Referee Ricardo Salazar will be the head official for the Seattle Sounders’ first match of the 2017 MLS regular season at the Houston Dynamo on March 4 (5:30 p.m. PT), the Professional Referee Organization announced on Friday.
Salazar is entering his 17th season as a professional and refereed six Sounders matches last season, including three playoff games. In those six matches, he issued 11 total yellow cards (three for the Sounders, eight for opponents) and four red cards (two for the Sounders, two for opponents).
Salazar officiated the Sounders’ 5-0 win over FC Dallas on July 13, in which he ejected Maynor Figueroa for an intentional handball in the 4th minute before tossing Clint Dempsey for hands to the face on Juan Estaban Ortiz in the 33rd.
Salazar was also in charge of the Sounders’ 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 2, in which he sent off Pedro Morales in the 53rd minute for hands to the face of Cristian Roldan before ejecting substitute Brad Evans in the 84th minute, just minutes after he scored the eventual game-winning penalty kick.
Seattle’s 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City, 3-0 win over FC Dallas and 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids in the MLS Cup Playoffs were all refereed by Salazar.
