Sounders defender Chad Marshall remembers the first time he tried to repeat as a champion.
Marshall was a back-line anchor for the Columbus Crew squad that captured the 2008 MLS Cup. A year later, the Crew won a Supporters Shield as the league’s best regular-season team and entered the playoffs seeking another title.
But it wasn’t to be. The Crew was eliminated in a conference semifinal series by Real Salt Lake.
“It was difficult,’’ Marshall said of that season. “Every game was a battle, and you feel it come this time of the year. That August and September grind, getting through the summer and the heat.