The Seattle Sounders are visiting the Houston Dynamo on Sunday in the second match of their opening round postseason series. Here is everything you need to know:
MATCH ONE RESULT: Seattle downed Houston 5-4 on penalty kicks in Match One on Monday after a scoreless draw in regulation.
PLAYOFF FORMAT: 2024 marks the second year of the league’s new Best-Of-3 format in Round One of the postseason. The Sounders won Match One and will advance to the Western Conference Semifinal with a win in Texas on Sunday. A third match, if necessary, will take place at Lumen Field on Sunday, Nov. 10. If a match in Round One ends in a draw, like it did in the opening contest, it will go straight to penalties to determine a winner.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. PT at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The match will air on 950 KJR AM and El Rey 1360AM.
DEFENSIVE FORTITUDE: Seattle shined yet again in Match One, as the league’s best defensive team kept the Dynamo off the score sheet, limited them to just 0.6 Expected Goals and did not allow a shot on target.
FREI ON VERGE OF HISTORY: One more clean sheet from Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei would tie Kevin Hartman for the most postseason shutouts in league history (15).
DOMINANCE OVER DYNAMO: After what will go down as a draw in Match One, the Sounders moved to 12-1-2 against the Dynamo dating back to 2017.
MISSING COCO: Houston will be without central midfielder Coco Carrasquilla, who was sent off in Match One and will serve his one-game suspension in Match Two. The Panamanian was recently named the Concacaf men’s player of the year.
TROUBLE AT HOME: Houston typically uses its hot and humid climate to its advantage, but the Dynamo uncharacteristically finished the 2024 regular season with more road wins (eight) than home (seven).
