MLS Preview Week 24 – Vancouver at Seattle
Cascadia Cup rivalry returns to the Northwest on Saturday as Martin Rennie leads his Whitecaps to Washington to take on Sigi Schmid and the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field.
Having sold over 54,000 tickets for this clash, a fantastic atmosphere is expected to greet the players who meet for the first time since their 2-2 draw in June; Mauro Rosales’ goal in the 90th minute rescuing a point for the Rave Green. It was Vancouver’s first trip to Seattle as an MLS side and gave a very good account of themselves. They will provide a stern test for a Sounders side who have four consecutive home wins, but trail both Vancouver and arch-rivals Portland in the Cascadia Cup standings.
There will be more than geographical bragging rights at stake however, as this match-up has major bearings on the playoff spots in the Western Conference. Currently, the Sounders and Whitecaps are fourth and fifth respectively, locked together on 37 points. The hosts have the advantage of two games in hand over their opponents, and three over the team currently in their sights; third placed LA Galaxy.
Seattle will hand goalkeeper Michael Gspurning his first Cascadia action since his return from injury four games ago, which has fostered a stability in defence not seen during his lengthy absense. New acquisition Mario Martinez will probably start on the bench, while transfer window coup, Michael Tiffert, will look to continue his solid beginning to his time in the green jersey. His ball possession has impressed the Seattle faithful so far, and he may be a key factor in what looks to be a tight game. The Sounders have had a somewhat up and down August, blowing LA out of the water on home turf, thashing the Galaxy 4-0, but tasting defeat in the US Open Cup Final against Sporting Kansas City. Despite controlling large parts of that game, their fate was sealed by way of penalty shoot-out. Last week at San Jose they ended up on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline, conceding a goal to Steven Lenhart in the 93rd minute following Freddy Montero’s equaliser three minutes prior.
The visitors will field a very different line-up from their last encounter with Seattle, with no less than five of their starting eleven in that game eliminated due to injury, suspension and trades. Defender Martin Bonjour is suspended and captain Jay DeMerit is questionable due to suffering a concussion in their home win against Real Salt Lake on August 11th. He missed the Whitecaps last match, a 2-0 loss at home to Dallas on Wednesday, and Saturday’s clash may be just too soon for him to be in contention. However, despite these losses, Vancouver welcome back Darren Mattocks, Dane Richards, Carlyle Mitchell, Russell Tiebert and Ettienne Barbara into the squad. The five players missed the Dallas game due to international duty and will bolster the Whitecaps for this important game.
Goals may be aplenty in this one, as the Jamaican Mattocks has netted seven times in his last eleven appearances for the Caps, while Seattle’s Eddie Johnson is in a rich vein of form, and has been supported by Mauro Rosales’ assists in his last four goals.
