By JASON MITCHELL SEATTLE, Wash. - They play the games for a reason, and for 88 minutes Saturday afternoon swooning Chivas USA (7-12-7) looked like they might defy the odds and earn a draw with the Seattle Sounders (13-6-8). But this late in the season there are also reasons why some teams are fighting for the Supporters' Shield while others watch their playoff hopes dwindle away. For the Sounders, Eddie Johnson is one of those reasons. His 12th and 13th goals of the season were the only scoring the Sounders needed to top Chivas USA, 2-1, in front of 38,934... Continue reading

By JASON MITCHELL SEATTLE, Wash. – Saturday night at CenturyLink Field saw three different players score goals, but none of them were the true star of a special evening. The night belonged to Steve Zakuani. The earliest hint the London-born midfielder might be back in the 18 for the first time since June 20 and just the second time since breaking his leg in April of 2011 came via an early-afternoon tweet from Zakuani: "Wake up on a high, and then I cross my heart and hope to fly," it read. Zakuani, in his fourth year out of Akron, appeared... Continue reading

By JASON MITCHELL Leave it to the Seattle Sounders, winners of three straight U.S. Open Cups, to at least momentarily restore a semblance of order to what has been an unpredictable tournament. A night after lower-tier teams massacred MLS sides, the Sounders dominated the NASL's Atlanta Silverbacks in a 5-1 rout. Four second-half goals, including a pair from Sammy Ochoa, led the way to a thrashing at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. The victory slots Seattle through to host Cal FC, the fifth-tier team that shocked the Portland Timbers later Wednesday night. The amateur side out of Thousand Oaks,... Continue reading

Photo by Stephen Brashear/ISIphotos.com By JASON MITCHELL More than the usual smattering of Rave Green gear sprinkled the streets of downtown Seattle Wednesday. A plane circled high above Lake Union in the late afternoon, trailing a 3,000 square-foot Sounders FC scarf visible from downtown to the city of Bellevue across Lake Washington. Sure signs of a soccer-crazed city celebrating another trophy. And there was a good deal to celebrate. The first Lamar Hunt United States Open Cup three-peat since New York Greek American in 1969, sure. But more than that, a record-breaking 35,615 in attendance to watch the victory, one... Continue reading