Thursday, April 17, 2008

Aside from the star power of David Beckham in Los Angeles, the success of the Seattle Sounders may have been the biggest story of the year in American soccer given their domination of the USL First Division and stunning run in the US Open Cup.

After starting the year 1-4-3, the Sounders proceeded to finish the remaining 20 games on their schedule with only two more losses with a record of 15-2-3 that included an 11-game unbeaten stretch (9-0-2) that roll that overlapped a 5-1-0 finish to the season to secure the top spot in the table.

During the impressive run in league play, the Sounders also rattled off three impressive wins in the US Open Cup before finally being ousted by Dallas in overtime of the Semifinals 2-1. Seattle downed rival Portland in the Second Round 2-1 before surprising Chivas USA of MLS 3-1 in the Third Round and stunning the entire soccer community with an eye-opening 5-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids in the Quarterfinals.

Just 10 days after their elimination from the Open Cup, the Sounders turned their sites on a fourth league title and steadfastly advanced past Carolina 3-0 on aggregate in the First Round before finding a stiff test from the Puerto Rico Islanders. The Sounders came away from the first leg in the Caribbean with a 2-1 advantage only to see it surprising disappear at home with Puerto Rico winning 2-1 to force series overtime and eventually penalties. The Sounders would win the tiebreaker 4-2 and go on to dominate the visiting Atlanta Silverbacks in the Final 4-0 to win their second league title in three years despite missing the postseason in the year between.

The 2008 Season

In a rare occurrence for any champion in any sport, the Seattle Sounders re-signed their entire starting eleven from the championship game. Compared to most clubs around the league, the composition of the squad is nearly unchanged.

All 10 players that saw action in at least 22 games last year are remaining with the club. Nathan Knox (15 games) has gone to Atlanta. Greg Howes (21 games, 5 goals) is currently indoors with Milwaukee and could return. Also gone are Jacob Besagno (15 games) and Santa Maria Rivera (19 games).

The club has brought in a few fresh faces in the form rookies out of local colleges, but even with the aspect of a future Major League Soccer team on the horizon, which in itself could be a season-long distraction, the club has not added any significant potential MLS signees to its roster in preparation for 2009. The defending champions will make their run for a second repeat championship (1995-96) with its returning stars Sebastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque, Leighton O’Brien, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham and Chris Eylander.

The First Five

Based on last year’s table, Seattle’s April 19 opener on the road in Charleston against the Battery, who finished 10 last year and have already opened their campaign, could be the easiest test of its first five matches. They then return to the west coast to visit Portland (2nd) the following weekend before making another trek to the south to visit championship game foe Atlanta (4th) May 2. The Sounders then turn hosts, facing rival Portland May 10 and the Rochester Rhinos (5th) four days later to wrap up the first five.