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Stories of the Year, No. 8: Summer signings help define postseason push

Three signings. Eight days. One final push for the postseason.

Mired in one of the club’s worst stretches in seven years on the MLS map, Sounders FC found themselves suddenly struggling to keep up in July. Without a full stable of healthy players, the Sounders stumbled into a stretch of just one win in nine league games during the summer, and perilously close to losing out on the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Enter the reinforcements. In a slew of signings over the span of roughly a week in early August, the Sounders picked up Austrian international Andreas Ivanschitz, Paraguayan World Cup veteran Nelson Valdez and hulking Panamanian center back Roman Torres.