It's back to regular season MLS play for Sounders FC as the Rave Green prepares to square off against the San Jose Earthquakes. The Quakes head north for their second match at CenturyLink Field this season and Brad Evans has a look at the match in his Captain's Notes.
We had a great result back at home last week - a great second half, that's for sure - and we're happy to have picked up points against a Western Conference rival. Dallas is a tough team and I'm proud of the guys for giving total effort for 90 minutes. We had another shutout and that led us into the Open Cup match against Portland.
If I start to dwell on that too much I will lose my mind, but it was a rivalry game that was going well. There were a few bad decisions and everything went downhill. We have to learn from our mistakes. Each game is a learning opportunity whether you win or lose. There are definitely things we can take away.
We have to be ready to face a very good San Jose team that also faced 120 minutes of play this week in their Open Cup match. There's no excuse to come out soft or to not expecting to give our all. We're back at home again. This match starts a difficult stretch of games for us.
I'd personally like to get a shutout against this team after our last match back in March. That will always be fresh in my mind and it's something for me to look forward to. I know the team wants to get three points and continue a great record at home.
We know there are key players to watch. [Chris] Wondolowski is very good and they are solid in the back. We have to be careful. They are a dangerous team. We will probably have some lineup changes ourselves due to injuries. We know we have to get after it on Saturday afternoon and continue to make this place a fortress.
Let's go, Sounders!
