LISTEN: Your browser does not support the audio element.

The Seattle Sounders are preparing for their first road game of the season this weekend, and while the team sets its sights on the Montreal Impact, the players are also going through their own rituals to prepare.

At this point in the week, defender Dylan Remick tells KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz they’re working on physical and tactical preparation. As they get closer to game day, they’ll begin to study their opponent.

“At the end of the week that’s when we sort of focus in on the team that we’re playing,” says Remick. “We get more in tune with how we want to play and how we want to attack the game and approach the game and what to expect from the other team.”

On the day of the big game, Remick has a means of preparation that’s uniquely his own: he listens to a lot of Taylor Swift music.

“This actually started in high school,” says Remick. “I started listening to it before games, and the first few games…I played particularly well, and we played really well as a team. So that sort of became my ritual before every game.”

His favorite Taylor Swift song is a newer one, “I Knew You Were Trouble.” He says her music helps him get into the right space to play well.

“Call it a little superstition, but it sort of calms me down before games and now it just gets me in the right mindset, sort of gets me back to the early days and where I’ve come from, how far I’ve come in my soccer journey.”

Remick is in his second season with the Sounders and says another big motivating factor on game day, even at away games, is the Seattle fans.

“Our fans at home are just unparalleled, second to none, best in the league by far, and a good amount of them come on the road,” says Remick. “Knowing that you have so many loyal fans and so many people behind you in Seattle is a pretty good motivation.”

Listen live this weekend as the Seattle Sounders take on Montreal Impact at 1 p.m. Saturday on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM.