Next week is big for the Sounders. They have a chance to return Seb/Levesque/etal to the Semis of the US Open Cup for a third straight year. All it will take is beating the Wizards with Keller on the pitch for a Full 90.
Also looming though is the Saturday match v THE dominant team in MLS - the Houston Dynamo. They currently lead the board with 31 points in 16 matches after their key win at Kansas City, but Seattle controls their own destiny as they play Houston twice. ANY hope at the Supporters Shield, home field throughout the playoffs and entry to the group stages of the CCL must start with a win Saturday.
Well thanks to the Gold Cup and Yellow Card accumulation the Orange will be without their top 3 players in minutes, and 5 of their top 10. Both Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell got Yellows last night, both their fifth so they must sit. Stuart Holden and Brian Ching are serving with the US National Team. Andrew Hainault is with the Canadian Nationals as well.
These losses are huge. Houston has only started two men at Centerback this year and now both are out. Dominic Kinnear will have to cobble together a starting backline with four players likely totally less than 1000 minutes played so far this year in a week where the club will play two matches in five days traveling about 4,500 miles.
Their attacking set will be without two of the top three goalscorers and Cam Weaver will likely need to start with Kamara, which will be a bonus for his local contingent. The opportunity here is for Seattle to continue their tone for the second half declaring loudly that they are as good as any other team in this league.
Sounders will still be without Brad Evans and Tyrone Marshall for the Gold Cup.