It is crunch time for the Seattle Sounders and the visiting Colorado Rapids as they prepare for a crucial Sunday night 7:30 pm showdown on the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field.  
Coach Sigi Schmid of the Seattle Sounders summed things up after Friday’s practice concerning the important of Sunday’s match.  “This is a 6 point swing game,” he said.

Both teams in the Western Conference showdown entertain hopes of making the playoffs and a loss would be a major blow for either one.  This is particularly true of the home club as the Sounders enter play with a 5-8-4 record and 19 points.

One of the teams the Sounders hope to move past is Colorado, which has a mark of 6-4-5 for 15 points and a fourth place standing.  After a strong start the Rapids have gone five matches without a win dating back to June 5.  There have had four draws during that stretch, including a 1-1 deadlock with Kansas City last week at home.

Colorado gained its first win in a series that is currently 2-1-1 in Seattle’s favor on May 29 with a 1-0 win over the visiting Sounders.  Conor Casey tallied the match’s lone goal.  Last season the Sounders won 3-0 over Colorado at home while tying the Rapids 2-2 on the road.  The Sounders also scored a win over Colorado with a 1-0 Open Cup win at home last year.

The Colorado match heralds another busy period for the challengers.  It will signal the start of a five game stretch over the next 15 days.  The CONCACAF Champions League play-in series opens at home on July 28 at 7 pm PT against El Salvador’s Metapan.  Both games will be nationally televised on the Fox Soccer Channel.

When Sigi Schmid discussed Colorado and the importance of Sunday’s contest he reflected not only on the “six point swing” factor but also on the need “to show that we can beat a Western Conference opponent.  That’s important as well.”

On the subject of preparing for Colorado, Schmid said, “They are a team that, ‘Are they going to come in a 4-3-3 or are they going to come in a 4-4-2?’  It’s a little bit in the air.  They switched at halftime last week and played much better in the second half.”

On the subject of personnel, Schmid began with Casey, who scored the winning goal against Seattle in the teams’ first meeting this season:

“Conor Casey is a load up front. Omar Cummings is a good compliment for him because he runs well into space. With Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz they’ve got two strong, powerful midfielders who win their share of duals, for sure.

“And then they’ve got Marvell Wynne. Are they going to keep him inside? Are they going to move him to right back? But certainly he is a guy who, with his physical aspect of the game, can make an impression. So they are a good team. They are a dangerous team. Colin Clark on the left is getting stronger with each week.”

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