Sounders 1 - 1 Union
Final
  for this game

Seattle aiming for first road win at 1st-placed Philadelphia

Apr 15, 2011 - 6:03 PM Chester, PA (Sports Network) - Seattle Sounders FC will be gunning for its first road win of the season when it travels to take on the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer action on Saturday.

The Sounders (1-2-2) finally broke out last week at home for its first win of the season, topping the Chicago Fire 1-0 to extend its unbeaten run to three matches after opening the season 0-2 in the first week.

"A win's a win," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "We got three points and get that monkey off our back a little bit, and now we can move forward and start to concentrate on Philadelphia."

The Sounders got first-half goals from O'Brien White and Steve Zakuani to propel them to victory.

"Obviously, we're happy to win," Schmid said. "We didn't make it easy on ourselves in the second half, but we got some great saves; Kasey Keller made some big time saves for us. Sometimes when you're trying to grind out that first win, sometimes you need a little of that going your way."

The Union (3-1-0), on the other hand, are coming off a 1-0 win at home over Eastern Conference rivals Red Bull new York, and have given up just one goal in four matches this season.

"[Goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon] has done a great, great job for us," Union defender Danny Califf told his club's website. "He's commanding back there, man. He has that presence in goal. I'm glad we have him. We take pride in doing the job in front of him to help preserve the shutouts because that means a lot."

The win over the Red Bulls, who many consider the most talented team in MLS, should be a huge boost for the second-year franchise

"It's not just about three points, but building confidence," Mondragon told his club's website. "We need to start believing that we're not an expansion team anymore and go for more important targets and get our house in order. We have to start building this confidence and shutouts will definitely help."

The Union currently lead the Eastern table by three points over Toronto and New England, who have played an extra game, so early in the season, the confidence is there.






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