Emotions should be running high for tonight's matchup as the Seattle Sounders travel up the I5 with their massive travelling support for the final match at Empire Field, and possibly the deciding game in the Cascadia Cup series.
Seattle come into this game reeling from a mid week loss to CS Herediano of Guatemala, where they dominated their opponents late but we're turned away at every opportunity by some fantastic goaltending from the Central American side. The Sounders last regular season game was a 3-0 demolishing of a resurgent DC United squad. Despite the loss of Steve Zakuani early in the season the Washington club have managed to best their seasons points total record (51), their regular season goals scored record (46), and have tied their franchise mark for wins in a season with 14. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Another high water mark was set by Midfielder Mauro Rosales this year as he surpassed teammate Freddy Montero as the player to have recorded the most assists in a single season with 12 helpers. Fortunately for the Whitecaps the Argentine playmaker strained his MCL in last weekends tilt with DC and will be unavailable for coach Sigi Schmidt over the next 2-4 weeks. Another key player that will be out of action this game will be Swedish defensive midfielder Erik Friberg who has a Hip Flexor issue to deal with before he returns to the lineup for Seattle.
It will be interesting to see how Schmidt takes tonights game with respect to it's importance in the grand scheme of things for this year. His squad will be playing 3 games in the next 8 days and will be travelling all over hells half acre.
A win tonight would clinch Seattle a playoff spot with several games remaining. It would also secure them the Cascadia Cup as the team with the best head to head record between the Vancouver-Portland-Seattle trifecta. This could also amount to an opportunity to run out some players who might not normally get a chance to play as they are facing the worst team in the league.
Expect the Sounders to push the play up the wings on the counter attack and try to cross the ball into the box as the Whitecaps struggle to get back into position. We saw this strategy work quite well last week for the LA Galaxy and the Sounders are likely to try and continue the trend. Alain Rochat will be missing from the back line as he serves a one game suspension for receiving his 5th yellow card caution on the season.
His presence will surely be missed as Jordan Harvey has continued to struggle at left back since his move over from Philly. Twice last week he was caught in the middle of the pitch with Jay DeMerit having to chase Harvey's man out wide. Harvey seemed to lose sight of his check for just a fraction of a second and then the ball was in the net.
Freddy Montero is a shark inside the box and will have a field day with the Vancouver defence if they are not on their game. It will be a fun game to watch as Seattle will likely take up more then the 500 tickets allotted to them by Whitecaps F.O. The Caps should be up for this game since it is their last chance to pull any kind Silverware and they will want to beat their rivals on their home turf.
Expect emotions to be high as the Whitecaps look to close out Empire on a good note.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC
Empire Field, Vancouver British Columbia
Kick Off @ 7:30 pm
Watch on TSN
Listen on The Team 1040 am