Sporting Kansas City at Seattle Sounders
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 29
Sunday, Sept. 15 | 6:15 p.m. CT (6:25 kickoff)
Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | Free on MLS Season Pass
National TV | FS1 & FOX Deportes
English Radio | ESPN 94.5 FM & 1510 AM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Satellite Radio | SiriusXM FC
5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Watch Party | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter
Sporting Kansas City will kick off a late-season stretch of five matches in 14 days when the club travels to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Sounders at 6:25 p.m. CT on Sunday at Lumen Field.
The Western Conference clash will mark a major milestone for Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes as the 500th regular season match of a coaching career that began in August 2009. Fifteen years later, Vermes will now become one of only three individuals in league history to reach the milestone and the first to do so with one club.
Most Matches as Manager
MLS Regular Season History
1. Sigi Schmid (548)
2. Bruce Arena (545)
3. Peter Vermes (499)
Most Matches as Club's Manager
MLS Regular Season History
1. Peter Vermes (499 with Sporting KC)
2. Jim Curtin (340 with Philadelphia Union)
3. Ben Olsen (334 with D.C. United)
The 2009 season was also Seattle's first in Major League Soccer and the all-time regular season series with Sporting KC is deadlocked entering Sunday's showdown. Through 28 meetings, both teams have 12 wins and four draws -- including identical 6-6-2 records at home and away -- with 36 goals scored for either side.
Sporting has won four of the team's last five away trips to Seattle, including a 2-1 win in the most recent match-up at Lumen Field in May 2023 courtesy of goals by Erik Thommy and Alan Pulido. Most recently, Sporting secured a 2-1 victory over the Sounders at Children's Mercy Park in June as Alenis Vargas came off the bench to score the game-winning goal in the 85th minute.
Jordan Morris and Johnny Russell each traded first-half goals in this summer's encounter, continuing to make their mark in the SEAvSKC series. Russell has seven goals versus Seattle in the regular season, his most against any MLS opponent, while Morris has struck eight times in 10 match-ups with Kansas City.
Morris leads the Sounders with 15 goals in all competitions this season and the World Cup veteran scored in last weekend's 4-0 rout at reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew. However, it was teammate Albert Rusnak who earned MLS Player of the Matchday honors with his first professional hat trick. The Slovakian playmaker now has eight goals and 12 assists - fourth most in MLS -- during the regular season.
Defensively, Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei ranks among the top players at his position in MLS history with 1,256 saves (fourth), 169 wins (third) and 112 shutouts (second) but the Swiss standout missed the team's last match in compliance with the MLS Concussion Management Protocol.
Sporting Kansas City will be without suspended defender/midfielder Jake Davis for the club's next two matches, although the club's roster will be bolstered by the return of forward Stephen Afrifa from international duty as Sporting faces a Seattle side that has conceded the fewest home goals in MLS this season.
The visitors are coming off a 1-1 road result at the New York Red Bulls last Saturday in which Pulido provided the game's opening goal to extend his streak of goal contributions to three straight MLS matches. The Designated Player ranks second on the team with six goals in all competitions this season to move into ninth on the club's all-time goal scoring chart, which is led by Sporting Legend and Seattle Sounders assistant coach Preki. The two-time MLS MVP made 218 regular season appearances across nine seasons with the Kansas City Wizards (1996-2000, 2002-2005).
A standalone MLS match-up on Sunday, SEAvSKC will be free to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and will also be nationally televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes. Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the KC Power & Light District featuring food and drink specials. In addition, radio coverage will air locally on 94.5 FM, 1510 AM and 1340 AM with live audio streams in the Sporting KC App as well as a live broadcast on SiriusXM FC.
