U.S. Soccer has announced the possible pairings for the fourth-round of U.S. Open Cup.

Here are the possibilities for the Sounders, if they advance in their third-round match against Atlanta on Wednesday at Starfire Sports Stadium:

Seattle Sounders FC (MLS)/Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) Winner at Portland Timbers (MLS): JELD-WEN Field; Portland, Ore.; 7:30 p.m. PT
OR
Cal FC (USASA) at Seattle Sounders FC (MLS): Starfire Sports Complex; Tukwila, Wash.; 7:30 p.m. PT
OR
Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) vs. Cal FC (USASA): Venue TBD; Time TBD

Here’s the full list from U.S. Soccer.

SoundersWomen.com - The Sounders Women have signed four college standouts for the 2012 W-League campaign. The Sounders add two University of Washington Huskies, a Wisconsin Badger, and an Alabama Crimson Tide. The signees are all defensive minded, with three playing in the back and the forth; a goal keeper. The defenders are Annie Sittauer (Washington), Lindsey Johnson (Wisconsin), and Ashley Willis (Alabama). The goalkeeper is Megan Kufeld (Washington).

“The addition of Lindsey, Annie, and Ashley to our roster gives us some great flexibility in the back,” said Sounders Women head coach, Michelle French. “With these three players we are …

Read more »

Details from the club here.

It seems recent attentions have shifted a bit to the U.S. Open Cup, but the fact is the Sounders have two MLS games before joining the third round of that tournament.

The first comes tonight, as the Columbus Crew visits CenturyLink for a 7 p.m. game that will be broadcast on KONG 6/16.

Here’s the TNT preview of tonight’s game, and more from the Columbus Dispatch.

Below is part of the preview notes sent from Columbus:

On the heels of a 1-1 draw at San Jose on Saturday (May 19), in whichforward Justin Meram tallied his second goal in as many games and goalkeeperAndy Gruenebaum stopped a penalty kick among seven saves, the Crew opens atwo-game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle this Wednesday, May 23. The Black& Gold will then return home to face the Chicago Fire on Saturday, May 26,at Crew Stadium.

The Sounders (7-2-2, 23 pts.) are coming off a 2-2 draw at Vancouver on Saturday Read more »

Sounders FC and the Atlanta Silverbacks have announced that their third-round U.S. Open Cup match has been shifted from Georgia to Puget Sound.

The game now will be played at 7 p.m. May 30 at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila.

Sounders coach Sigi Schmid had implied this week that he was hopeful the MLS club could work out a deal with the NASL club that would allow the game to be played here. Now the club has confirmed that will happen. Ticket information will be announced tomorrow.

Here is the release from the Sounders. Here is the word from …

Read more »

Sounders FC will begin the quest for its fourth straight U.S. Open Cup trophy next week against the Atlanta Silverbacks of the second-division North American Soccer League.

The Silverbacks advanced tonight with a 1-0 win over the fourth-division Georgia Revolution.

The winning goal came in the 61st minute, and was scored by Raphael Cox, a Tacoman who played at Stadium High School, the University of Washington, Highline Community College, the University of Washington, and the USL Tacoma Tide.
Read more »

Final: Atlanta advances, 1-0. They are scheduled to host the Sounders in the third-round match on May 30 … although that could still be subject to change.

61st minute: Atlanta goes ahead 1-0 on 16-yard strike by Tacoma’s own Raphael Cox.

Halftime: Scoreless. Georgia had PK turned aside in 42nd minute.

Pregame: The Atlanta Silverbacks and Georgia Revolution meet at 4:30 p.m. today at Conyers, Ga., in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The winner will play advance to play the Sounders, either next Tuesday or Wednesday. If the premier-development league-level Revolution win, the game will be played in Tukwila. If the second-division Silverbacks win, the Sounders are scheduled to travel to Atlanta. (The Silverbacks don’t sound real interested in selling hosting rights to the Sounders … they’ve already begun presale for the potential visit from an MLS club.)

We asked Sounders coach Sigi Schmid this morning if that makes him a Revolution fan.

“We’re going to play whoever it is,” he said. “That’s the way the Open Cup is, and we’ll be ready for them.”
Read more »

The Sounders have concluded training for their 7 p.m. match tomorrow against Columbus.

Here’s some of what coach Sigi Schmid had to say after the training session at Starfire:

On the Crew: They’re a team that’s been around .500, and they’re a team that’s had some good games and also is suffering through a lot of injuries and overcoming those: So, they’ve had to shift there lineup a lot. But there are some guys playing really well right now. Justin Meram’s doing well, scoring some goals for them. Obviously (Milovan) Mirosevic is a good player. I know he got taken out early last game, so we don’t know if he’ll be out there. But Dilly Duka is about ready to come back. He’s a dangerous player. And Eddie Gaven is always a guy you’ve got to know where he is because he can pop up in some dangerous places on you.

Schmid, of course, coached Columbus before taking the Sounders job. He said that connection is fading as the seasons pass.

“It’s always over years there are less and less people that are there,” he said. “Obviously Read more »