While the majority of MLS sides were struggling in the US Open Cup the Seattle Sounders were collecting goals from four different players. Sammy Ochoa finished his brace in the the 66th minute to put Seattle up 5-1 over the Atlanta Silverbacks. Starfire and the Open Cup continue to be a place of Sounders victories.

In a first half that was if not competitive, at least close. It took a cross into the scrum that Jeff Parke popped out to Andy Rose to open the account in the 44th. That half had some sloppy passes along the backline in what could only be called casual play.

The second half was not casual. Traffic was not a one-way city street, but an open freeway towards the Atlanta net. Only a quick attempt by Reinaldo Navia broke that flow. Goals rained down like Seattle sunshine. Osvaldo Alonso ended the evening with a goal and an assists. Alex Caskey netted one. Sammy Ochoa struck gold with his brace. His second was a left footed curling shot that had no reason to go in besides his will. His will is strong.

Atlanta's defense could not keep up with the flow. Cordell Cato and sub David Estrada's speed proved too much for the lower level side. Space was consistently open. The question was not could Seattle win, but instead it was "How many would Seattle put away?"

The answer is five.

There isn't any question. Sigi Schmid takes the tournament seriously. His original lineup featured a back six of starters. Of the attackers only Ochoa, he of the brace, and Cordell Cato aren't regularly featured in MLS matches. Those two were also two of the best on the field this evening. Cato showed he's much more than a speed demon. His tenacious defense and quality crosses created issues for the Silverbacks. His throughball to Alonso is a missing element in Seattle's attack. He is a boy on fire. Quiet, unassuming, and for all at Starfire the talk of the match.

Tonight the Sounders move one step closer to #Se4ttle. This is the Open Cup you were hoping for.

Win and move on. Lose and go home. A knockout tournament is not about which team is better, but which is better right now. Tonight's US Open Cup match between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Atlanta Silverbacks will be carried at SoundersFC.com for those unable to be at sunny Starfire in Tukwila, WA.

Seattle's lineup is an "A" in defense featuring regular starters Meredith; Burch, Hurtado, Parke, Scott; and Alonso. The offense is more reserve laden. Eddie Johnson is joined with Sammy Ochoa up top with Cordell Cato, Andy Rose and Alex Caskey in the attacking band. There's serious firepower on the bench with Fredy, David, Brad, Roger and Christian on the bench. Only Servando Carrasco is a pure defesive player. Andrew Weber is the bench keeper.

Atlanta is starting their number two keeper. Yeah, really. Again, their number one hasn' had a great season, but still, that's odd. Rafael Cox is starting at fullback while Ciaron O'Brien looks to be working the point. Their leading scorer is starting at forward.

This will be both a gamethread and a liveblog. I'll tag my observations with the minute.

#Se4ttle.

At one point the David v Goliath nature of the US Open Cup was a great story. It captured the underdog nature of the nation's Cup tournament. The all-time numbers (MLS teams advance past lower division teams 71% of time) back up that narrative. Things last night may have shifted that a bit. Tonight's Seattle Sounders v Atlanta Silverbacks game at Starfire takes on a different meaning. MLS teams advanced at a 50% rate on Tuesday night and will go in the record books at 6-5-3.

It would be tempting to say it was because the losing teams didn't take the tournament seriously, except several did. It would be tempting to point out that no longer is it just the six best MLS sides plus two qualifiers, except four of the five past qualifying teams lost. Into this Round 3 MLSassacre the Sounders start their title defense facing an NASL team that is harder to scout than some of their past CCL opponents. 'Film' is publicly available on a UStream site and the league stretches from Edmonton to San Antonio to Puerto Rico.

The Silverbacks are not very good in league play. Their 0-4-5 -8 record does not matter. The fact that they have a poor performing keeper (backup isn't good either), does not matter. Their league leading scorer? Also doesn't matter. A roster of MLS reserve level or better players? Does not matter.

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The current number one at the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings isn't unanimous, but it is enough that they are placed in a tier all by themselves. Real Salt Lake has the results, but are probably not that clear cut, it's just that so many other teams are splitting the vote in the next chunk. That next chunk is five teams deep. Two from the West (San Jose Earthquakes and the Sounders) and followed by three from the East (Sporting Kansas City, D.C. United and New York Red Bulls). Those six teams are the only ones receiving a vote in the top two, in fact only three voters don't have a top six of only those six. Red Bull is left out of that top 6 by three voters.

Cascadia and Cup rivals outside of RSL are falling. While the Vancouver Whitecaps are still in a decent spot, Portland and LA are continue their slide. The LA Galaxy may be using that frictionless ketchup bottle. In week seven they received an even 7.00 average ranking. Now in week 12 they are at 15.29, lower than the Portland Timbers. Portland nudged up recently, but over the life of the voting their chart is looks like the cool down cycle on a treadmill.

Playoffs by Power Ranking

After a bit of a pause I've rejoined the voting membership of SB Nation's MLS Power Ranking. My rankings follow.

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Sigi Schmid is calling a week with a US Open Cup match and a short turn around for an MLS Reserve League game "Opportunity Week." Within a game against the Atlanta Silverbacks that is a "must win" by nature of a knockout tournament and a results don't matter much Reserve match at Starfire on Friday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Schmid will get to rest his MLS starters a bit. Fans of the Seattle Sounders will also get to see those players which have rarely donned the Rave Green, as long as they are healthy.

With seven players out due to various degress of injury, which players will we see when? When Sigi said at practice yesterday, "Everybody is going to get an opportunity to show themselves and show that, ‘Hey Coach, you’ve been looking past me, you need to look at me because I’m a guy who can play.’ It’s a great chance for our guys and they would be making a big mistake if they look past it," who will take this chance to shine?

Like many MLS teams some stars will rest in Open Cup action, though not likely to the LA Galaxy's level of sitting five starters still with the club. One thing seems relatively certain, Seattle is looking to make history with a four-peat. Se4ttle is the goal. Taking the relatively weak Silverbacks easy ends that. The Open Cup also only allows five active "internationals." Maybe there is a bit of good news in that Osvaldo Alonso can't play in the next MLS match in mid-June. His presence clearly changes games.

So who do you start in which of the two games?

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In 2007 the Atlanta Silverbacks and Seattle Sounders faced off in the USL-1 Final. The Sounders had won the Commissioner's Cup already (the regular season title). They also made a deep run in the US Open Cup beating the Timbers, Chivas USA and the Rapids. Seattle would eventually fall to FC Dallas in the semifinals after 120 minutes of play. Atlanta was also a good team, 4th in the league. They were also knocked out of the US Open Cup by Dallas, but in a third-round match that went to PKs.

That Final was a trouncing. The four-nil scoreline doesn't do justice to my memory of the dominance. It was one way traffic. Several players who would make MLS rosters were on the field, including at least one for the Silverbacks (Mac Kandji). Rumors had already started about MLS coming to Seattle, it would be a month-plus before that was confirmed, but that 2007 year may be the best in Seattle soccer history.

Sure attendance was low, but that lower-division team dominated their league, were undefeated in winning the Cascadia and beat two of three MLS opponents in the Open Cup. In November we found out we'd get MLS. In 2009 Seattle would reinvent support of an MLS side, perfect the Open Cup and become one of the greatest sports business stories in American history.

Claiming that Seattle is one of the shining beacons of the what American soccer can by is both hyperbole and correct.

There's also Atlanta.

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Without the results of the past few weeks a draw on the road to the newly revamped Chivas USA could be a positive, particularly a come-from-behind draw. In light of the slump that the Seattle Sounders FC are in, is a road draw enough? In some cases 1-1 is a positive. In others it feels like a loss. Tonight it was probably the "deserved" result from the play of the match.

But, in the larger context of a season tonight's result is disappointing. Heading into a large break in MLS play Sigi Schmid has the opportunity to see his team get to health, focus on their finishing issues and combination play. Each had an issue in the draw on a Memorial Day Weekend. And, after one more game Osvaldo Alonso will be back.

There were some intricate movements. Balls were played in ways that drop jaws. In basketball there would be dimes galore.Alvaro Fernandez, Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson all had their moments where their ability with the ball at the feet caused any viewer to gape, to pause, to wonder "what if."

David Estrada's goal was in some ways similar. It was one touch magic, a hockey redirect that simply went in the net, but the action to make it happen was not simple. Others on the team may be more capable of that goal, but Estrada converted it. Mauro Rosales had two chances where he could have put in simpler goals, but fortune wasn't with the Argentine this evening.

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May's packed schedule is nearly up for the Seattle Sounders with their last MLS match of the crowded schedule. For some players this will mean a rest. For others, due to injuries, they will be pressed into more duty than one could expect. On top of a likely start at CDM for either Andy Rose or Servando Carrasco there could also be a change in the backline. Sigi Schmid will need to decide of a four of Burch/Hurtado/Parke/Scott can all go on short rest or will someone sit. The attacking five should all be able to start. There is no need to "save" one for an Open Cup game against Atlanta.

Still, the defense has made small errors. At the same time Chivas USA made scouting difficult by adding two new starters and regularly shifting their front six. It's a match where the first 15 could be a feeling out period with lots of ugly play in the center of the pitch.

Seattle can avoid that by pressing early. The Goats aren't a strong team defending passes nor preventing shots, so the Sounders can and should press the ball forward quickly and often. This would force Dan Kennedy to be great. He can be, so it isn't a pure path to victory, but it's a shot. Inside 25 yards quite popping the ball up to heads, but still use the air to pass. Little sombrero moves and curling balls in tight spaces are a specialty of Fernandez and Montero. Against a backline still getting familiar these should help open new space where magic can happen.

With Juan Pablo Angel, Juan Agudelo, Jose Correa and Alejandro Moreno (only two should start) Chivas has a strong forward core. The first two played together in New York. Don't assume they can't work together, instead prevent service into them. If they try to crowd the center of the pitch, let them have it. While LaBrocca is good, getting a Sounder out of position to cover him and empty of the even better attackers will be a mistake. Maybe have Evans or Montero drop back to a pick a pocket if Chivas gets too casual with the space. All the statistics and matchups are in Seattle's favor, but that hasn't meant much lately.

The broadcast is on KING 5 and 97.3 FM (KOMO2 & 99.3 in Spanish) at 7:30 PM Pacific.

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How hard do we try to fit the Sounders offensive woes into our preconceived narrative? Fans of teams like Barcelona and Brazil see the Rave Green as too direct. Fans of Fucito, Nyassi and other speedsters see a lack of that now. There still isn't a traditional target man, as Eddie Johnson drifts wide and prefers the ball at his feet unless he's banging in a cross. Others want to see more outside shooting. The opinion is out there that Seattle doesn't use enough throughballs.

What if the offense isn't actually significantly broken? The image accompanying this story is of Seattle's shot attempts inside the box against the Columbus Crew. As sidereal recently pointed out Shots in the Box are decently tied to goals scored, the reason for that is because last year 19.51% of shots in the box became goals. The Sounders, even with their potent offense converted an impressive 21.20%. This year that number is down a bit for both the league (17.19%) and the team (13.58%). For the league in the "Opta era" is 18.84%.

Those shots are much more effective than shots from outside the 18 for the league are just over 4%, for Seattle last year it was at 6.40% but has fallen in line with the league average this season. Where the Sounders are particularly pained is in the 18. This is most clearly true for the four games where they failed to score.

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Chivas USA is no longer a bad team. Though, that may not matter, they were one of the ones that had Seattle's number for most of the MLS era. Saturday's 7:30 PM game should be entertaining. Both sides are defense first teams with offensive players who are inconsistent, yet able to take over any game against any team. KING 5 has the broadcast on the memorial day weekend, so while many of you may be out of town, you are more likely to be able to see the game.

With the recent trades acquiring Danny Califf and Juan Agudelo (now back in Carson after training with the United States National Team) Chivas looks a bit different. If there's one thing that becomes apparent quickly in our three questions with The Goat Parade is that Robin Frasier is making the team over in his fashion. If they aren't playoff contenders now, they should be soon.

SaH: Most teams that try to rebuild on the fly look hapless and ineffective while doing it. Chivas USA seems to have done it right. Why do outsiders see the trades in a positive light?

tGP: Obviously, we can't fully assess Chivas' moves until after the season, so it could end up going horribly wrong. But the trades last week for Danny Califf and Juan Agudelo look good and have led to immediate results, as Chivas have picked up four points since they joined the team. So far so good it would appear.

Clearly, Califf and Agudelo (who is away with the U.S. Men's National Team this week) are not the only reasons for Chivas improvement in recent games. I think the real reason that the midseason personnel moves look good is because Robin Fraser has been rebuilding the roster since he arrived. He traded for Nick LaBrocca just prior to the 2011 season. He wasn't afraid to ship out Justin Braun, a fan favorite with major problems with consistency, and in hindsight leaving Zarek Valentin unprotected for the Expansion Draft doesn't seem like such a hapless move. The club's scouting seems to have improved tremendously this year, as Chivas have signed two very good players from Ecuador, Oswaldo Minda and Miller Bolanos, and signed a pair of promising Colombians in John Valencia and Jose Correa. Fraser also signed Rauwshan McKenzie, a center back who was buried on the depth chart at Real Salt Lake who has been a revelation now that he's getting a chance to play. And of course they obtained James Riley, who's been a big upgrade at right back over Valentin.

In all, only six players on this team predate Fraser's arrival. Make no mistake: this is Fraser's team, and he is fully responsible for Chivas' fortunes. But there is optimism surrounding this team that hasn't really been present for some time, and that is exciting.

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Soccer's ratings on TV in the United States are an odd thing. The best teams play at poor times for high ratings, though the Champions League final did pull in 2 Million viewers. MLS struggles and only pops over the 1 Million viewers mark for the MLS Cup Final. Mexican league and playoff matches draw strong numbers (2.3 Million for Fall Final), but only on Spanish language stations and are often afterthoughts within the greater American soccer community. If you total all the club soccer being watched in America on a given weekend it would be a number on par with any sport but football.

But that's not how ratings and popularity work. Fans of Chelsea don't necessarily watch Club America, or PSG, or Toronto, or LA, or Santos. The lack of a league with national scope both on TV and in major markets for a significant period of time probably hurts TV ratings for soccer in America. The diverse number of options in our modern media environment also likely reduces the potential for strong numbers. In English there are soccer games on Fox stations, on NBC Sports Network, on ESPN, on GolTV and soon to be on Al-Jazeera Sports as they launch a global sports network. In Spanish there are nearly a dozen different networks carrying games.

Some would point to great numbers for the last Gold Cup Final (nearly 1 Million in English and nearly 9 Million in Spanish) or the World Cup, or the upcoming Euros and Olympics to point out this sport is popular and that MLS ratings should be higher. But these ratings are strong for two reasons - nationalism and unity. Neither of those exist in club soccer.

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It's officially a slump. A frustrating, often playing better, but still slumpy stretch. In a match where Seattle Sounders FC dominated the chances created and entertained the crowd it was the Columbus Crew that seized opportunity. The Crew's two opportunities were completed. Small defensive mistakes opened that door and Columbus shut that door with authority.

The Sounders had opportunities too. They never finished. If it was a failure to complete designed plays inside the 18, or a missed header, or a free kick banged into the wall, or a stepover that runs out the endline, the Sounders had opportunities. They made Columbus make defensive mistakes too. Six times they put shots on frame. Six times they had shots blocked by defenders. Nine times the Sounders shot towards the goal.

Seattle should have had a goal or two this evening. It didn't happen. The failures were on the offense. Frustrating opportunities were missed by each of the best players in Rave Green.

Eddie Johnson noted post game, "I thought we got some good service sometimes, that final ball wasn’t there but I thought we were getting some good runs and getting some good crosses on it. Like I said, on another day, those opportunities go in."

For fans, it must be frustrating at this point. Just one earned of the last nine available.

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Some teams are defined by a key player or two, others by a system that lasts between coaches, in the Columbus Crew there is a team that was once a system/player team, but is now defined by its coach. No player sticks our as an anchor, particularly with their injuries. Robert Warzycha takes a little bit of tactics from his time with Sigi Schmid and supplements those with an attitude that is pure Crew - hard working team on a budget. It's a system that worked last year and probably should this, despite early struggles.

The Seattle Sounders have talent advantages, a more experienced coach and a clear statistical lead. The Sounders are better finishers and now have the attacking core together; we may even see an ideal XI for the first time as Brad Evans is likely to return. If that does happen it will almost certainly mean that every sub is used and early. Alvaro, Mauro and Eddie probably can't go 90 today and start this weekend. How Sigi adjusts at half and subs could define the game.

With the Crew having a thrown together lineup on a midweek game traveling from the East Seattle can push the speed of play and attack the enemy's goal. There are opportunities to score against the Crew. That means this year, not history. Columbus allows 36.7% of shots on frame and a strike rate against of 8.6%. While that second number is lower than league average, it is higher than Seattle's last couple of opponents. Push the game to them, wear them down and earn us a haircut.

The game is on KONG 6/16 and 97.3 FM (KOMO2 & 99.3 in Spanish) at 7 PM Pacific.

Pre Match Build-up: Scouting Report | Team Notes (pdf) | Tickets

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A couple weeks ago we started dropping in some of the gamethread tidbits that you miss on home games because you are in the stadium. This is all the below the fold stuff, with some useful links (although less this week, as I failed to get three questions out in a timely fashion). It includes the matchups, statistics and tactics that are likely to influence who wins or loses the match. It also let's you know where I'll be pregame if you want to buy a scarf.

For the matchups this week it's a bit more of a guess than usual. Both teams have injury and fitness concerns and so these are my best guesses. They are a bit different than sidereal's in his scouting report. It is also purely focused on offensive players. The Columbus Crew don't have a singular threat to defend against. This means that if Seattle places enough pressure towards the attacking end that should create a kind of defense.

The game is on KONG 6/16 and 97.3 FM (KOMO2 & 99.3 in Spanish) at 7 PM Pacific.

Pre Match Build-up: Scouting Report | Team Notes (pdf) | Tickets

Team Statistics Matchups

Tactical Keys

· Push The Tempo

· Enemy’s Gate Is Down

· Communicate Counter Defense

· Adjust At Halftime

Player Matchups

· Alvaro Fernandez v Eddie Gaven

· Fredy Montero v Danny O’Rourke

· Eddie Johnson v Josh Williams

How We’re Watching
Beverage: No Equal Amber Lager
Scarf: 2012 Nos Audietis/Sounder at Heart
Kit: Established 2007 T
Where I'm Watching: 214 (pregame at Temple)

Nos Audietis In Somniis | Nos Audietis In Altum

Oftentimes there comes a group think in various power rankings. In the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings we try to combat this by having a diverse group vote and on balance the rankings are what you'd think they should be. But if you look around MLS at power rankings a bunch, you'll find diverse opinions about some teams, mostly about Seattle. Take MLSSoccer.com's power rankings that have Seattle drawing on the road to a Vancouver Whitecaps team that their editors think is good. In their rankings that's a negative. They notice a trend and include the loss to Real Salt Lake as part of it. Oddly, for MLSSoccer.com it is worse to lose to a good team than to a bad one as RSL has done this year.

Before we get too offended by MLSSoccer.com let's note something they have right. Seattle hasn't done well against top teams. By Sagarin they are 5th by PPM against top 10 teams and have the easiest schedule in MLS so far. Also by Sagarin? The Sounders are #1 overall. At this point does it matter if Seattle is "rated" 5th, 2nd, 1st? No. Total points earned and trophies won in a season are the measuring stick here.

Within the voting by SBN writers Seattle gets first place votes and as far done as fifth. This is the same spread of votes that RSL and the San Jose Earthquakes get, though Salt Lake gets many more votes for first. There are actually only three teams that have no votes outside of the top 10 within the MLS rankings - New York Red Bulls (they appear as high as second), Sporting Kansas City (as high as third) and D.C. United (up to fourth). Outside of that our voters diverge quite a bit. A total of 15 teams appear in at least one voters' top 10. The four that don't are the four other MLS 3.0 teams of Toronto, Philly, Montreal and the Portland Timbers.

Playoffs by SBN Power Rankings - all are in top 10 on average for first time.

I did not vote in this week's rankings. The only soccer I watched was the first half of Chelsea v Bayern, so it would be wrong to participate. There was no post last week, but the graph includes those averages. Seattle, Salt Lake and Vancouver are stable. So is Portland, but in the wrong way. The LA Galaxy continue to fall.

Remember those conversations back in late April about how packed the schedule was? Nine games in 32 days it was to be a proving ground. Sure, the Seattle Sounders are 4-1-1 +5 two-thirds of the way through that stretch, but come on, are we really going to ignore the 0-1-1 -1 in the last two? The team is struggling right now. The greatest defense in the history of MLS gave up three goals to Real Salt Lake and the Vancouver Whitecaps? It's pretty bad right?

There's an easy solution though? I'm back. Clearly my not being able to watch the last two matches, nor blog much over the past two weeks is the reason. Every early May my non-soccer schedule gets packed with 8 birthdays (and Mother's Day) in 8 days. This year a wedding in a place where I was lucky to have even standard phone access was added on to my schedule. Clearly this is why Seattle is struggling. It's my fault. On Saturday night (I was in New York) I couldn't even wear Sounders garb. My suit was simple black coat, white shirt, brown pants and silver tie. How could I think that the Sounders would beat a Cascadia rival wearing that?

Don't get all logically on me.

Don't point out that Seattle faced teams now rated third and tenth by Sagarin in a overall schedule that is rated 19th. Don't point out that the defense is likely regressing to its mean and never was going to set an MLS record outshining the best by allowing 10 fewer goals on the season than that No. 1 defense did.

Since my wife's birthday Eddie Johnson played in three games. The team went 1-1-1 +1 in the stretch. He tallied a goal and two assists combining with Fredy Montero on a lot of those. Dammit, that's my fault too.

Don't get all logically on me.

I have influence on the results. These are not superstitions.

Today's match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Seattle Sounders isn't about a trophy (though it will influence the Cascadia Cup). It would be easy to say it is about rivalry, as the competition between these cities within soccer goes back nearly 40 years and 125 games. Instead though, it is about standings. Pure and simple, the Whitecaps are not bad this season. They look like a Western Conference playoff team, though probably just into the play-in round. These are teams that could meet again in bigger games and gaining an advantage early in the season can only help.

The Whitecaps are a bit weak defending crosses. They've given up three goals in their 10 MLS games played from that type of attack. With Adam Johansson, Mauro Rosales, Alvaro Fernandez and Marc Burch able to swing the ball in during today's action Seattle has an advantage. Burch and Fernandez will have their hands full with Seb Le Toux and Y-P Lee though, so positional awareness on Seattle's left flank will be important. Offensively the Sounders can look to the far post a bit more and finish those opportunities. Vancouver allows a higher rate of shots on frame than the Sounders. There should be a bit more opportunity and not just from Seattle getting the preferred attacking four together.

There's also an opportunity for Eddie Johnson to show not just Seattle fans, but Jurgen Klinsmann that he's back. The ‘Caps central defense is strong by league standards and with a USMNT qualifying cycle starting up his ability to return would be greatly aided by a charge up the goal scoring charts.

Rennie plays that 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 formation that will put a bit of communication issues to test. With Seattle likely to have two attacking fullbacks playing the ability to defend the center will be imperative. The not-Alonso central midfielder may play further back in a defensive role to help against counters. As usual that will not define the defense, instead it will be the success of Alonso, Parke and Hurtado.

The game is on KONG 6/16 and 97.3 FM (KOMO2 & 99.3 in Spanish) at 2 PM Pacific

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As we like to do, we reached out to our Vancouver Whitecaps blogger Benjamin Massey of 86 Forever. Here are our questions and his answers:

1 - Prior to the season many observers thought that the Whitecaps would be defined by their offense. It's been OK, but not great. What will it take to get better?

When we say the Whitecaps offense has been "not great" we need to be careful. Of course one goal per game is a long way short of amazing, but there is a tactical element there, as when he gets in front by a goal, Martin Rennie is fond of going straight into a bunker rather than Tom Soehn's preference to throw guys up looking for the insurance goal. It's dull to watch but tends to work. By no means is the offense clicking yet, but it's doing better than the standings say.

That said, there's plenty of room for improvement. Moving the ball through midfield continues to be an obstacle, and Vancouver's general incompetence attacking the wings has been a bugbear all season. Hopefully the arrival of Barry Robson will solve the former problem, given time, but with Rennie's refusal to use potential true wingers like Russell Teibert or Michael Nanchoff Vancouver's attack will come down the middle for the foreseeable future.

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The 2012 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is larger and removes the blind bidding process. The chance that an MLS side would go on the road increased after changes to the bidding structure. The Seattle Sounders possible matchup for their entry in round three could see travel to face the Atlanta Silverbacks or hosting the Georgia Revolution of the NPSL at Starfire. Those two teams face off next Tuesday at RYSA Soccerplex in Conyers, Georgia with the southern Revs hosting.

With today's announced potential parings, a total of 19 of the 32 possible opponent/host combinations will have lower divisions travel to MLS sides. The variety of travel and hosting situations is certainly broader than in years past. For the most part NASL & USL Pro teams would host MLS sides. With the lack of lower level pro teams west of the Mississippi, MLS sides from the West are those traveling the most. Portland to North Carolina, Colorado to Tampa, and LA to NC are the other long trips revealed.

Fourth Round match ups will be determined at a future date.

Seattle and Atlanta have a bit of history as both were active in the old USL-1. Their biggest game was the 2007 USL-1 Final at Starfire which the Sounders handled easily. Mac Kandji played for the Silverbacks while Roger Levesque and Zach Scott were among those that suited for the Sounders 2.0. Shortly after this trophy the Sounders' jump to MLS was announced.

Se4ttle is a goal for 2012. It could start with a long road trip.

There are a few reasons I look forward to seeing Real Salt Lake. They play a generally enjoyable game is first, but the rest are little different. It took them five years to get to be as good as Seattle was in 2009. Salt Lake barely edged out Seattle for the expansion team back then, and sometimes I wonder what would have been different. And then I realize that I like what happened here in the end. Only one team has more wins than the Seattle Sounders since 2009 and they are trying their hardest to let Seattle catch them. No team has more trophies. But, Salt Lake did manage to draw their way to the MLS Cup here in Seattle, something that any stakeholder in the Sounders wants to see in 2012.

This match provides a testing ground. RSL is a quality team that will only be weakened at a position or two. Seattle will be similarly diminished. The Sounders are a much better defensive team than Salt Lake, by nearly every measure. While the squad from Utah is a bit better offensively, it isn't significantly so. Most of that "better" is related to passing in the central third, which doesn't mean much.

In tonight's game pay particular attention to how the Sounders forwards work the back line. They should be able to come in at the elbows as the Salt Lake fullbacks have to provide width due to the diamond. Also look to Seattle's central midfield unit to force adjustments to the shape of said diamond. When Kreis' diamond works, it works well, but forcing it into unfamiliar shapes will force Luis Gil to change his intended passes. He likely doesn't have the experience to deal with that shift. Rimando is recently injured and short. Both of those mean he will be weaker than typical on wide shots - force him to save what he normally could. On defense, beware of divers. Saborio can change the game with just one timed embellishment, don't fall victim. Seattle is better in run-of-play and in non-pk dead balls. This is a winnable match - five in fifteen.

The game is on KONG 6/16 and 97.3 FM (99.3 FM for Spanish radio) at 7 PM Pacific.

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Maybe the most intriguing question that will be answered by this match is "which team is better?" Though that answer will only have meaning in weekly power rankings, a match between the Seattle Sounders FC and Real Salt Lake has potential to be among the best soccer in MLS. These are two up-tempo teams that like to play with the ball at their feet. While RSL uses a very conventional diamond 4-4-2, Seattle uses a hybrid the hybrid between 4-3-2-1 and bucket 4-4-2. Salt Lake has a conventional #10, Seattle's is on the wing. The teams pursue similar talents, Alvario Saborio being the most notable, but also Juan Cruz and Andy Rose. This is fun soccer.

The Sounders' +6 in run of play meets against RSL's +3, but that plus three features 9 goals scored in non-cross run-of-play situations. The two sides score at basically the same rate. They defend at the same rate. Their CCL success is comparable in some ways. Saturday's 7PM start should be in the low 60s, sunny and a great day for some soccer. Today's three questions features Denz, from RSL Soapbox. Or as we like to call it MLS blog #2 on SBN.

SaH: How has the change from Robbie Russell to Tony Beltran changed the team's tactics?

RSLSB: There are a couple changes that have had to be made and while I think one has gone really well, one has caused the team some issues. Robbie was 6'2", while Tony is just 5'8" and that means a huge change in marking on set pieces, and we saw several time early in the season that teams took advantage of confusion on set pieces to score goals on RSL. I think that one has been taken care of for the most part, but clearly it really has an impact on both offensive and defensive set pieces.

The second thing is that I think Tony is a bit better going forward, he has really worked on that as part of his game and I think he has become a guy that partners well with Fabi as he makes some good over lapping runs. Tony has some great pace as well which allows him to get back into position quickly, and by being the main guy instead of a part of the rotation, he is getting minutes against some very good players which I think will continue to help him develop into an even better player. I hated to see Robbie go, he is a heck of a nice guy but I think he is probably happier with DC and closer to his family. I also think it will impact RSL as the season goes along, the ability to rotate guys isn't fully here yet but with the addition of Chris Estridge and Terukazu Tanaka to the roster, we might see a different type of rotation as the season goes along.

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One of the caveats placed on the Seattle Sounders 2012 performance is that brutal performance against Santos Laguna. Whenever the strength of the current defense a common refrain is "except for that 6-1 down in Mexico" (or a variant). Except it isn't true. If you include all competitions for all MLS teams (OK, it's basically the Canadian sides, LA and Seattle so far), the Sounders have the third best goals against average with a 0.82 0.91. This includes getting crushed by Santos. Only Sporting Kansas City and the Vancouver Whitecaps are better. The Whitecaps didn't face Santos, they played FC Edmonton of the NASL.

The offense that is somehow disappointing people? It's sixth at 1.45 goals per game. That rate if kept over a 34 game season (yeah, I'm including two games against Santos) they would score 49 goals. That doesn't suck. Seattle's goal differential in all competitions is an impressive tied for second third behind only the San Jose Earthquakes and KC. By PPM in all comps? Second only to Sporting.

So about that Santos Laguna caveat? We don't need it. Include that performance. It merely takes Seattle from the best team in the league to one of the best. Those that think that a single bad game (or really just a bad half) diminishes Seattle's 2012 ignore that it really doesn't. That soul crushing performance doesn't really change the numbers much.

Think about that. Just under two months ago Seattle was eliminated from the Champions League by the team that finished second in said tournament. Since then they've been so good that said poor performance doesn't need to be a caveat.

Bring on the Open Cup. Bring on the 2012-13 Champions League. Bring on the regular season. There are no caveats. The Sounders are just that good - right now.

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Did the first half happen? Only about one-third of the highlight package of last night's Seattle Sounders 2-0 win are from that first 45 minutes. It includes "highlights" like FC Dallas player Fabian Castillo sprinting by Zach Scott and slamming the ball into the side net. There's Mauro Rosales getting two opportunities on goal from short range and somehow not finishing. There is the amazing save by Bryan Meredith, besides that the first half film shouldn't just be ignored, it should be expelled from our collective memories. In the second half the Fredy Montero show started. The man that Schellas Hyndman calls a "shark" didn't just finish his opportunities, he created them. The first goal comes from great work with the ball at his feet. Montero's little nutmeg and shimmy gave him space. His powerful blast gave the team the lead. His second goal required some physicality and spacial awareness as he was in the crowd and laid himself out to get a ball that he could barely guess would be where he needed it after a deflection.

It was not a great game from the Sounders. For only the second time this year Seattle lost the duels battle, the shots battle and the passing advantage battle. That other match? The 6-1 loss to Santos Laguna. Fortune smiled on Seattle. This wasn't a match they should win. But they did. The three points won on the night bring the Sounders to a five match victory streak, tied for first in goal differential, tied for second in total points and the leader by points per match. Even the "poor" offense is 5th by goals scored and ahead of high powered Sporting Kansas City.

Sigi Schmid was able to rest several players. Montero and Rosales only played a half each by design. Osvaldo Alonso didn't play at all, which caused some issues with how the midfield was spaced. Schmid notes that Andy Rose and Brad Evans were both a bit too deep leaving Marcelin space to operate. Meredith revealed that he prefers a faster pace game with some saves as it keeps his mind in the game.

Montero though may sum up the game the best, though asked about his lack of scoring earlier in the year.

I tried to score before, but you never can understand soccer. Now I’m scoring goals. I want to keep doing this. I’m really happy, so I will work hard like I did this week and we’ll see what happens this season.

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Both sides fielded reduced sides. Both sides waited until the second half to deploy their best offensive player. One side waited too long. FC Dallas and Schellas Hyndman didn't give Brek Shea the opportunity to get marked out of the game until they were already down two goals - two Fredy Montero goals, both nominally on crosses.

The Seattle Sounders FC tie their franchise record with five straight wins. That's 15 points in their last five. Three straight shutouts. Montero now has 3 goals on the year. Zach Scott collects another scalp. This wasn't just victory. It was a victory that Osvaldo Alonso a full day off. Mauro Rosales and Montero each only played a half.

The first half was ugly. Seattle isn't comfortable with two box-to-box midfielders. Fabian Castillo's speed against Seattle showed potential, but he was unable to get pointed towards goal. Seattle settled into long balls towards the middle and Eddie Johnson.

In the second half things changed. Seattle pushed it wide, sometimes moving a forward out, others using speed sub Cordell Cato. That forced a wider backline from Dallas and gave the Sounders an opportunity. Montero took that opportunity and converted. He used a bit of footwork on his first and laid out for a low header/facer for the second.

It was a rare game. Seattle was out played in many facets. The strength of the lineup was probably a bit too reduced. The green had fewer shots, worse passing, worse duels, worse possession - better score. Considering that Rosales started while injured and Montero played this wasn't a pure attempt at a road draw with a low score. Schmid got the victory.

They won't get many like this though. But these are now three points banked against a Western Conference opponent. Seattle is pacing for more than 80 points and less than a dozen goals against. They won't be that good. How good will they be?

So good they're ...

Deep in the heart of Texas is a little stadium with no name where FC Dallas plays some soccer. On most nights they have one of the strongest starting XIs in MLS. This night that won't be true. Instead, they will have a hodge-podge team heavy with players who are of Olympics age. The Seattle Sounders FC may rest a few players, but what they won't do is put out a lineup where the goal is a 0-0 or 1-1 draw. Sigi Schmid's cynicism is limited basically to playing in Mexico.

Instead the Sounders have an opportunity to get points against a team that pre-season was seen as a competitor for a non-Wild Card slot in the West. An early three points here could push that dream aside. After this week Seattle gets a mini-break and doesn't play a competitive game next week. Some of the lingering injuries or tired legs will be overcome with adrenaline and purpose.

How does Seattle win?* Have the newcomers or infrequent members of the starting XI "get it." They can order Animal Style too. They are part of the club now, just like everyone else. Seattle will have the flair advantage. They can use their better technical ability and go Deluxe. Defensively they will be a zonal team, but with man marking similarities especially if Brek Shea and Zach Scott matchup. Like a Taco Time Soft Taco, it doesn't matter what you call it. It works. Bryan Meredith will continue to step into the role as a starting keeper. A role that only good fortune has him playing. A role that has earned us Free Tacos 1.5 times and should again with a greatly diminished opposition attacking force.

The game is on KONG 6/16 (99.3 FM for Spanish, no English radio) at 5:30 PM Pacific.

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Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero are both scoring now. They each have an assist in 2012. What they don't have yet is that partnership, the very partnership that was the reason for the trade. A partnership is about more than each scoring. Several of Montero's "other forwards" did that. A partnership is what Nate Jaqua and Fredy had in 2009 when their interplay showed potency and baffled defenses.

A partnership is what Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper have. They connect. Their awareness of one another is preternatural. Which runs, at what time isn't a thought process, but something instinctive. It sits in that reptilian part of the brain. The passes just happen. A move simultaneous move to split defenses and open space just occurs. There may not even be a flick of eyes or wrist, nor a nod of the head. Suddenly, both break, two lanes open and the throughball is into the danger area.

Montero is going to win the Goal of the Week. EJ7 and Montero are both on the weekly Castrol Index's top performers. They are doing this while merely creating space for each other. There is little direct interaction. They are teammates, not partners.

That could be about to change. Sigi Schmid said it would be about mid-May when Johnson is integrated into the team. It's about mid-May now.

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