The rise of Seattle Sounders FC is the talk of Major League Soccer this week and rightfully so. The Sounders are unbeaten in six league matches (four wins and two draws) and have pulled within four points of league champion (and MLS leading) Los Angeles Galaxy.
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VIDEO: Matt Stinson made his MLS debut Saturday in Salt Lake.</p> |
In Week 15 the Sounders won the maximum six points available by beating New York 4-2 and New England 2-1, just three days apart in front of a combined 82,000 fans at the newly named CenturyLink Field. The Sounders have a new hero in Roger Levesque. The Maine native scored twice against New York and helped Alvaro Fernandez to the winner on Sunday.
Seattle’s target at the top of the table, Los Angeles, earned a point in a scoreless draw to San Jose. LA lost goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to a broken arm and then had backup keeper Josh Saunders sent off. That ejection forced midfielder Mike Magee to take the number one position. The midfielder made four saves to keep the clean sheet.
Dallas too is hot on LA’s trail. The Hoops are tied with the Sounders on 31 points after beating Portland 4-0 on Saturday. Dallas has two games in hand over the two Western Conference rivals. This trio currently rounds out the top three automatic playoff berths in the West.
Toronto’s 3-1 loss to Salt Lake on Saturday puts the TFC at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Reds are tied with New England on 15 points but the minus-13 goal difference lands Toronto in the basement. Looking up, Philadelphia is clear atop the East with 26 points. The Union beat Chivas USA 3-2 at PPL Park in a Saturday thriller.
New York sits two points behind Philadelphia, tied with Columbus to make up the top three. The Crew destroyed MLS Cup champion Colorado 4-1 at home on Sunday. Andres Mendoza registered a brace for the Ohio side which responded to an early goal from the visitors via Conor Casey with an out-and-out offensive assault.
Elsewhere, a pair of nil-nil draws on Wednesday (Philadelphia-Kansas City and Chicago-Salt Lake) gave Week 15 a less than eventful start. Though scoring had picked up by the weekend when D.C. United and Houston drew 2-2 at RFK Stadium, Kansas City got the better of Vancouver at home 2-1, while Eastern rivals Chicago and New York played to a 1-1 tie on Sunday – both teams disappointed with several points dropped this week.
Toronto and Vancouver kick off Week 16 in MLS on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET at BMO Field, live on TSN).
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