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Sounders begin quest for treble against FCD

Oct 31, 2014 - 8:57 PM Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Seattle Sounders FC will begin their quest for a treble on Sunday when the club travels to Toyota Stadium to face FC Dallas in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals.

Seattle's quest for three trophies in one season began back in September when the club claimed a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union in the U.S. Open Cup final.

Last weekend, the Sounders capped their regular season in style with a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy to claim the club's first-ever Supporters' Shield.

With two titles already in the bag, the only one left is the big one as Sigi Schmid's club aims for its first MLS Cup title.

Marco Pappa hit for a pair of goals late on to lift the Sounders to the Shield-clinching victory. The opener came in the 85th minute as a quick free kick saw Obafemi Martins split the defense for an unmarked Pappa to fire home from close range.

Pappa made sure of the victory in the final minute of stoppage time, pouncing on a defensive miscue from the Galaxy to chip home the insurance goal.

"At the end of the day, I think the Shield is another feather in the cap of our organization," Schmid said after the match. "I think people forget that we're still a very young organization. We're only six years in, and now we've won four Open Cups and a Supporters Shield. That's five trophies in six years. I think its a reflection of our consistency."

Winning the Supporters' Shield is certainly a testament to the club's remarkable consistency. Seattle became the first team to win 20 games since 1999.

"I'm really proud of our group," Schmid said. "We'll enjoy it today and tomorrow. Then it's back to work.

Back to work for Seattle means getting prepared to face an FC Dallas team that comes in riding momentum following a dramatic 2-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the knockout round game on Wednesday.

FC Dallas opened the scoring just before the break as a defensive mistake between Kendall Waston and Andy O'Brien allowed FCD's Mauro Diaz to advance the ball into the final third of the pitch. Diaz made the covering defender commit before slipping a well-timed through ball into the path of Tesho Akindele, who showed great aplomb in firing a right-footed shot past David Ousted for the opener.

Dallas, though, did not adequately deal with a set piece in the 64th minute as a couple of failed clearances resulted in a scramble in the box. The ball eventually fell to the feet of Erik Hurtado, who fired a shot that took a slight deflection on its way past Chris Seitz at the near post for the equalizer.

The defining moment came in the 84th minute when Waston handled the ball in the box inside the final 10 minutes.

Amid a great deal of protest from the visitors, referee Mark Geiger awarded Dallas a penalty and Michel made no mistake with the ensuing attempt, firing home an emphatic finish to clinch the victory for Oscar Pareja's men.

The sides met three times during the regular season, with Seattle wining twice. But FC Dallas did manage a 3-1 win over Seattle in the most recent meeting on Sept 24.