeaten streak (5-0-3), including a 5-1 victory over the New England Revolution last week. The Galaxy have been solid away from home, accumulating a 2-3-4 record with a 10-9 goal advantage. The LA squad ranks in the top 10 in MLS in shots (7th) and shots on goal (9th), despite playing a league-low 17 matches in 2014.

Galaxy Notables

Bruce Arena’s club is led by Robbie Keane, who leads the team with 10 goals and six assists, including three goals and two assists in the last two games. The Irish international has 44 goals and 27 assists in 71 appearances since joining the league in 2011. MLS and USMNT all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan has three goals and four assists on the season, but has recorded just one point sinceJune 1. Gyasi Zardes, a 22-year-old Homegrown Player, is second on the club with six goals this season and netted a brace against New England on July 16. Midfield stalwart Juninho has appeared in all 17 games for the Galaxy in 2014, bringing him to 136 appearances for LA since 2010. Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo

SEA-LA Connections

Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid coached the Galaxy from 1999-2004, compiling a 79-53-32 record and winning the 2002 MLS Cup Championship. Forward Chad Barrett scored eight goals and eight assists in 45 appearances for the Galaxy from 2011-12. Tristan Bowen began his career with the Galaxy after becoming the first MLS Homegrown signing in 2009. He made 18 appearances, scoring two goals and two assists over two seasons. Galaxy defender James Riley was part of the inaugural MLS side for Seattle and made 84 appearances from 2009-11. Assistant Coach Pat Noonan played for Sounders FC in 2010 and 2011, appearing in 21 games.