By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SEAvSKC - March 6, 2016

By The Numbers is SportingKC.com's statistical look at upcoming matches and is presented by The Kansas Department of Transportation. Did you know that one in three (1 in 3) traffic deaths in the United States involve a drunk driver? 

The curtain raises on Major League Soccer's 21st season this Sunday when all 20 clubs seek a winning start to 2016. Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders FC go head-to-head in one of the marquee battles, kicking off from CenturyLink Field at 6 p.m. CT with national television coverage on FS1 and FOX Deportes.

We take a closer look at the Western Conference showdown in our By The Numbers preview…

Head-to-head

• Sporting KC is 1-3-2 all-time at CenturyLink Field with its lone win coming in the first-ever meeting between the sides on April 11, 2009.
• All 12 regular season meetings between the clubs have been decided by a goal or less. In those 12 games, the teams have combined for more than three goals just once, while four of the last five have produced a goal or less.
• In 10 meetings since 2010, Seattle has scored five game-winning goals in second-half stoppage time.
• Sporting KC has just one goal from the run of play against Seattle in 442 regular season minutes since 2012 and has scored just twice in six games at CenturyLink Field.
• Seattle managed just one goal in three meetings last season.
• Sporting KC's .291 winning percentage vs. Seattle (2-7-3) is its lowest against any MLS opponent (min. 2 games played).
• Tim Melia recorded shutouts in both of his appearances against Seattle last season, a 0-0 draw on May 23 and a 1-0 win on June 6.
• Clint Dempsey is the only player on Seattle's current roster to score a regular season goal against Sporting KC.
• Both teams were near-perfect when leading at halftime in 2015, with Seattle going 11-0-1 and Sporting KC going 6-0-1.

Seattle Sounders FC

• 2015 MLS record: 15-13-6, 51 points (4th in West)
• 2015 MLS home record: 11-4-2 (26 GF, 14 GA)
• 2015 postseason result: Lost to FC Dallas in Western Conference Semifinals
• Seattle ended 2015 on a seven-game home unbeaten run, going 6-0-1 with 17 goals scored and seven conceded (including postseason), and an eight-game unbeaten run overall (4-0-4).
• Seattle earned an MLS-best eight home shutouts last season, conceding just 14 goals in 17 matches at CenturyLink Field.
• Seattle has reached the MLS Cup Playoffs in all seven years of the club's existence, tying LA Galaxy for the longest active postseason streak.
• Seattle ranked last in MLS in 2015 with 9.7 shots per game and 7.2 chances created per game.
• Of Seattle's 44 regular season goals scored in 2015, 30 came from players who are no longer with the club -- including a team-high 15 from Obafemi Martins.
• Clint Dempsey is the only MLS player to reach double-digit goals and assists in each of the last two seasons, going for 15/10 in 2014 and 10/10 in 2015.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2015 MLS record: 14-11-9, 51 points (6th in West)
• 2015 MLS road record: 4-9-4 (19 GF, 25 GA)
• 2015 postseason result: Lost to Portland Timbers in Western Conference Knockout Round
• SKC went unbeaten in four regular season trips to the Pacific Northwest in 2015, finishing 2-0-2 with shutouts in every match -- including a 0-0 draw at Seattle on May 23.
• No MLS team has more season-opening wins than Sporting KC's 12. The club is 12-5-3 in season opener's all-time.
• Sporting KC is the only club with a winning road record since the start of 2012, going 28-26-14 in the regular season. Seattle is a distant second with 21 road wins during that time. 
• Benny Feilhaber set MLS career-highs in 2015 with 10 goals and 15 assists, becoming one of four players to hit double-digits in both categories.
• Dom Dwyer has scored 34 goals in each of the past two regular seasons, third most in MLS behind Bradley Wright-Phillips (44) and Robbie Keane (39).

Milestones and miscellany

• Dom Dwyer is one shy of tying Josh Wolff for third in club history with 46 goals in all competitions.
• Graham Zusi is one assist shy of tying Chris Klein for second in club history with 45 regular season assists. Zusi is also one shy of his 150th career MLS start (including postseason).
• Kevin Ellis is one shy of his 50th career MLS regular season appearance.

Team stats (2015 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)

Recent #SEAvSKC meetings

• Regular season record vs. Seattle: 2-7-3
• Regular season road record at Seattle: 1-3-2 (2 GF, 4 GA)