The stakes couldn't be clearer for Seattle Sounders FC (No. 2) and FC Dallas (No. 7) heading into Friday's Round One Best-of-3 finale: winner reaches the Western Conference Semifinals, loser goes home.
How to watch and stream
When
- Friday, November 10 - 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Where
- Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington
Round One Best-of-3 series
- Match 1: 2-0 Seattle win (Oct. 30)
- Match 2: 3-1 Dallas win (Nov. 4)
It's down to Match 3 after Seattle and Dallas won their respective home matches to push the series as far as it can go. Will FCD build on their season-saving Match 2 victory, or will the Sounders take care of business in front of their fans at Lumen Field?
LAFC await the winner in the Western Conference Semifinals, held either Nov. 25 or 26. Seattle would host the reigning champions, whereas Dallas would hit the road.
If a Round One Best-of-3 series match is tied after regulation time (90 minutes), a penalty kick shootout will determine the winner (no extra time). Big picture, teams are chasing a berth in MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 9.
- Seed: 2nd in Western Conference
- Record: 53 points (14W-9L-11D)
Seattle's lockdown defense had an uncharacteristic off night Saturday at Toyota Stadium, with the hosts striking twice within the opening 18 minutes en route to a season-saving 3-1 win that forced Match 3.
Head coach Brian Schmetzer was critical of the team's performance, saying "we came out flat." Forward Jordan Morris, who scored the Rave Green's lone goal in Texas, added: "We put ourselves into too big of a deficit and couldn't come out of it."
Now it's up to the West's No. 2 seed to see out the series at Lumen Field, where they went 7W-4L-6D this season.
- Seed: 7th in Western Conference
- Record: 46 points (11W-10L-13D)
Down a match and one of their best players, Dallas nevertheless delivered a vital Match 2 victory to stay alive just days after losing playmaker Alan Velasco to a season-ending knee injury.
Paul Arriola snapped a seven-game scoreless streak, while Jesús Ferreira made up for some Match 1 misses with the game-winning penalty kick. And with fellow attacker Jáder Obrian rounding out the scoring, FCD's offense could be getting hot ahead of another must-win contest.
