SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders are back to where they belong.
After a one-year blip without postseason play, the Sounders regained form in 2023 to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Here's everything you need to know about the Sounders' 2023 playoff run, which will begin on Monday night.
Sounders playoff schedule
- Game 1: Sounders FC vs. FC Dallas | Time: 6 p.m. | Date: Oct. 30 | Location: Lumen Field
- Game 2: FC Dallas vs. Sounders FC | Time: 6 p.m. | Date: Nov. 4 | Location: Toyota Stadium
- Game 3 (if necessary): Sounders FC vs. FC Dallas | Time: 7 p.m. | Date: Nov. 10 | Location: Lumen Field
How to watch
All Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup playoff games will be available on Apple TV+ if you are subscribed to MLS Season Pass. Select games will also be available on national television.
MLS Cup playoffs format, explained
The 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs started on Wednesday and will end with the MLS Cup Final on Dec. 9.
In February, the league announced a new playoff format that increased the amount of playoff teams from 14 to 18 this year.
Here's a breakdown of each round of the new format.
First round
The first round of the postseason is a best-of-3 series, where the first club to win two games moves on to the semifinals. The series will be in a home-away-home format, meaning the higher seed hosts the first and third match (if necessary), while the lower seeded team hosts the second match in the series.
In this round, MLS said there will be no ties and no aggregate score across the matches. Each game will have a winner.
If a match is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played. Instead, teams will alternate penalty kicks until there is a winner.
Four teams in each conference will advance to the semifinals.
Conference semifinals
The conference semifinals will revert to single-elimination matches, with the higher seed hosting the match.
If a match is tied in this round, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, according to MLS. The match will go to penalty kicks if the sides are still tied after 120 minutes.
Conference final
The conference final round will keep the same rules in the conference semifinal.
The two winners in these matches will advance to the MLS Cup Final on Dec. 9.
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup will feature the winner of the Western Conference and Eastern Conference to crown a champion.
This round will keep the same format as the conference semifinals and final.
Playoff bracket
The Sounders clinched the No. 2 seed in the MLS Cup playoffs, earning 53 points in the regular season. If the Sounders win its first-round series, the club will face the winner of LAFC and Vancouver.
This means the Sounders will host a home playoff game in every playoff run unless they face top-seeded St. Louis CITY SC in the Conference Final.
Sounders playoff history
Prior to 2022, the Sounders were basically a lock to make the MLS playoffs. Seattle qualified for the postseason in its first 13 seasons in MLS, including four trips to the MLS Cup Final. The Sounders won the league's prestigious trophy in 2016 and 2019.
The streak ended last year, however, when injuries and poor play beset the Sounders, who finished 11th in the Western Conference.
Seattle rebounded this season in a big way to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and hopefully usher in another stretch of playoff dominance.
Here's how the Sounders have fared in the playoffs in previous seasons:
- 2022: Missed playoffs
- 2021: Lost in first-round
- 2020: Lost MLS Cup Final
- 2019: Won MLS Cup Final
- 2018: Lost in conference semifinals
- 2017: Lost MLS Cup Final
- 2016: Won MLS Cup Final
- 2015: Lost conference semifinals
- 2014: Lost conference finals
- 2013: Lost conference semifinals
- 2012: Lost conference finals
- 2011: Lost conference semifinals
- 2010: Lost conference semifinals
- 2009: Lost conference semifinals
Team expectations
The Sounders expectations for the 2023 playoffs can be boiled down into three words: Win it all.
Despite scoring just 41 goals this season, ranking 12th of 15 teams in the Western Conference, the Sounders climbed the top of the table because of its staunch defense.
Seattle allowed just 32 goals this season, tied for the best mark in the entire league. The team's offensive output didn't match its talent, but the Sounders have one of the deeper forward units in the league.
If the Sounders can create enough chances, the club has enough quality in both phases to win a third MLS Cup championship.
Key Sounders
Jordan Morris, forward
Led the Sounders with 11 goals in the regular season. Morris averaged 0.5 goals every 90 minutes this season, part of a bounce-back campaign for the longtime Sounder. This is the first time Morris has scored over 10 goals since the 2020 season.
Nicolas Lodeiro, midfielder
Led the Sounders with 10 assists in the regular season. Lodeiro, 34, was once again the focal point of the Sounders attack, assisting on 10 of the club's 41 goals this season. The veteran is a steady hand in the middle of the pitch, capable of finding any angle for a teammate to score.
Earlier this week, Lodeiro announced this would be his last season with the Sounders. He was the club's captain in its MLS Cup victories in 2016 and 2019 and for the Sounders' historic CONCACAF Champions League title in May 2022.
Lodeiro will leave the club at the end of this postseason run as the Sounders' all-time leader in assists (94) in all competitions.
Stefan Frei, goalkeeper
Frei is entering his 10th postseason with the Sounders. After a down season for his standards in 2022, Frei's save percentage climbed to 73.3% this season - above his career average.
Frei set a new career high with 14 clean sheets (allowing zero goals in a game) this season. He had just nine clean sheets in the 2021 and 2022 MLS seasons combined.
