Sounders FC Hosts Houston Dynamo Sunday Night

In front of a full-stadium crowd and national television audience, Seattle Sounders FC returns home to host the Houston Dynamo in aSunday night clash on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

The national broadcast on ESPN2 will feature Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas on the call. The match can also be heard on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM with Ross Fletcher and Kasey Keller calling the action, and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1490 AM with Rene Aleman and Noe Menendez.

Atop the Western Conference standings, Sounders FC (12-6-2, 38 points) looks to regain its form after suffering two defeats last week. Seattle sits one point behind Sporting Kansas City in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, and leads MLS with 1.9 points per game and 12 wins.

Before the weekend’s action, several Sounders FC players will join top players from across the league as the MLS All-Stars host Bayern Munich on Wednesday night at Portland’s Providence Park. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and UniMas.

Seattle’s All-Star representatives include U.S. National Team captain Clint Dempsey, AT&T/EA SPORTS ‘More Than a Vote’ Challenge winner Obafemi Martins, Homegrown Player and U.S. international DeAndre Yedlin, four-time team MVP Osvaldo Alonso and former two-time MLS Defender of the Year and Sounders FC newcomer Chad Marshall.

Following the All-Star festivities, Sounders FC will begin preparations for the busiest stretch of the season, playing five games from August 10-24. Sunday’s match kicks off the busy stretch as CenturyLink Field will open to full capacity for the third time in MLS play this season, previously downing San Jose, 1-0, and Portland, 2-0.

The match against Houston marks the lone meeting of the season between the two sides, and first meeting at CenturyLink Field since 2012. The series is level at 3-3-2 in regular season play, and the two teams also met in the MLS Cup Playoffs and U.S. Open Cup.

The Houston Dynamo (6-11-4, 22 points) currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference, five points from the fifth and final playoff spot. The beneficiaries of a stoppage time winner on Sunday, Houston has dropped just one of its past four matches (1-1-2) after a five-game losing streak from May 21 to June 29.

Houston recently added U.S. National Team defender DaMarcus Beasley and Honduran midfielder Luis Garrido, joining Dynamo stalwarts Brad Davis, Will Bruin and Tally Hall.

Just three days later, Sounders FC will continue its run for a record fourth U.S. Open Cup championship, hosting the Chicago Fire in the semifinal on August 13. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. The winner of the match will visit the Dallas-Philadelphia victor in the final.

Tickets for Sounders FC home matches are available now at www.SoundersFC.com and 1-877-MLS-GOAL. The 3-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 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

Best through 20 games

Sounders FC has played some of its best soccer in the opening 20 games of the 2014 season. With 38 points through 20 games, Seattle posted the top mark in MLS this season and bested the club record by six points. Sporting Kansas City is the lone team to have earned more total points than Sounders FC this season, but had amassed 35 points at the 20-match mark, trailing Seattle by three. Two teams are yet to play 20 matches this season, with the highest possible point total 36 (LA Galaxy).

Seattle’s pace also marks the best opening 20 game stretch in club history, earning six more points than the 2011 season. Sounders FC has also won three more games and scored eight more goals than at this point last season. Overall, Seattle has averaged 1.58 points per game, 1.34 goals per game and 1.13 goals allowed per game in the opening 20 matches since 2009.

Record through 20 Games

Year Points PPG W-L-D GF (GPG) GA (GAA) 2014 38 1.90 12-6-2 35 (1.75) 28 (1.40) 2011 32 1.60 8-4-8 25 (1.25) 18 (0.90) 2013 31 1.55 9-7-4 27 (1.35) 22 (1.10) 2012 31 1.55 8-5-7 25 (1.25) 21 (1.05) 2009 29 1.45 7-5-8 26 (1.30) 21 (1.05) 2010 28 1.40 8-8-4 23 (1.15) 25 (1.25) Average 31.5 1.58 52-35-33 1.34 1.13

Schedule Congestion

Sounders FC readies for its busiest stretch of the season thus far, playing five matches over a 14-day stretch with a sixth game before the month concludes. The stretch begins on August 10 against the Houston Dynamo and continues with a pair of games just three days apart on August 13 (vs. Chicago Fire) and August 16 (at Real Salt Lake). The club then rests for four days before finishing the busy run with games on August 20 (vs. San Jose) and August 24 (at Portland Timbers), and capping the month with an August 30 home match against the Colorado Rapids. The 14-day stretch from August 10-24 will feature more games than the team played in the months of March, April, June and July (four matches each month).

Depth Tested

With the congested two-week schedule, head coach Sigi Schmid will test the depth of his roster. Through 23 games across all competitions this season, Schmid has used 26 different players, including 24 starters. A total of 15 different players have recorded a goal or assist, with 12 players scoring at least one goal. In MLS play, Schmid has used 19 different starters and, of the eight players who have scored, seven players have tallied multiple goals.

Sounders at CenturyLink

Coming off of a rare home defeat, Sounders FC will look to re-establish its top home form at CenturyLink Field on Sunday night. The July 28 loss to the LA Galaxy marked the first home defeat since March 29, breaking a six-game home winning streak. Through 10 home games this season, Sounders FC has earned 21 points, ranking third in MLS behind D.C. United (24 points through 12 games) and FC Dallas (21 points through 11 games). Seattle’s average of 2.1 points per home game is bested only by the LA Galaxy’s top mark of 2.22 PPG. Just five teams in MLS have averaged two or more points per home game this season (Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake, Dallas and D.C. United).

Top Home Record in MLS

Team GP Points (PPG) Record GF/GA D.C. United 12 24 (2.00) 7-2-3 10/9 FC Dallas 11 22 (2.00) 7-3-1 21/15 Sounders FC 10 21 (2.10) 7-3-0 18/10 Colorado 12 21 (1.75) 6-3-3 19/9 Los Angeles 9 20 (2.22) 6-1-2 19/8 Salt Lake 11 20 (1.82) 5-1-5 17/11

Full-Stadium Crowd

CenturyLink Field will be opened to full capacity on Sunday for just the third time in MLS play this season. In the previous two matches, Seattle beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 1-0, and Portland Timbers, 2-0, with the Timbers match featuring 64,207 in attendance. The largest-ever attendance for a Sounders FC match was 67,385 in a 1-nil win over the Portland Timbers on August 25, 2013, marking the second-largest crowd for a standalone match in MLS history. In home games with an attendance of more than 40,000, Sounders FC is 10-0-3 with a plus-19 goal differential (27 goals scored with eight goals allowed). Following Sunday’s match, Seattle will host two more full-stadium matches this season, including the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on October 10 and LA Galaxy on October 25.

Games with 40,000+ in Attendance

Date Opponent Result Attendance June 23, 2011 New York Red Bulls W, 4-2 46,065 October 15, 2011 San Jose Earthquakes W, 2-1 64,140* June 20, 2012 Sporting Kansas City D, 1-1 46,932 August 5, 2012 LA Galaxy W, 4-0 60,908* August 18, 2012 Vancouver Whitecaps FC W, 2-0 55,718* October 7, 2012 Portland Timbers W, 3-0 66,452* March 16, 2013 Portland Timbers D, 1-1 40,150 June 8, 2013 Vancouver Whitecaps FC W, 3-2 53,679* August 25, 2013 Portland Timbers W, 1-0 67,385* Sept. 13, 2013 Real Salt Lake W, 2-0 55,107* October 27, 2013 LA Galaxy D, 1-1 66,216* May 17, 2014 San Jose Earthquakes W, 1-0 49,746* July 13, 2014 Portland Timbers W, 2-0 64,207* August 10, 2014 Houston Dynamo October 10, 2014 Vancouver Whitecaps FC October 25, 2014 LA Galaxy

*Stadium opened to full capacity

August Record

Saturday’s defeat at San Jose marked just the third loss in the month of August since 2010. Overall, Sounders FC has gone 13-6-4 in August, outscoring opponents 37-20. Seattle dropped just one August match in each of the past two seasons and won a club record four games in August 2013. The six MLS games scheduled this month matches the club record for most games in August.

Seattle-Houston Series Notes

Seattle and Houston are tied at 3-3-2 in the all-time MLS series, including an even goal differential (11-11). Seattle went unbeaten in the first three MLS matchups (2-0-1), before Houston went unbeaten in the next three (2-0-1), and the two teams have split the last two contests with one win each. Seattle has out-shot Houston, 100-81, including a 43-26 shots on goal advantage, but the Dynamo have come out of the gate strong with eight first-half goals. Sounders FC also eliminated the Dynamo in the 2009 U.S. Open Cup semifinal before Houston ousted Seattle in the 2009 Western Conference semifinal.

About Houston

Houston sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 22 points (6-11-4), five points out of playoff position, and recently snapped an eight-match (0-6-2) winless streak with a 1-0 win over D.C. United on Sunday. The team has given up a league-high 40 goals this season to go along with the league’s second-worst goal differential of -17. Houston has struggled on the road, winning just once in 10 outings (1-8-1) away from home with a 7/24 goal difference. The team has historically been contenders, advancing to the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup Finals before being eliminated in the Eastern Conference final last season.

Dynamo Notables

Head coach Dominic Kinnear’s attack is led by forward Will Bruin and midfielder Brad Davis, who lead the club with eight goals and five assists, respectively. Bruin, who has scored in each of his last two games, has 33 goals and 13 assists in 107 appearances since being drafted out of Indiana in 2011. Davis, a 13-year MLS veteran who has been with Houston since 2006, ranks fifth all-time with 106 career assists, including six against Seattle. Goalkeeper Tally Hall is in his fourth full season manning the nets for Houston, accumulating a 1.33 goals against average and 34 shutouts in 126 career appearances.

The Dynamo recently made two high-profile signings, acquiring four-time U.S. World Cup veteran DaMarcus Beasley as well as Honduran midfielder Luis Garrido. Beasley, who spent the last four seasons with Puebla of Liga MX, made 98 appearances for the Chicago Fire from 2000-2004, scoring 14 goals and 20 assists. Garrido, a defensive midfielder, has 20 caps for the Honduran National Team after playing much of his career in Honduras.

SEA-HOU Connections

Cam Weaver spent the past five seasons with the Houston, making 81 appearances for the Dynamo from 2009-13 and scoring 12 goals with three assists. He was named the club’s Newcomer of the Year in 2009 and helped Houston reach the MLS Cup final in 2011 and 2012. The Kent-native began his career with the USL Sounders in 2005, becoming the team’s top scorer as a rookie. He played collegiately at Seattle University, where he helped the Redhawks win the 2004 NCAA Division II championship.

The Houston roster also features several connections to the Seattle area as goalkeeper Tally Hall was born in SeaTac and attended Gig Harbor High School. Midfielder Servando Carrasco spent three seasons with Sounders FC from 2011-13, making 40 appearances with one goal and one assist. Additionally, Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear played for the Sounders’ 1995 A-League championship team.

U.S. Teammates Reunite

Sunday’s match will serve as a reunion for four players who saw playing time with the U.S. National Team in Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin from Sounders FC and the Houston Dynamo’s Brad Davis and DaMarcus Beasley all played roles in advancing to the Round of 16.

Dempsey scored two goals for the U.S., becoming the first American to score in three World Cups. Yedlin came off the bench in three matches to log 112 minutes, including a lengthy stint in the Round of 16 loss to Belgium. Davis started against Germany, playing 58 minutes in a 1-0 defeat in the Group Stage finale. Beasley, meanwhile, was one of only three U.S. field players to play all 390 minutes in the tournament run. It was the new Dynamo signing’s fourth World Cup.

In addition to the four who played in Brazil, Seattle and Houston have other players who have had recent call-ups for U.S. camps. Brad Evans was a regular during World Cup qualifying, while Tally Hall, Corey Ashe and Will Bruin were brought in for January camps for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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