The Seattle Sounders have had a nice run to finish the season and after advancing over the Colorado Rapids in the knockout round of the Western conference playoffs the team will face off against the Portland Timbers in the MLS Playoffs Western conference semifinals first leg and the match will be at CenturyLink Field and starts up at 10:00 PM on NBC Sports Network and streaming on MLS Live.
The two teams play in close proximity to each other and they have two of the most passionate fan bases in the sport and now the Timbers will get the chance to show off in the playoffs, as they come in as the top seed and they haven't lost in eight matches and the Sounders advanced after a 2-0 victory against Colorado. The Sounders hadn't won a game since before last month heading into the match and now they get the chance to turn things around against Portland, who will be favored based on how they played and finished the season. Clint Dempsey obviously will be a main focus for the Timbers and he appears to be getting going at the right time and both goaltenders come into the match playing well.
Check here for the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers live coverage from NBC Sports and MLS Live.
Seattle will have to perform well to get themselves ahead in the series, as the first leg is always crucial and that could propel them to advance to the next round and Portland will get a taste of the playoffs for the first time. Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans scored for the Sounders in the matchup earlier in the week and that knocked out the fifth seed in Colorado and allowed the fourth seeded Sounders to advance and now they have 16 wins on the season. Dempsey had a nice play on one of the goals in the game and it was the first win since the victory against Salt Lake.
The Timbers have been playing very well, ending with a shutout against Chivas USA in the regular season finale and they are being looked at as one of the favorites to make the MLS Cup, along with the LA Galaxy. The Sounders had over 50 points in the regular season and in the east the knockout round had the New York Red Bulls waiting like the Portland Timbers were and now NY is playing against Houston after they beat Montreal and in the other game was Kansas City and New England. The rest of the playoffs continue on Sunday and includes the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake and that game will be on ESPN.
The second legs will come later in the week and next weekend and the conference championships start the week after that, with the east coming on Saturday and then the Western conference on Sunday. The championship is in December and for the first time it will be at the field where the team with the better record is and that should make the finals very interesting. The Timbers and Sounders will play on Thursday for the second leg and that will be on the NBC Sports Network and the Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy match for the second leg will be on Thursday starting at 9 on ESPN2.