There are only 12 available first-team outfield players for the Seattle Sounders’ first-ever visit to Austin FC. They’ll be joined by four Tacoma Defiance youngsters. For most teams, that’s not a recipe for success, but the Sounders aren’t most teams.

Play for three

After Sunday’s game I asked Brian Schmetzer if they had been trying to manage the game with the hope of getting a point. He rejected the idea. By his thinking, the way you start dropping points regularly is by starting out just looking to escape with a point. Sure, the Sounders may have a comical number of injuries — the players out for this match could make up a Supporters’ Shield contender of their own — but this is a team that has learned to win over the past few months.