The Seattle Sounders missed a great chance to gain ground on the San Jose Earthquakes atop the MLS Western Conference Saturday night at CenturyLink Field. They fell 2-1 and now the Earthquakes are ever so close to clinching the conference regular-season title.
With San Jose thinking about that and the Supporter's Shield for most points in the entire league, the Sounders must set their sights on a second-place finish. They're in solid position to do so despite the home loss, and at 48 points are only one point out of second behind Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy.
Seattle has five matches left to play in the regular season. The Galaxy and RSL have four. Second place is important because that team would get to host a conference semifinal, while fourth place means a play-in game just to get into the conference semifinals.
The Sounders are 13-7-9 on the season and headed to a fourth postseason appearance in four seasons of existence.
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