SEATTLE, WASH. – Two goals from forward Clint Dempsey and a strike from winger Marco Pappa secured three vital points for Seattle Sounders FC (15-13-6, 51 points) against Real Salt Lake (11-15-8, 41 points) by a final score of 3-1 on Sunday evening in front of 55,435 fans – pushing the club’s average attendance mark to 44,245 per match throughout 2015, a new MLS single-season attendance record. The win came on MLS Decision Day, as all conference matchups were played simultaneously for the first time in league history, with Seattle finishing the day in fourth position in the Western Conference. With the win, Sounders FC qualifies for its seventh-consecutive MLS postseason, tied for the longest active qualification streak in the league.
Seattle opens postseason play with a midweek Knockout Round clash against longtime rival LA Galaxy, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, October 28 (UniMas, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM). Tickets for the Sounders FC Postseason presented by T-Mobile can be secured now at SoundersFC.com, beginning at $29.
Sounders FC jumped out to an early lead to secure its postseason fate on Sunday, with Dempsey redirecting an Obafemi Martins cross into the back of RSL’s net in just the fifth minute of play. The attack was initiated by fullback Leo Gonzalez, with the Costa Rican unlocking the RSL backline with a through ball down the left channel.
Pappa doubled Seattle’s advantage just five minutes later, taking a Dempsey pass and beating RSL netminder Jeff Attinella at his far post. The strike was Pappa’s third tally of the season.
Dempsey made the scoreline 3-0 in the 20th minute by redirecting a Martins shot into the back of Attinella’s goal, giving the home side a valuable three-goal lead heading into the intermission. With the tally, Dempsey recorded his second-consecutive double-digit season in goals and assists, with the Texas native recording 10 in each category in 20 MLS games throughout 2015.
Having not lost a match since August 22, Sounders FC extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches (4-0-4), which is the second-longest stretch in club history. The Rave Green are the only club in MLS to have won at least 15 matches in each of the past five seasons — every year since the league expanded its schedule to 34 matches in 2011.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 3 – Real Salt Lake 1
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Assistants: Craig Lowry
Fourth Official: James Conlee
Attendance: Drew Fischer
Weather: Cloudy and 61 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Clint Dempsey (Obafemi Martins, Leo Gonzalez) 5’
SEA – Marco Pappa (Clint Dempsey) 10’
SEA – Clint Dempsey 20’
RSL – Luis Gil (Tony Beltran, Javier Morales) 77’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
RSL – Juan Manuel Martinez (caution) 43’
RSL – John Stertzer (caution) 55’
RSL – Sebastian Jaime (caution) 89’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Leo Gonzalez (Oniel Fisher 70’); Marco Pappa, Osvaldo Alonso (Gonzalo Pineda 73’), Erik Friberg, Andreas Ivanschitz; Clint Dempsey (Chad Barrett 65’), Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Andy Rose, Zach Scott, Nelson Valdez
Total shots: 7 (Dempsey, 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Dempsey, 2)
Fouls: 17 (Three players tied at 3)
Offside: 3 (3 players tied at 1)
Corner-kicks: 1 (Ivanschitz, 1)
Saves: 0
Real Salt Lake – Jeff Attinella; Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Aaron Maund, Abdoulie Mansally; Luis Gil, Javier Morales, Jordan Allen (Sebastian Jaime 49’), John Stertzer, Juan Manuel Martinez; Devon Sandoval (Olmes Garcia 68’)
Substitutes not used: Lalo Fernandez, Justen Glad, Luke Mulholland, Sebastian Saucedo, Elias Vasquez
Total shots: 8 (Martinez/Gil, 2)
Shots on goal: 1 (Gil, 1)
Fouls: 19 (Morales, 6)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 6 (Morales, 6)
Saves: 1 (Attinella, 1)
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC improved its record to 15-13-6 on the season. The Rave Green are the only club in MLS to have won at least 15 matches in each of the past five seasons — every year since the league expanded its schedule to 34 matches in 2011. At 51 points, the Sounders hold the Western Conference’s fourth overall seed heading into the postseason.
- Having not lost a match since August 22, Sounders FC extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches (4-0-4), which is the second-longest stretch in club history.
- Seattle improves to 6-7-4 all-time against RSL in league play, including a 5-2-2 mark at CenturyLink Field. The club has won four straight home matches in the series.
- Tonight’s attendance of 55,345 was the club’s 124th consecutive sellout and fourth full-stadium match of the season. As a result, Sounders FC has set a new MLS attendance record with a 2015 average of 44,245. The Rave Green are now 15-2-3 in full-stadium matches, including 10 wins in 13 matches with an attendance above 55,000.
- For the first time in club history, Sounders FC recorded two goals in the opening 10 minutes and three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Clint Dempsey became the third player to score two goals in the opening 20 minutes (joining Steve Zakuani and Obafemi Martins), and the 20 minutes to record three goals ties the fifth-shortest stretch in club history.
- After today’s performance, Clint Dempsey joins Benny Feilhaber, Ethan Finlay, and Sebastian Giovinco as the only players in MLS to record 10 goals and 10 assists this season. Dempsey is the only player to accomplish this feat in each of the past two seasons.
- Tyrone Mears is the second field player in club history to play 33 matches in one season (Osvaldo Alonso, 2014).
- Obafemi Martins ends league action with 15 goals on the season, which ties Clint Dempsey’s mark in 2014 for the second-highest season total in club history. Martins is the only player in Sounders FC history to have back-to-back campaigns with 15 goals, and his career total of 40 tallies ranks just seven behind all-time team leader Fredy Montero, yet has played in 48 fewer matches for the Rave Green than Montero.
- Martins is one of nine players in MLS this season to have scored 15 goals in league play, yet was the only one to have done so in 21 games or fewer. The Nigerian became the first player in MLS history to score 15 goals on fewer than 45 shot attempts. This season, he broke the league’s scoring percentage mark among qualifying players, having scored 15 goals on 42 shot attempts (35.7 percent), which surpasses Roy Lassiter’s mark of 27 goals on 76 attempts (35.5 percent) from MLS’ inaugural 1996 season.
- Stefan Frei became just the eighth goalkeeper in league history to post 14 wins, 10 shutouts and 110 saves in one season. Frei joins Bill Hamid, who accomplished the feat last season, as the only goalkeepers to have accomplished this feat since 2008.
- RSL’s Jeff Attinella recorded the lone save of the match on a deflection that led to Dempsey’s second goal. It was the third time since 2009 there was a Sounders FC contest combined for one save, which is tied for the second-fewest mark in team history (the match against FC Dallas in March featured zero saves).
