By Toby Dunkelberg

After Sunday’s 3-1 victory over New York City FC the Sounders stand on sixteen points from eight games. A great run by anyone’s account but perhaps even more impressive is that they are currently tied with DC United for fewest goals allowed in MLS at six.

When you think of Seattle, you think of Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, and maybe even Osvaldo Alonso. But what you should be thinking of is a stingy defense that’s been tough to score on. Even on the tough confines of Yankee Stadium, where one might expect it be easier to slip behind simply due to everything being so compacted and close, it took a fantastic curler from Ballouchy for New York City FC to score. That’s not to say they were perfect. They did give up twenty shots and although most of those were from distance it still took a great performance from Stefan Frei to keep NYCFC at one.

But that’s one of the great things about this Sounders defense, there’s talent all across the back and they’re all playing better than expected. Tyrone Mears has done the rare feat and perfectly slotted into a playoff caliber MLS defense, just ask Liam Ridgewell how difficult that can be. It’s a impressive feat on it’s own that Brad Evans has exceeded all expectations and appears to be more than just settled in his new role, he’s looks like he’s thriving. The argument can even be made that he’s been more important for the defensive success thus far than Marshall, who’s missed two games now.

Stefan Frei has consistently turned out great performance that are making people forget all the flak that Sigi Schmid got this time last year for his insistence on starting the former Toronto keeper. Chad Marshall has been the same rock solid aerial magician that he was last year. And then theres the biggest surprise of the lot, the emergence of youngster Dylan Remick, who finally dislodged Leo Gonzalez from the starting role and hasn’t looked back since. Combined Seattle has five well above average starters on defense, and that’s not even including Zach Scott and Leo Gonzalez who have also played admirable in their few starts.

Just to give you an idea of how well they’re playing right now, as a unit they’re on pace to give up just 25.5 goals, just 0.75 goals a game.  That would break the record of 27 set by the 2012 incarnation of Sporting Kansas City. Obviously it’s not a great comparison and it’ll take a heck of a lot more than a eight game good stretch for that to happen but the Sounders have been playing historically well. And while it’s most certainly a stretch to say they’ll break the record of 27 in a season, the franchise record of 33 goals allowed in a 34 game season is looking exceedingly within their grasp. And that was set in 2012, before most teams had two designated players, let alone three.

However, even with all that talent and their current form, there’s one glaring issue that keeps me from throwing caution to the wind, their opponents. The most dangerous offenses they’ve faced at full strength thus far are the Houston Dynamo and San Jose Earthquakes, not exactly intimidating sides. Everyone else has been missing at least one player integral to their attack. The Galaxy were without Robbie Keane, Portland was missing Diego Valeri, and the New England Revolution game way back at the beginning of the season saw a Revs side that was without Lee Nguyen and Jermaine Jones.

This makes Saturday’s game against the Columbus Crew all the more important. Columbus has looked far better against much better opponents than anyone else Seattle has played thus far. So watch Remick and Evans in particular as both remain relatively untested. This match will be a good barometer to judge whether this really is a dominate defense, or if Seattle has just inflated their stats with sub-par opponents. I’m a firm believer but you’ll just have to tune in at 4:30PM on Saturday to find out for yourself.