Sounders 2018 schedule: There will be one fewer Cascadia Cup match

Major League Soccer released the full game schedule for the 2018 season Thursday, and the times and opponents for the Seattle Sounders’ 34 regular-season matches are finally available to drop into your calendar over the next 10 months.

Seattle’s opening match, the inaugural fixture for Los Angeles FC on Sunday, March 4, was already known, and kicks off an early slate of games in March and April that includes at least three byes due to potential CONCACAF Champions League congestion.

The Sounders will appear on national television 13 times this season, including the season opener and several Western Conference matchups towards the end of the season (Seattle plays 11 of its final 13 matches against the West). Another notable nationally-televised game: The July 15 away match at Atlanta will directly follow the World Cup Final broadcast on Fox.

The league takes a nine-day break for the World Cup from June 14-22, though any players called up would likely miss matches in early June against DC United and the New York Red Bulls. The Sounders do not have matches scheduled during FIFA international dates in March, September or October.

The Sounders face the Portland Timbers three times in the 2018 regular season, hosting once and traveling to Providence Park twice. However, Vancouver plays each of their regional rivals only twice. There’s no word yet how the winner of the Cascadia Cup will be determined with the unbalanced schedule this year, though in the past one match has been dropped from consideration to balance the contest.

Seattle has two scheduled road trips of two games, in May and October, and one stretch of three games played on the road, on July 4 at Colorado Rapids, July 7 at New England Revolution, and July 15 at Atlanta.

Also of note: the Sounders are likely to avoid some of the worst of the potential very hot weather games this coming summer. Away matches in Orlando, Houston and Dallas take place outside of the hottest months of the year. The Atlanta match will likely be played under a closed roof.

Here’s how the schedule breaks down by day of the week:

Check out the full Sounders schedule here (and below), and the complete MLS schedule at their site, with more details about Rivalry Week, Decision Day and the All-Star Game.