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Seattle, L.A. battle for Supporters' Shield

Oct 18, 2014 - 8:12 PM Carson, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The winner of the 2014 MLS Supporters' Shield will be decided when the Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders FC battle in a home-and-home series over the course of the final two games of the season, beginning at the StubHub Center on Sunday.

The two clubs sit level atop the overall MLS table with 60 points apiece, and because Seattle has earned two more wins than Los Angeles, the Galaxy must take four points from the last two matches in order to claim the regular season crown.

Los Angeles figures to be a strong bet to stay alive in the race for the Supporters' Shield as the club has logged a 5-1-2 home record against Seattle since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009.

"We get up for this game," Landon Donovan said via the Galaxy's official website. "It's an exciting game when they come here and vice versa when we go there. We do well under the spotlight. These are games that we cherish and I expect Sunday to be the same and I expect next Saturday (at CenturyLink Field) and if we face them in the playoffs, it'll be the same."

Donovan, who has scored two goals and added six assists in regular season play against the Sounders, should steal the spotlight in Sunday's affair as it will be his last regular season match on home soil.

Seattle already has Donovan earmarked as the Galaxy's main offensive threat, and the visiting Sounders will be keen to contain the former United States international.

"With Landon announcing his retirement, it's just another rallying point for them as a team," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told the club's official website. "But we can't let that bother us from that standpoint. Obviously Landon has been a fantastic player for our league, a fantastic player for the country...so we want him to go out on good terms. But we want to go out on our terms as well."

Schmid claimed the MLS Supporters' Shield in his stint as head coach of the Columbus Crew, accomplishing the feat with two games to spare. He indicated his desire to see the Sounders lock up the top overall seed in similar fashion.

"If we can clear things up in the first game, that'd be great," Schmid continued. "It's going to be an emotional game because it'll be Landon Donovan's last regular-season game at home. So they're going to be sold out. There's a lot of emotions at play for them, but we'll be ready."

But even with Seattle's tremendous opportunity for a second piece of silverware this term, the Sounders appear to be quite loose.

"We're relaxed right now," Seattle captain Brad Evans told the club's website. "As the week goes on, we'll get a little more intense, a little more serious. But right now we're trying to have fun and enjoy that it's a culmination of the season."