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Real Salt Lake visits Seattle Sounders in a Western conference first round playoff matchup

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By on MLS, MLS Western Conference, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC

Defender of the year nominee Yeimar Gomez Andrade

 

Seattle, WA – Lumen field and the Seattle Sounders will welcome Real Salt Lake to town on November 23rd, with a 7:30pm PST kickoff, in a first round playoff match that pits the second and seventh seeds against each other. Both of these clubs have playoff history against each other, meeting in 2011,2012, and 2019. Seattle has the advantage all time, winning two of those three matchups. The club that advances will look to play either Sporting Kansas City or the Vancouver Whitecaps.

 

A hard fought draw in Vancouver gave Seattle the 2nd seed in the West

 

Last match recap:

In the final match of the regular season, Seattle would leave Vancouver with a draw. Fredy Montero would score a penalty kick in the eighth minute, with Vancouver answering in the 20th minute. That draw would have both it’s pros, and its cons. The pros of the draw include winning the 2021 Cascadia cup, securing a spot in the 2022 Concacaf champions league, and most importantly locking up second seed in the Western conference of this years playoffs. The Sounders playoff streak now bumps to thirteen straight seasons, with Seattle holding the second longest such streak in all professional sports in the United States, just two seasons behind the Pittsburgh Penguins of the national hockey league. The cons to the draw would be that Seattle would fail to clinch the first seed in the West, getting leapfrogged by Colorado (As Sporting lost, they dropped to third), and that Seattle has now not won a game since October 9th against, ironically, Vancouver. That was six matches ago, and Seattle has been all draws and losses since.

 

Where they stand heading into this matchup:

  • Real Salt Lake: 7th in the Western conference with a 14 win, 14 loss, 6 draw record
    • Real Salt Lake comes into Seattle having only won two of their last five.
  • Seattle Sounders: 2nd in the Western conference with a 17 win, 8 loss, 9 draw record
    • With the second seed finish, Seattle has never finished below the fourth seed in their MLS existence.

 

Seattle secured the 2021 Cascadia cup in the draw against Vancouver

 

Key points to the game:

  • Get Raul going: Raul Ruidiaz is the all-time leading playoff scorer for the Sounders (With nine goals and counting), and lead Seattle in goals scored this season with 17, so it would only make sense to get the goal machine going come playoff time. While he did score against the Galaxy on the first of November, Raul had a much quieter second half as compared to his first half of this season. There is no better time for Raul to “flick the switch” than now. The additions of Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro back to the lineup should only help with that.
  • Win the midfield battle: This is a match that will feature two great midfield units. While the Sounders have impressive midfielders in Cristian Roldan and MVP candidate Joao Paulo, the visiting side in this match boasts two great midfielders as well. Damir Kreilach and Albert Rusnak had great regular seasons for Real Salt Lake, and they should be the focus point defensively. Kreilach scored 16 goals, notched 9 assists, and added a 80.7% pass completion percentage. Rusnak scored 11 goals, notched 11 assists, and added on a 88.7% pass completion percentage. Two names to keep contain this game: Kreilach and Rusnak.
  • Awaken the juggernaut: These are the “Seattle freaking Sounders,” as said by head coach Brian Schmetzer. The team that has not missed the playoffs since their MLS birth in 2009. That has won two MLS cups in the last five years. The team that has never finished below fourth in playoff seeding. This club is the standard in the MLS for consistent success.

 

Credit to Gerrit te Hennepe for the great photos used in this article. Thank you Gerrit!

 

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About Author

I started writing in Spring of 2021 when the 2021 challenge cup came up, writing OL Reign match recaps. Since then, I have expanded into all Seattle sports, including the Storm, Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and UW athletics. My bread and butter is mostly interviews with Seattle area athletes. In the future, I hope to cover all Seattle area teams.

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