On verge of reaching MLS Cup, Galaxy expects challenging conditions in Seattle

As far as the Galaxy's Marcelo Sarvas is concerned, there is only one way to look at today's second leg of the aggregate-goal, Western Conference Championship against Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

It's not going to be pretty.

"I'm going there to win," he told lagalaxy.com, "to fight for 90 minutes.

"It will be a hard game. At the same time we have players here that can manage this very well ? control the time of the game, the corners, the throw-ins, the fouls. We have a 3-0 lead, but we cannot rest. We cannot have a moment in the game where we can breathe.

"We know how important it is and how hard the season is."

The Galaxy is one game shy of getting a chance to defend its MLS Cup title in the final Dec. 1. Because of last Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Sounders at The Home Depot Center, the Galaxy is on the verge of becoming the first team to qualify for back-to-back MLS Cups since the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution in 2006 and 2007.

But now it's on to Seattle, where an expected crowd of more than 50,000 will be on hand in what is expected to be cold and wet conditions.

"It's great, one of the best in MLS," goalkeeper Josh Saunders said of the atmosphere at CenturyLink Field. "It's awesome to go in there and have so many fans cheering and giving their team good support."

The Galaxy's Robbie Keane, who is tied with Houston's Will Bruin for the playoff lead with four goals, said, "For me personally, I like playing in stadiums that have a great atmosphere and everyone wants to be involved in games like that.

"It gets no bigger than this. It should be something we look forward to, even though we are the away team."

The Sounders had a 6-0 advantage in two home games against the Galaxy earlier this season. And last season the erased a 2-0 deficit in a playoff series against Real Salt Lake, forcing extra time.

The Galaxy expects the Sounders to throw all sorts of numbers forward from the start today, but will try to maintain their regular approach.

"If you take that approach or mentality," Saunders said, cautioned, "you're going to keep that the whole game. You don't want to do that. You want to go out and win the game."

Source: http://www.orangecounty.com/articles/galaxy-45903-game-seattle.html

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