Put it in the books folks. The regular season is over and the Seattle Sounders logged an impressive 63 points over 34 games. In most seasons that would have put the Sounders in the top spot. Instead the Sounders will be the number two team in the league and will face the number three team in Real Salt Lake in a home-and-home series. The next opponent for the Sounders will most likely be the Los Angeles Galaxy. Playoff tickets go on sale at 10:00 today.
The Sounders ended the season on a strong note with a 3-1 win over Chivas USA. The team looked focused and composed despite having midfield leader Mauro Rosales stretchered out early in the first half. The Sounders nation holds their collective breath this week as they wait for word on the health of his knee. He'll be needed for a tough playoff race. You can see highlights and photos on the Sounders website.
Playoff Seeding Set: Yesterday the Houston Dynamo beat a mostly reserve Galaxy team 3-1 to finalize the playoff standings. Wildcard games begin this week with Dallas FC hosting the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday. The Colorado Rapids will also host the Columbus Crew. The highest remaining seed from the Wildcard round will face the Sporting Kansas City while the other goes to California to play the Galaxy.
More after the jump:
Red Bulls Sneak In: Probably the biggest sighs of relief this weekend came from Harrison, New Jersey as the Red Bulls squeaked into the last playoff spot. The ship is far from righted at the dysfunctional inheritors to the Metro-Stars chronic hopelessness. There's a shot at them beating an FC Dallas team that has been playing like crap of late. Past that there doesn't seem much hope, but at least Hans Backe and Erik Soler still have a chance to save their jobs.
Draft Day Changes: The league has made some more changes to the Super-Draft. The first day of the draft will go only two rounds while the another round will be added to the supplemental draft. The end result is the same number of total draft rounds. So, no need to worry about that 3rd round draft pick your team acquired last year.
Keller Talks With Arlo: Captain Kasey Keller recently sat down with Arlo White to discuss his career with the Sounders, the US National Team and Europe. Lots of great insight from the man who opened the eyes of Europe to the skill of American keepers.