Major Link Soccer: Carli Lloyd drops hat trick on Haiti

Seattle

Seattle Sounders 2 are in the playoffs! They didn't make it easy on themselves, but you can check out some great photos of the match here.

The Vancouver Whitecaps podcast "From the Backline" previews the upcoming Seattle matches with a very special guest(Hint: rhymes with Dave Clark).

Power rankers find Seattle Sounders to be the 10th (or 11th) best team in MLS, exactly as good as San Jose Earthquakes. Perfect, that's just what we want them to think. Sets up the dramatic comeback narrative, just like we were going for.

The number of homes with TV's in the Seattle/Tacoma market has gone down between 2014 and 2015, by tens of thousands.

But you don't need a TV to watch this: The Seattle Aquarium has trained a young otter named Mishka to use an inhaler after smoke in the area from wildfires was giving her asthma symptoms. That is all.

Major League Soccer

What would happen if Dax McCarty led a wagon full of brave New York Red Bulls on the Oregon trail as an alternative means of transport to the Portland match? Well, you'll just have to follow along to find out, but it doesn't go super great.

This Vancouver writer thinks Seattle's spending spree this summer is an indication of a larger problem in MLS, namely that the roster and budget rules lack transparency. Well, no one can really argue with that. Or, Mr. Weber is just salty because Garth Lagerwey et al are amazing. Either way, they are still ahead of Seattle in the standings, so.

More details have leaked on the potential schedule change for CONCACAF Champions' League, in which the tournament returns to its old format, with more games (including more MLS/Liga MX contests) and no three-team groups.

US Soccer

Carli Lloyd went ahead and dropped a hat trick on Haiti in the US 5-0 win. However, they "didn't look particularly coherent."

EA has removed 13 women from FIFA 16 to preserve their NCAA eligibility. The women are mostly Canada and Mexico internationals.

EA Sports is removing these 13 women from FIFA 16 because of complaints from the NCAA http://t.co/BXvxmMVLKv pic.twitter.com/5YjJepU9BZ

— Total MLS (@TotalMLS) September 17, 2015

World

Fifpro is taking legal action against FIFA to try to force sweeping changes to the current rules for teams. Most notably, The players' union wants to eliminate transfer fees altogether and limit squad sizes so rich teams can't hoard the rights of talented players.