The leadup to MLS Cup is always an appropriate time to take a look at history, the journeys that have taken place as the respective conference champions reached to the doorstep of immortality. With that in mind, here’s a list of MLSsoccer.com’s top 10 moments in the history of the Seattle Sounders, who will be representing the Western Conference in the 2016 MLS Cup final against Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday.
To help, we caught up with Frank MacDonald, a Seattle soccer historian who has truly seen it all from the beginning. MacDonald has been a part the area’s soccer scene for decades, working for the original NASL Sounders, covering the team for various outlets dating back to its days in the A-League and serving as the first communications director for the club when it made the leap to MLS in 2009.
10. 2007 USL championship
The rest of this list will consist of moments from the MLS-era Sounders, but we’ll start with a shout-out to the USL days that helped set the stage for the MLS franchise to come to fruition.
The Sounders won four championships in their previous incarnations before jumping to MLS, bagging two as members of the A-league in 1995 and 1996 and two more as members of the USL's top division in 2005 and 2007. The Sounders won the 2007 title in resounding fashion, blasting the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-0, led by current head coach Brian Schmetzer.
“The ’07 [USL title game] was like a party to celebrate because the news had just come down the line that there’s going to be an MLS franchise,” MacDonald said. “It broke open in the late going, so it was like the cork coming out of the bottle at that point because they won 4-0. That one particularly comes to mind.”
9. Friberg’s Knockout Round winner to sink Galaxy
The Sounders didn’t win MLS Cup last season, but the 2015 MLS Cup playoffs still gave the Rave Green one of their most dramatic postseason moments. Tied with the LA Galaxy in their Knockout Round fixture at CenturyLink Field, midfielder Erik Friberg smashed home a dramatic 73rd-minute volley that would see the Sounders through to the Western Conference semifinals. To make it even sweeter, the tally beat the mighty, star-studded Galaxy, an opponent who historically had proven to be Seattle's chief postseason nemesis.
“It’s like checking a box. It really hadn’t been a rivalry that had much equal footing between those two clubs,” MacDonald said. “I mean, the Galaxy had the best of it. Just doing that in kind of a, shall we say, down year – to at least eliminate a foe and check that box, that felt good.
“It gave a feeling, like ‘You know, we’re getting our foothold here on this rivalry.’”
8. First US Open Cup win
The Sounders have now won four Lamar Hunt US Open Cup titles, tied with the Chicago Fire for the most of any MLS team. But the fact that their first USOC triumph came in their inaugural MLS season made it a special one. Paced by goals from Man of the Match Fredy Montero and Roger Levesque, the Sounders bested D.C. United – the tournament's defending champions – 2-1 at RFK Stadium in the ’09 USOC final – bagging their first major trophy as an MLS franchise.
“There’s nothing like beating a team that you know wants it just as bad as you do,” said MacDonald. “To watch that unfold back at RFK, that was great. It was just a special feeling to do it on their home ground because people had made light of the fact that we had played at home the entire tournament. To go there and do it, it validated the entire [Open] Cup run. For an expansion team, it was a great feat. I think it also helped kick-start our run to clinch a playoff berth, so I think it played a double role.”
7. Clint Dempsey introduced at CenturyLink
The signing of one of the greatest players in American soccer history has to be considered a landmark moment in the history of the franchise. “Deuce” was introduced in dramatic fashion before a regular-season game against FC Dallas, taking off his jacket to reveal his new Rave Green jersey and send the CenturyLink crowd into a frenzy.
WATCH: Clint Dempsey is introduced as a member of Seattle Sounders
“It was a little bit of showmanship to bring him out there,” MacDonald said. “Really, what it was, is like watching a card game and watching someone push all their chips to the middle. It was just another signal that the ownership was all in and they wanted to reward the fans with putting the best possible team out there.”
6. 48 seconds
The Sounders’ third-round US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers at PGE Park (now Providence Park) on July 1, 2009 featured one of the most memorable goals in Sounders history and easily the most memorable goal celebration.
Just 48 seconds into the match, midfielder Sanna Nyassi sent a cross into the path of a diving Levesque, who headed home the game’s first goal before a minute had even elapsed. Then, in an act they had coordinated on the bus ride down to the game, Levesque posed as a tree and teammate Nate Jaqua played the role of lumberjack, “chopping” Levesque down, much to the delight of the traveling supporters.
WATCH: Levesque scores against Timbers, then gets "chopped down"
“It’s got a number of elements,” MacDonald said. “We bussed down there, and the first thing I remember is that apparently we had told US Soccer we were wearing one uniform and brought the other, which caused Portland to have to change their gear.
“To see [the celebration], it was just sweet because you knew how much it meant to Roger, being part of the USL team, to the fans that knew him and watched him. And to know the pain we inflicted, right there before their eyes, to Portland.”
5. Jordan Morris’ "flu game"
Yes, we’re aware that Jordan Morris claims that it was a stomach virus, not the flu, that hampered him going into the second leg of his team’s Western Conference Championship matchup against the Colorado Rapids last month. But regardless of the ailment's details, the 22-year-old’s game-winning goal in that fixture instantly became the stuff of legend. The fact that he also took a cleat to the knee from Rapids goalkeeper Zac MacMath while scoring that goal – and still remained on the field for the full 90 minutes? That’s just icing on the cake.
“To see him go in there, take his chance, knowing he’s playing at less than his best, to take out the second-best team in the league after taking out the Supporters’ Shield winner and Open Cup winner [FC Dallas] in the second round – that was a really magical moment,” MacDonald said. “It had a real sense of history to it as soon as it found the back of the net. It was just special and it’s only going to grow in stature as time marches on.”
4. First match at CenturyLink
Seattle’s inaugural MLS match on March 9, 2009 against the New York Red Bulls couldn’t have started the franchise off on much better footing. The Sounders blew out the defending Eastern Conference champions 3-0 that day, paced by a brace from Montero and a tally from Brad Evans, setting the stage for what would quickly evolve into one of the league’s biggest markets.
WATCH: Sounders kick off first MLS season with victory
“To have this celebration of just bringing all the people that love soccer together in one place and, now, instead of, say, an exhibition game involving an international team, this is our team,” said MacDonald. “This is going to be the team going forward that this community embraces. It was a win before the game ever started in my book. That’s where it started to go on and become surreal.
“It was a statement of all we thought this community could be in support of soccer. It gave us that platform to go forward and to celebrate the long haul back to the top flight.”
3. Kasey Keller’s last game
Kasey Keller is one of the best goalkeepers in the history of US soccer and is also a Washington native, adding a little bit of luster when he signed as the Sounders’ starting ‘keeper in 2009. Keller’s last match against the San Jose Earthquakes on Oct. 15, 2011 was especially memorable. In front of a massive crowd of 64,140, the Sounders bagged a 2-1 victory via goals from Montero and Sammy Ochoa, sending the legendary GK out on top.
“That game is in bold face for me for a couple of reasons,” said MacDonald. “When you think of 64,000 showing up, it was really a tribute to Kasey and celebration of the game. It was people coming out to see Seattle soccer, celebrate a pretty good year and then, you throw on top of that, what Kasey did, to show that he was still at the peak of his game – great statement. Then we get the late goal to win it.
“It was great theater. When I left there, I made sure I got a DVD of that game because that was truly a special evening.”
2. Winning West in 2016/making first MLS Cup
Exactly where this year’s playoff run will stack up in Sounders lore will be easier to discern after Saturday’s MLS Cup. But with that Western Conference Championship victory over the Rapids, the 2016 Sounders have solidified a place in franchise history regardless. This was a team left for dead, 10 points out of the playoff picture in mid-July, before embarking on the magical turnaround that culminates with Saturday's championship match. If you need any visual evidence of just how much that means to the franchise, just look at the reaction of Sounders original Ozzie Alonso when the final whistle sounded.
WATCH: Alonso reacts to Sounders reaching MLS Cup final
“It was a great affirmation of those who kept the faith when there wasn’t a lot to grab on to there during the dog days of summer, that held on,” MacDonald said. “It’s a special moment because you’ve finally taken that next step.
“To have relatively hard times and to come back from it and show that resolve, all the things flash through your mind. All the people that got injured, the fact that it cost Sigi [Schmid] his job. The crowds had been getting on the team and were frustrated, to see that release of, ‘We’ve made it.’ But we’ve only made it to within sight of the summit. The summit still has yet to be obtained.”
1. 2014 Supporters’ Shield
With one more game still to go to see if the Sounders can win their first MLS Cup, the crowning accomplishment of the franchise thus far still has to be considered their Supporters’ Shield-winning campaign of 2014. Heading into the final day of that season, the Sounders were tied with the LA Galaxy on 61 points.
As fate would have it, the sides met at CenturyLink Field in a regular season-finale that saw the Sounders emerge victorious on the strength of a pair of goals from midfielder Marco Pappa. A victory on Saturday would certainly top it, but the Shield will take the top spot for the time being.
“It just felt good, much like the Portland game in ’09,” said MacDonald. “Not only grabbing that Shield but doing it at the expense of the Galaxy. I would say, being a traditionalist, at that point I felt we were the champions. That trophy means something because it means you were the best since March and that was confirmation of it. Doing it against the Galaxy? So much the better.”
