Cascadia Cup Continues at Vancouver on Saturday

Riding a dominant run of form and sitting atop the league table, Seattle Sounders FC continues Cascadia Cup play against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT at BC Place.

Saturday’s match will be televised locally on JOEtv (KZJO, channel 22/cable 10) and regionally on ROOT Sports with Fletcher and Taylor Graham on the call, and can be heard on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM. The match will also be televised live in Spanish on THIS-TV (KOMO2), and Spanish radio is available on ESPN Deportes 1490 AM.

Sounders FC (11-3-2, 35 points) leads the Supporters’ Shield race by 10 points, winning nine of its past 11 outings. Seattle earned its league-best fifth road win of the season last Saturday, a 1-nil victory at D.C. United, and will look to extend its three-game (2-0-1) unbeaten streak away from home in Vancouver.

Forward Chad Barrett scored his fourth goal of the season against D.C. United while goalkeeper Stefan Frei recorded his fifth shutout. Seattle will regain the services of Obafemi Martins this Saturday as the striker returns from a one-game suspension, though the central midfield pairing of Osvaldo Alonso and Gonzalo Pineda will miss the match due to yellow card accumulation.

Saturday’s match kicks off a five-match month of July, including four straight home matches. Sounders FC has historically performed well over the summer months, earning the second-most points in MLS from July 1 through the end of the regular season.

Whitecaps FC (5-3-7, 22 points) sits fifth in the Western Conference after its eight-game unbeaten streak was snapped with a 2-nil loss at the Colorado Rapids last Saturday. Vancouver has gone 3-1-3 at BC Place this season, and is unbeaten in its past four home contests (1-0-3), dating back to April 5.

Seattle and Vancouver soccer teams have been battling for Pacific Northwest supremacy since the first-ever NASL meeting in 1974. Seattle leads the series at 63-48-22, as Saturday’s match will mark the 134th all-time meeting.

Following the game in Vancouver, Sounders FC will return to Seattle for a pair of matches against the Portland Timbers. The two rivals will first meet in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal on July 9 at Starfire Stadium as Sounders FC looks to capture its fourth championship. Four days later, the sides will meet again in a full-stadium match on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

The Seattle reserve team will host FC Edmonton (NASL) on July 6. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. PT at Starfire Sports field 12.

Tickets for Sounders FC home matches, including the Tottenham Hotspur friendly, are available now at SoundersFC.com and 1-877-MLS-GOAL. The 5-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 5, 7:00 p.m. – Sounders FC at Vancouver Whitecaps FC, BC Place

July 9, 7:30 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers, Starfire Stadium

July 13, 7:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers, CenturyLink Field

July 19, 1:00 p.m. – Sounders FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur, CenturyLink Field

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

Top of the Table

Sounders FC extended its lead atop the Supporters’ Shield standings to 10 points with a 1-0 win at D.C. United last Saturday. Seattle has held the top spot for a club record nine consecutive weeks, first gaining the No. 1 positioning on April 26. With a 10-point lead on the opposition, Sounders FC is guaranteed to remain first in the standings through the weekend. The team’s average of 2.19 points per game bests the LA Galaxy’s record-setting pace of 2.13 points per game during the 1998 season. Seattle’s 10 wins are four more than any other MLS side and the team’s 33 goals bests its competitors by five goals.

At the Midway Mark

Saturday’s match at Vancouver will mark the midway point of the season for Sounders FC. Seattle has posted the best record through 16 games in club history, winning four more games and earning 10 more points than the previous top marks. The impressive record has been spurred by the recent run of form as Sounders FC has won nine of its past 11 outings (9-1-1). There have been seven times in league history when a team has lead its conference by 10 or more points at the halfway point, with the 2006 D.C. United team the last to accomplish the feat.

Year Record after 16 games Record after 17 games 2009 6-3-7 (25 pts.) 7-3-7 (28 pts.) 2010 4-8-4 (16 pts.) 5-8-4 (19 pts.) 2011 5-4-7 (22 pts.) 6-4-7 (25 pts.) 2012 7-5-4 (25 pts.) 7-5-5 (26 pts.) 2013 7-6-3 (24 pts.) 7-7-3 (24 pts.) 2014 11-3-2 (35 pts.) N/A

A Look Ahead

Sounders FC will play five matches in the month of July, including three league contests, the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal and an international friendly against Tottenham Hotspur. Saturday’s match at Vancouver is the lone road contest of the month and will kick off a string of three straight games against Cascadia rivals. Following the Vancouver derby, Sounders FC will host the Portland Timbers twice in four days, beginning with the July 9 Open Cup match at Starfire and concluding with the July 13 full-stadium match at CenturyLink Field. The team will then host Tottenham Hotspur on July 19 before closing the month with a Monday night bout with the LA Galaxy onJuly 28.

Road Trip Concludes

Seattle’s string of three straight road games will conclude on Saturday in Vancouver. Sounders FC won the previous two outings, and a win at Vancouver would mark the first time in club history that the team has won every game of a three-match road stretch. Seattle has played three consecutive games on the road five times in club history, going unbeaten on two occasions. With 17 points away from home this season, Sounders FC is the top road team in MLS, leading the second-place Real Salt Lake by four points. Seattle has also scored the most road goals (17) and is one shy of the club-record seven multi-goal road games, set in 2012.

Dates Record (points) Goal Differential (GF/GA) April 5-19, 2014 2-0-1 (7 pts.) +2 (9/7) April 20-May 8, 2013 2-0-1 (7 pts.) +2 (4/2) Sept. 26-Oct. 17, 2009 2-1-0 (6 pts.) +1 (5/4) August 2-15, 2009 1-2-0 ( 3pts.) -3 (2/5) June 24-July 4, 2012 0-1-2 (2 pts.) -1 (3/4)

Heating Up

Sounders FC has historically been dominant during the summer months, earning 148 points (43-20-19) all-time from July through the end of the season. Since 2009, only the LA Galaxy has earned more points after July 1 with 151 points. Sounders FC won 10 games in that time frame in 2010 and 2011, as well as nine wins last season, including a five-match winning streak from August 25-September 21.

Record from July 1 through end of regular season

Year Points Record 2009 22 6-4-4 2010 33 10-3-3 2011 32 10-3-2 2012 30 8-3-6 2013 31 9-7-4 Totals: 148 43-20-19

Unbeaten on JOEtv

Saturday’s match will be broadcast locally on JOEtv (KZJO, channel 22/cable 10) – a welcomed sight for Sounders FC and its supporters. In eight matches televised on JOEtv this season, Sounders FC has seven wins with one draw, and has outscored opponents 16-8.

2014 Cascadia Cup

Sounders FC enters Saturday’s match in search of its first win in the 2014 Cascadia Cup. Seattle earned come-from-behind draws in the first two Cascadia Cup meetings of the season. Vancouver vaulted to the top of the standings with a road win at Portland on June 1. Whitecaps FC currently holds the Cascadia Cup after winning it for the first time in the MLS era last season. Sounders FC won the Cup in its first year in MLS (2011), and the Timbers won the 2012 edition. Overall, Seattle has won the Cascadia Cup three times, including the USL era (2006, 2007 and 2011).

The regional competition was founded in 2004 by the largest supporters groups of the three Pacific Northwest clubs: the Emerald City Supporters, Timbers Army and Vancouver Southsiders. Seattle will play four of its six Cascadia Cup matches on the road this season. The first rivalry match at home is set for July 13 against the Portland Timbers, and the competition will conclude on October 10 when Sounders FC hosts Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Standings

Team Record Points Goal Differential (GF/GA) Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0-1 4 pts. +1 (6/5) Seattle Sounders FC 0-0-2 2 pts. 0 (6/6) Portland Timbers 0-1-1 1 pt. -1 (7/8)

Schedule and Results

Date Teams Location April 5 Sounders FC 4 at Portland Timbers 4 Providence Park, Portland May 24 Sounders FC 2 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 BC Place, Vancouver June 1 Portland Timbers 3 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4 Providence Park, Portland July 5 Sounders FC at Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place, Vancouver July 13 Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers CenturyLink Field, Seattle August 24 Sounders FC at Portland Timbers Providence Park, Portland August 30 Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Portland Timbers BC Place, Vancouver September 20 Portland Timbers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC Providence Park, Portland October 10 Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Series Notes

Sounders FC leads the all-time MLS series with Vancouver at 3-2-4 after the two sides battled to a 2-2 draw at BC Place on May 24. The teams are even at 1-1-3 in Vancouver, with the last Seattle road win coming in its first-ever visit on September 24, 2011. Sounders FC has scored 12 of its 15 goals in the second half, including six goals in the final 15 minutes. Whitecaps FC has scored nine goals in the opening 45 minutes and has struck four times in the first 15 minutes. Both sides have been held scoreless just twice in the nine all-time meetings.

The Seattle-Vancouver soccer rivalry dates back to the first NASL meeting at the old Empire Stadium on June 9, 1974. Seattle holds the all-time advantage at 63-48-22. In the 218 all-time games against Cascadia rivals Portland and Vancouver, Seattle reigns supreme with 105 wins, 79 losses and 34 draws.

All-Time Records

Year Competition Record 1974-83 NASL Sounders 13 wins; Whitecaps 17 wins; 1 draw 1984 Friendlies FC Seattle 1 win; Whitecaps 0 wins; 1 draw 1987-90 WSL/Friendlies FC Seattle 3 wins; 86ers 3 wins; 0 draws 1994-2008 USL-1 Sounders 43 wins; 86ers/Whitecaps 25 wins; 16 draws 2011-present MLS/Friendlies Sounders 3 wins; Whitecaps 3 wins; 4 draws Totals: 133 matches played Seattle 63 wins; Vancouver 48 wins; 22 draws

About Vancouver

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC sit fifth in the Western Conference with 22 points, averaging 1.47 points over its first 15 matches of the season. The ‘Caps have scored 25 goals, ranking just behind Sounders FC with 1.67 goals per game. The team has scored multiple goals in eight of its 15 outings, and leads the league with six penalty kick goals. Vancouver recently had its eight-game (3-0-5) unbeaten streak snapped with a 2-nil loss at Colorado on Saturday. The eight-game undefeated run was the second-longest in MLS this season, and last Saturday’s loss marked the first defeat since April 12. Vancouver has posted a record of 3-1-3 at BC Place this season, outscoring opponents 14-10.

Whitecaps FC Notables

The Vancouver attack is led by Chilean midfielder Pedro Morales, who leads the club with six goals and five assists this season. Although he hasn’t scored in his last two games, the MLS newcomer scored five goals and three assists from May 3 to June 7. Forward Erik Hurtado is second with four goals this season-all scored in consecutive games from May 10 to June 7-including a first-half score in a 2-2 draw vs. Seattle on May 24. Erik Hurtado (four goals, two assists) and Darren Mattocks (two goals, three assists) also provide danger to Carl Robinson’s attack.

Jordan Harvey has started all 15 games in the back for Whitecaps FC, joining Andy O’Brien (14 appearances), Jay DeMerit (11 appearances), and Steven Beitashour (10 appearances), who recently represented Iran at the FIFA World Cup. Danish goalkeeper David Ousted is ninth in MLS with 43 saves and has three shutouts this season.

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

Seattle Sounders FC announced today that the team’s July 26 match against the LA Galaxy has been moved to Monday, July 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field and will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The match 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 FC U18 in National Quarterfinals

Sounders FC U-18 will host the Montreal Impact U-18s in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) national quarterfinals onMonday, July 7 at Starfire Stadium. The U-18s recently tore through their opposition in the national group stage in Indiana last week, winning all three games and outscoring opponents 16-1. Seattle won the USSDA Northwest Division for the 2013-14 season with 57 points (17-4-6) and a plus-40 goal differential (77-37), including just one loss in the 2014 calendar year. With a win Monday, the U-18s would advance to the national semifinals.

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