Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Scoreboard watching for Open Cup Finalists

As they sit in the locker rooms and step on the field for warm-ups tonight, many of the players and coaches for the Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders may be tempted to glance at the scoreboard for tonight’s lone MLS league contest, a marquee match between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy on ESPN2.

A win by either of the two clubs in the league fixture will likely be a dagger for one of the Open Cup finalists.

The Sounders sit seven points pack of the Galaxy with three games remaining in their campaign. A win by Los Angeles tonight would clinch the Supporters’ Shield for the Galaxy as regular season champions.

Chicago, meanwhile, is in the midst of a hot run that has them clawing at the edge of the playoff zone, sitting three points back of the New York Red Bulls, who are currently occupying the final spot. A win by New York would make the gap six points with three games remaining in the Fire season and two for New York.

MLSsoccer.com Playoff Standings [+]

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Open Cup champion Sounders advance in CCL

The Seattle Sounders became the first entrant in the current format of the CONCACAF Champions League to advance from the group stage of the event as representatives of the US Open Cup. A 2-2 draw in Guatemala versus Comunicaciones on Tuesday clinched a spot in the Quarterfinals.

The Sounders sit in first place in their group with 10 points, one ahead of defending CCL champion Monterrey of Mexico, with one game remaining in the group phase. Comunicaciones is third with seven. After falling 1-0 in Panama to San Francisco in the first leg of the Preliminary Round, the Sounders won four straight, advancing to the group phase with a 2-0 win at home versus San Francisco. The opened group play with a 4-1 win against visiting Comunicaciones and then stunned Monterrey 1-0 on the road in the second match, becoming only the second MLS club ever to win in Mexico. A few weeks later Seattle built a commanding lead in the group with a 2-1 road win versus Herediano. The Costa Ricans, however, returned the favor the following week with a 1-0 win in Seattle.