Sounders at Earthquakes

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Hey, it's the deciding game of the much ballyhooed Heritage Cup. The Sounders probably need to win by two goals ... ah who are we kidding? The Heritage Cup is but a mere afterthought in this game for everyone but the most diehard supporters who helped create it. A win puts the Sounders ahead of the Quakes in points (although still a bit behind in PPM) while a tie has the potential to vault the Sounders into playoff position.

With injuries and playing time concerns, we think the starting lineup is pretty set with the main exception being right mid. We decided that the smart money is on Sanna Nyassi getting the nod, but we'd be equally unsurprised if Miguel Montano or Roger Levesque got the start. The dark horse candidate is, perhaps, Nate Jaqua. Regardless of what some of us may think of Nyassi's play, the reality is that Sigi Schmid has placed a lot of faith in him.

The Quakes lineup is in a bit of flux. We're going with the same lineup they had last week, but Frank Yallop has made several lineup changes since the last time these two teams met. Forward Ryan Johnson and goalkeeper Joe Cannon have both slipped out of the starting XI in favor of Cornell Glen and Jon Busch. 

As usual, here's your printer friendly version:  match 19-2 (print)