MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC improved its record to 15-13-6 on the season. The Rave Green are the only club in MLS to have won at least 15 matches in each of the past five seasons—every year since the league expanded its schedule to 34 matches in 2011. At 51 points, the Sounders hold the Western Conference’s No. 4 seed heading into the postseason.
- Having not lost a match since August 22, Sounders FC extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches (4-0-4), which is the second-longest stretch in club history.
- Seattle improves to 6-7-4 all-time against RSL in league play, including a 5-2-2 mark at CenturyLink Field. The club has won four straight home matches in the series.
- Tonight’s attendance of 55,345 was the club’s 124th consecutive sellout and fourth full-stadium match of the season. As a result, Sounders FC has set a new MLS attendance record with a 2015 average of 44,245. The Rave Green are now 15-2-3 in full-stadium matches, including 10 wins in 13 matches with an attendance above 55,000.
- For the first time in club history, Sounders FC recorded two goals in the opening 10 minutes and three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Clint Dempsey became the third player to score two goals in the opening 20 minutes (joining Steve Zakuani Obafemi Martins), and the 20 minutes to record three goals ties the fifth-shortest stretch in club history.
- After today’s performance, Clint Dempsey joins Benny Feilhaber, Ethan Finlay, and Sebastian Giovinco as the only players in MLS to record 10 goals and 10 assists this season. Dempsey is the only player to accomplish this feat in each of the past two seasons.
- Tyrone Mears is the second field player in club history to play 33 matches in one season (Osvaldo Alonso, 2014).
- Obafemi Martins netted his 15th goal of the season, which ties Clint Dempsey’s mark in 2014 for the second-highest season total in club history. Martins is the only player in Sounders FC history to have back-to-back campaigns with 15 goals, and his career total of 41 tallies ranks just six behind all-time team leader Fredy Montero, yet has played in 48 fewer matches for the Rave Green than Montero.
- Martins is one of nine players in MLS this season to have scored 15 goals in league play, yet was the only one to have done so in 20 games or fewer. The Nigerian became the first player in MLS history to score 15 goals on fewer than 45 shot attempts. This season, he broke the league’s scoring percentage mark among qualifying players, having scored 15 goals on 41 shot attempts (36.6 percent), which surpasses Roy Lassiter’s mark of 27 goals on 76 attempts (35.5 percent) from MLS’ inaugural 1996 season.
- Stefan Frei became just the eighth goalkeeper in league history to post 14 wins, 10 shutouts and 110 saves in one season. Frei joins Bill Hamid, who accomplished the feat last season, as the only goalkeepers to have accomplished this feat since 2008.
- RSL’s Jeff Attinella recorded the lone save of the match on a deflection that led to Dempsey’s second goal. It was the third time since 2009 there was a Sounders FC contest combined for one save, which is tied for the second-fewest mark in team history (the match against FC Dallas in March featured zero saves).
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Sigi Schmid:
“Obviously we are extremely happy with the result. I think we got out of the gate really well; we jumped on them early. After we were up 3-0, I guess it became more of just managing the game. We pulled Clint [Dempsey] early because we figured ‘Okay, we are going to play midweek.’ We wanted to make sure he could come back. [Pulling] Leo Gonzalez was the same thing. Guys knew a game was going to be coming either Wednesday or Thursday.”
“[Taking an early lead] was definitely good for my own constitution, and I am sure it was good for the fans, as well. Jumping on them early definitely helped because it established a good rhythm for us early in the game; it established our dominance in the game, and it’s a lot easier to know in the back of your mind to achieve what you want to achieve in terms of building a lead and making sure you don’t give it away. The team didn’t do that.”
Clint Dempsey:
“We’re excited about our performance tonight and know we have a big game on Wednesday versus LA. …This is a game we needed to win so we wanted to attack the game and take the game to them. Create our chances and not just sit there and see what happens (late in the game) trying to get a goal. We went out with the right mentality and it was good for us to get the early lead. It gave us confidence.”
Brad Evans:
“A fast start was key today. Obviously it was the third game in eight days for them, so for us those are things you put in the back of your mind, ‘Can we get on them early and change the game quickly?’ We did that in the first half. Sometimes games have ebbs and flows, and at the end so they had nothing to lose, so they pushed forward. To get the three-goal cushion was good, but could we have played better at the end? Yeah, but at the end of the day result is a result.”
Stefan Frei:
“At some point you’re going to have to face the tough teams, and LA is a tough team. It’s good to be able to face them at home. We always play better at home because of our fans. I think now towards the end of the season, after logging so many miles, it’s crucial that you get a little bit of time to rest and are also able to train a little bit. For them, they were in Kansas and now they have to fly home and fly out here. I don’t know if they’ll have any time to train. We can rest a little bit and get a training session in before Wednesday, so it’s great.”
