SEATTLE – Since their inaugural MLS season in 2009 the Seattle Sounders have established themselves as a perennial playoff contender, qualifying for the postseason every year of the club’s existence.
As they gear up for Sunday afternoon’s rivalry week showdown with the Portland Timbers at CenturyLink Field (4:30 pm ET; ESPN in the US, TSN2 in Canada), that streak is in unexpected jeopardy.
With a 1-0 victory the LA Galaxy on Friday, the San Jose Earthquakes vaulted over Seattle into a tie with FC Dallas for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference (STANDINGS), putting the Sounders outside the playoff bubble for the first time in 2015.
“Right now, the reality is we’re fighting for that last playoff spot,” captain Brad Evans said following Seattle’s Friday practice at CenturyLink Field. “That’s the situation that we’re in right now. …We’re at home and we expect to get three points. We pretty much have to.”
The added playoff implications would figure to add yet another layer of intensity to what is already considered by many to be the league’s most tenacious rivalry.
But Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid says that Sunday’s game – in front of an expected crowd of more than 63,000 – is already one of the biggest of the season, regardless of where the teams happen to be in the standings.
“It’s a game that has it’s own energy and has it’s own level,” Schmid said. “It’s hard to imagine you could add more to it. But, you know, there’s obviously a lot at stake [on Sunday].”
Schmid coached the Galaxy from 1999-2004 and was a part of another of the league’s most notable rivalries: The California Clasico between LA and San Jose.
When asked to differentiate between the two, Schmid pointed to the vast history that exists between Seattle and Portland as a defining quality that makes it the league’s premier rivalry.
“I think the rivalry between Portland and Seattle is just the deepest one because it transcends soccer,” Schmid said. “The city rivalry between Portland and Seattle runs pretty deep and that just adds to it because it’s more than just sports related. It’s culturally related as well. I think that’s what makes it the deepest rivalry in the league.”
Rivalry storylines aside, Sunday’s game begins a make or break stretch of the season for the Sounders as they try and reclaim their playoff spot in the logjam that has become the Western Conference standings.
“There’s urgency now and I think everybody will tell you that,” Evans said. “The vibe in camp is still positive. We realize we’ve got very good players and we’re getting more guys healthy, we’re getting more guys back. That’s always going to be a positive moving forward. But the end product on the field has to be a positive one and that’s got to be the result this weekend.”
