LA will play the winner of Saturday’s Real Salt Lake & Chicago Fire match.

Freddie Ljungberg (SoundersFC.com)

7 of the 8 teams who start the MLS Playoffs will end their season with a loss. Sounders FC will be one of them.

The Houston Dynamo ended the inaugural season for one of the most successful expansion clubs in MLS history in a 1-0 match in the Western Conference Semifinals.

After playing 90 minutes in Seattle and then 90 in Houston without a score, the two teams went to two 15-minute periods where former USL-Sounder Brian Ching scored on a volley from 9 yards out in the 96th minute.

The Dynamo held on to the lone goal and won 1-0 after 120 minutes.

More to come…

Seattle and the Dynamo meet on Sunday in the second leg of the Western Conference Playoffs in Houston. It will be the 5th match between the two squads after two MLS regular season games, the US Open Cup semifinal, and the first leg of the playoffs. The Sounders have won 2 of the 4 games and the other two were draws. Sunday’s match will have a winner- whether it is after 90 minutes, 120 minutes, or Penalty Kicks.

The winner of this “winner take all” match will take on the winner of the LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA match in the Western Conference Finals.

Sounders fans can look for Head Coach Sigi Schmid to start the recent lineup featuring Fredy Montero and Freddie Ljungberg up front. Then Steve Zakuani, Brad Evans, and Nate Jaqua from left to right across the midfield. Osvaldo Alonso will join Evans in the central midfield position.

The Sounders Defense is anchored with Kasey Keller in goal with Leo Gonzalez and James Riley on the left and right sides respectively. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado was a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year in the middle and he the other Central Defender will either be Tyrone Marshall if he is a game-fit 100% or Patrick Ianni who in a last minute start in the first leg had Seattle’s two best scoring chances.

The Dynamo seemingly have all of their usuals at full strength. Ricardo Clark and Designated Player, Luis Angel Landin have used the 10 days in between games to recover to a near 100%. At home at Richardson Stadium, the Dynamo are 4-1 all-time- their lone loss was last year when the New York Red Bulls defeated them.

Seattle is 4-1-1 in their last 6 matches on the road and have won the last 4 matches on grass (they are 5-0-1 overall).

If the match is tied at the end of 90 minutes, two 15 minute periods will be played. If the score remains tied after 120 minutes, the game will be decided with a shootout.

Kickoff is slated for 12p. The game will be shown on King5 in the Seattle area and on FSN in the rest of the Pacific Northwest.

now i am going to try to be a little diplomatic here b/c we all have to recognize that, the mls is nowhere near the level of support found in most outher countries around the world. and, as a result, american football lines are inevitable on the pitch in some cases. i am not saying it is ok, or we should accept it, but at least we can all understand that it is going to happen.

so.. is a “disgrace” a good word?

actually, i think it may be. given that this is an MLS playoff match, how the heck can the stadium not work around this? I have looked, but i can’t tell if there was a ‘throwball’ game in the same stadium on friday… or  today. anyone know? if there was, then why not have the playoff game on thursday so you could play on a soccer pitch? it seems that the options were there, and houston punted… literally. they decided to play on american football lines and it is a bigger priority than the day they play on.

do i have all the facts? heh… probably not, when do i ever?… but should we be pissed… sure!!!! why? b/c we are fans… and watching an mls playoff game on throwball field is disgracful.

when the MLS….. ahem, if the MLS ever gets the credit it deserves in the US as a legitamate league, it will be a beautiful day.

UPDATE:950a Don Ruiz is happy to report that the football lines have disappeared overnight.

The referee makes the correct misconduct decision by cautioning both players for unsporting behavior. The goalkeeper’s actions are not excessive force and he does not make “contact above the shoulder.” The goalkeeper merely makes strong chest-to-chest contact with the opponent. The manner in which the contact was made and the fact that the chest-to-chest contact is in no way endangering the safety of the opponent, makes the contact reckless and, thus, a cautionable offense.

Following the “punish uniformly” guideline, the referee is correct in cautioning the attacker for unsporting behavior for his actions in embellishing the contact as well as for his actions in holding defender on the original cross which initiated the conflict.

Gorilla FC will be at Fado.

ECS will be at The Atlantic Crossing, The College Inn, and Schultzy’s in Seattle. And O’Blarney’s in Lacey.

Immortal Fury is planning on being at Meconi’s in downtown Tacoma.

North End Supporters will be at The Ballard Loft.

Where do you plan on watching the game?

Gonna be near the internet? You can come back to GoSounders for our Live Blog of the match and join the banter & fun!

“To be honest I just gave him a super light bump and he went down like he normally does. He rolled around a few times. If it would have been Nate Jaqua, he would have brushed his shoulder like a fly was buzzing him. That is Fredy, and as soon as I bumped him I told myself that was the wrong guy to bump. I got what I deserved and the referee thought he embellished it a little bit.”

First, watch Onstad push Fredy Montero in the back on the preceding play- Ljungberg’s Corner Kick at the 1:35 mark.

Then, skip to the 2:00 mark… Yep Mr Ostad- “a super light bump” where you can clearly see a coil in your legs, leading to a slight lunge, and lowering of your right shoulder. Maybe you watched to much hockey growing up in Canada.

YouTube Link

Nate jaqua is evidence of a rough match (AP)

Sounders FC played in their first MLS Playoff game on Thursday night and the two toughest defenses in the league ended in a 0-0 tie.

Seattle had their chances, namely from Patrick Ianni who was a game time addition to the Starting XI in place of Tyrone Marshall. Ianni connected on a header from a Freddie Ljungberg corner kick in the 14th minute- it had beat goalkeeper Pat Onstad but was cleared off the line by a Dynamo defender. Later in the43rd minute off of a Ljungberg freekick, Ianni’s header hit the crossbar.

The game was a rough one and the tone was set early on. In the 14th minute a scrum ensued in front of the Houston Net.  Following a Nate Jaqua header that went wide, the Canadian goalkeeper, Onstad, chest bumped Sounder Fredy Montero deliberately, and for no reason. A brouhaha ensued. ESPN2 and other commentators noted that Onstad should have been sent off, but was only issued a yellow card- as was Montero whose apparent crime was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Game 2 will be in 10 days- on Sunday, November 8th from Houston with a 12p kickoff.

Official Scoring
Houston Dynamo – Pat Onstad, Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis, Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 89), Dominic Oduro (Luis Angel Landin 79).
Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane, Tally Hall, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel.

TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Brad Davis 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Brad Davis 2); FOULS: 18 (Mike Chabala 4); OFFSIDES: 2 (Brian Ching 1, Dominic Oduro 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Stuart Holden 4); SAVES: 2 (Pat Onstad 2)

Seattle Sounders FC — Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Leo Gonzalez, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 82), Nate Jaqua, Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero (Roger Levesque 63).
Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Stephen King, Zach Scott, Peter Vagenas, Tyson Wahl.

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Patrick Ianni 3, Nate Jaqua 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 6 (6 tied with 1); OFFSIDES: 2 (Nate Jaqua 1, Steve Zakuani 1); CORNER KICKS: 9 (Freddie Ljungberg 9); SAVES: 4 (Kasey Keller 4)

Misconduct Summary
SEA — Fredy Montero (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 16
HOU — Pat Onstad (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 16
SEA — Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless Tackle) 64
SEA — Brad Evans (caution; Tactical Foul) 68
HOU — Brian Mullan (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71
HOU — Mike Chabala (caution; Tactical Foul) 75

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee’s Assistants: -Steven Taylor; Hector Vergara
4th Official: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: 35,807
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Cloudy-and-50-degrees