# 2019 Seattle Sounders FC season

The 2019 Seattle Sounders FC season was the club's eleventh season in Major League Soccer, the United States' top-tier of professional soccer. The 2019 season was Brian Schmetzer's third full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders. Seattle-based Zulily became the official jersey sponsor of the Sounders in the 2019 season.
Sounders FC won their second MLS Cup title at the end of the season, playing in front of a franchise-record 69,274 fans at CenturyLink Field.

## Recap

In January 2019, the Sounders announced that their USL-affiliated team, Seattle Sounders FC 2, that had moved to Tacoma, Washington would be re-branded as the Tacoma Defiance. In addition, the club announced that Zulily would replace Xbox as the jersey sponsor after signing a multi-year deal.
Long-time midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who had served as captain and been with the club since its inaugural MLS season, was released into free agency and signed with Minnesota United FC in January 2019. Defender Chad Marshall, who had joined in 2014, announced his retirement from professional soccer on May 22, leaving mid-way through the season.
On August 2, defender Román Torres was suspended for ten matches after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance by the league.
The Sounders clinched a spot in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League by virtue of having the 4th best record in the regular season and making it to the Western Conference Finals in the Playoffs; the three other teams in the Conference Finals had also clinched berths in the Champions League or were ineligible (in the case of Toronto FC).

## Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of August 12, 2019.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Trey Muse (HGP) | United States |
| 3 | DF | Jonathan Campbell | United States |
| 4 | MF | Gustav Svensson | Sweden |
| 5 | DF | Nouhou Tolo | Cameroon |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Roldan | United States |
| 8 | MF | Víctor Rodríguez | Spain |
| 9 | FW | Raúl Ruidíaz (DP) | Peru |
| 10 | MF | Nicolás Lodeiro (DP) | Uruguay |
| 11 | DF | Brad Smith (on loan from A.F.C. Bournemouth) | Australia |
| 12 | DF | Saad Abdul-Salaam | United States |
| 13 | FW | Jordan Morris (HGP) | United States |
| 15 | MF | Emanuel Cecchini (on loan from Málaga CF) | Argentina |
| 16 | MF | Alex Roldan | United States |
| 17 | FW | Will Bruin | United States |
| 18 | DF | Kelvin Leerdam | Suriname |
| 19 | MF | Harry Shipp | United States |
| 20 | DF | Kim Kee-hee | South Korea |
| 21 | MF | Jordy Delem | Martinique |
| 23 | FW | Luis Silva | Mexico |
| 24 | GK | Stefan Frei | Switzerland |
| 25 | DF | Xavier Arreaga (DP) | Ecuador |
| 29 | DF | Román Torres | Panama |
| 33 | DF | Joevin Jones | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 35 | GK | Bryan Meredith | United States |
| 70 | MF | Handwalla Bwana (HGP) | Kenya |
| 75 | MF | Danny Leyva (HGP) | United States |
| 87 | FW | Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (HGP) | United States |
| 99 | FW | Justin Dhillon | United States |

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss  Upcoming fixture

### Major League Soccer
#### League tables
##### Western Conference

2019 MLS Western Conference standings :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Los Angeles FC (P, S) | 34 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 85 | 37 | +48 | 72 | Playoffs Conference Semifinals & 2020 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders FC (P, C) | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 56 | Playoffs first round & 2020 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake (P, L) | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 53 | Playoffs first round & 2020 Leagues Cup |
| 4 | Minnesota United FC (P, L) | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 53 | Playoffs first round & 2020 Leagues Cup |
| 5 | LA Galaxy (P, L) | 34 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 56 | 55 | +1 | 51 | Playoffs first round & 2020 Leagues Cup |
* ↑ As MLS Cup 2019 champions

##### Overall

2019 MLS regular season standings :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 2 | New York City FC | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 63 | 42 | +21 | 64 | 2020 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 3 | Atlanta United FC (U) | 34 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 58 | 43 | +15 | 58 | 2020 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC (C) | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 56 | 2020 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 5 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 58 | 50 | +8 | 55 | |
| 6 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 53 | |
* ↑ As Eastern Conference regular season champions (USA3)
* ↑ As 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions (USA4)
* ↑ As MLS Cup 2019 champions (USA1)

#### Results

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: October 6, 2019. Source: MLS
| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Stadium | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | L | D | D | D | W | W | D | L | L | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | D | W | W | W | D | L | W | W |

### U.S. Open Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Numbers after plus-sign(+) denote appearances as a substitute.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Regular season | Regular season | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | USA | Trey Muse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | USA | Jonathan Campbell | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | SWE | Gustav Svensson | 26 | 1 | 21+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | CMR | Nouhou | 25 | 0 | 9+13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | USA | Cristian Roldan | 33 | 6 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Víctor Rodríguez | 21 | 4 | 14+3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0+3 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | PER | Raúl Ruidíaz | 26 | 15 | 20+2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 10 | MF | URU | Nicolás Lodeiro | 32 | 9 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 11 | DF | AUS | Brad Smith | 30 | 0 | 22+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | USA | Saad Abdul-Salaam | 19 | 0 | 11+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | USA | Jordan Morris | 30 | 13 | 24+2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 14 | DF | USA | Chad Marshall | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ARG | Emanuel Cecchini | 4 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | USA | Alex Roldan | 10 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | USA | Will Bruin | 10 | 2 | 4+5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | SUR | Kelvin Leerdam | 34 | 7 | 27+2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | USA | Harry Shipp | 26 | 5 | 15+10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | KOR | Kim Kee-hee | 34 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | MTQ | Jordy Delem | 27 | 0 | 17+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | USA | Henry Wingo | 7 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | MEX | Luis Silva | 6 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | SUI | Stefan Frei | 38 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ECU | Xavier Arreaga | 17 | 0 | 12+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | PAN | Román Torres | 21 | 1 | 12+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | TRI | Joevin Jones | 21 | 0 | 9+8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 35 | GK | USA | Bryan Meredith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | USA | Shandon Hopeau [TAC] | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | FW | KEN | Handwalla Bwana | 16 | 1 | 6+9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 | MF | USA | Danny Leyva | 7 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 87 | FW | USA | Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | USA | Justin Dhillon | 5 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Last updated: November 10, 2019
* Source: Team Stats
[TAC] – Defiance player

### Top scorers

| Rank | Position | Number | Name | MLS | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | 10 | Raúl Ruidíaz | 11 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | FW | 13 | Jordan Morris | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | MF | 10 | Nicolás Lodeiro | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | MF | 7 | Cristian Roldan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | DF | 18 | Kelvin Leerdam | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | MF | 19 | Harry Shipp | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | MF | 8 | Víctor Rodríguez | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | FW | 17 | Will Bruin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | 4 | Gustav Svensson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | 29 | Román Torres | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | 70 | Handwalla Bwana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* Last updated: November 10, 2019
* Source: Team Stats

### Top assists

| Rank | Position | Number | Name | MLS | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | MF | 10 | Nicolás Lodeiro | 12 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| 3 | DF | 11 | Brad Smith | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | FW | 13 | Jordan Morris | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | FW | 9 | Raúl Ruidíaz | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | MF | 7 | Cristian Roldan | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | 4 | Gustav Svensson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | DF | 33 | Joevin Jones | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | 8 | Víctor Rodríguez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | 19 | Harry Shipp | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | MF | 18 | Kelvin Leerdam | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | 16 | Alex Roldan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | 17 | Will Bruin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | 20 | Kim Kee-hee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | 21 | Jordy Delem | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | 70 | Handwalla Bwana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* Last updated: November 10, 2019
* Source:

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Player | MLS | MLS | MLS | MLS Playoffs | MLS Playoffs | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 3 | DF | Jonathan Campbell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Gustav Svensson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Nouhou Tolo | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Roldan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | Víctor Rodríguez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Raúl Ruidíaz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Nicolás Lodeiro | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Saad Abdul-Salaam | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Jordan Morris | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Emanuel Cecchini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Alex Roldan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Will Bruin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | Kelvin Leerdam | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | Harry Shipp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | Kim Kee-hee | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Jordy Delem | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | Stefan Frei | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Xavier Arreaga | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | Román Torres | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Joevin Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | MF | Handwalla Bwana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 | MF | Danny Leyva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 51 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 2 | 2 |
* Last updated: November 10, 2019
* Source: Disciplinary Stats
* 1 2 Rescinded

## Honors and awards
### MLS Team of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent | Position |
| 1 | Jordan Morris | FC Cincinnati | FW |
| 1 | Nicolás Lodeiro | FC Cincinnati | MF |
| 1 | Víctor Rodríguez | FC Cincinnati | Bench |
| 2 | Kelvin Leerdam | Colorado Rapids | DF |
| 3 | Nicolás Lodeiro | Chicago Fire SC | MF |
| 3 | Jordan Morris | Chicago Fire SC | Bench |
| 5 | Stefan Frei | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | GK |
| 7 | Will Bruin | Toronto FC | FW |
| 9 | Brad Smith | San Jose Earthquakes & Los Angeles FC | DF |
| 10 | Cristian Roldan | Minnesota United FC | Bench |
| 11 | Cristian Roldan | Houston Dynamo | MF |
| 12 | Brad Smith | Orlando City SC & Philadelphia Union | Bench |
| 12 | Stefan Frei | Orlando City SC & Philadelphia Union | Bench |
| 13 | Kelvin Leerdam | Sporting Kansas City | Bench |
| 17 | Kelvin Leerdam | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | DF |
| 18 | Nicolás Lodeiro | Columbus Crew SC | MF |
| 19 | Cristian Roldan | Atlanta United FC | MF |
| 21 | Nouhou Tolo | Houston Dynamo | DF |
| 25 | Jordan Morris | Portland Timbers | Bench |
| 26 | Cristian Roldan | LA Galaxy | MF |
| 27 | Stefan Frei | Colorado Rapids | Bench |
| 28 | Jordan Morris | New York Red Bulls | FW |
| 28 | Nicolás Lodeiro | New York Red Bulls | Bench |
| 30 | Jordan Morris | San Jose Earthquakes | Bench |
| 31 | Román Torres | Minnesota United FC | DF |
Bold indicates Audi Player Index Spotlight
Italics indicates MLS Player of the Week

### MLS Goal of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent |
| 6 | Nicolás Lodeiro | Real Salt Lake |
| 19 | Raúl Ruidíaz | Atlanta United FC |
| 21 | Jordan Morris | Houston Dynamo |

### MLS awards

| Player | Award |
| Jordan Morris | MLS Comeback Player of the Year |
| Víctor Rodríguez | MLS Cup MVP |
| Staffmember | Award |
| Garth Lagerwey | MLS Sporting Executive of the Year |

## Transfers

For transfers in, dates listed are when Sounders FC officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Sounders FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from Sounders FC roster.

### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date |
| 3 | DF | Jonathan Campbell | Chicago Fire | Traded for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft | December 28, 2018 |
| 1 | GK | Trey Muse | Indiana University | Signed HGP Deal | January 15, 2019 |
| 12 | DF | Saad Abdul-Salaam | New York City FC | Rights acquired in exchange for $50,000 TAM | February 26, 2019 |
| 75 | MF | Danny Leyva | Tacoma Defiance | Signed HGP Deal | April 9, 2019 |
| 87 | FW | Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez | Tacoma Defiance | Signed HGP Deal | May 1, 2019 |
| 33 | DF | Joevin Jones | SV Darmstadt 98 | TAM signing | May 7, 2019 |
| 25 | DF | Xavier Arreaga | Barcelona S.C. | DP contract | May 7, 2019 |
| 99 | FW | Justin Dhillon | Tacoma Defiance | | June 28, 2019 |
| 15 | MF | Emanuel Cecchini | Málaga CF | On loan through the end of the 2020 MLS season | August 8, 2019 |
| 23 | FW | Luis Silva | FC Honka | | August 8, 2019 |

#### Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of 2019 MLS SuperDraft will be listed in the notes.
| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Notes |
| January 11, 2019 | Tucker Bone | 40 | MF | Air Force Academy | MLS SuperDraft 1st Round Pick (#20) |
| January 11, 2019 | Joel Rydstrand | 42 | MF | Creighton University | MLS SuperDraft 2nd Round Pick (#44) |
| January 14, 2019 | Aleks Berkolds | 59 | DF | San Diego State University | MLS SuperDraft 3rd Round Pick (#68) |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date |
| 25 | GK | Calle Brown | Loudoun United FC | Option declined | November 19, 2018 |
| 15 | DF | Tony Alfaro | C.D. Guadalajara | Option declined | November 19, 2018 |
| 99 | FW | Felix Chenkam | | Option declined | November 19, 2018 |
| 6 | MF | Osvaldo Alonso | Minnesota United FC | Free agent | November 19, 2018 |
| 27 | FW | Lamar Neagle | Tacoma Stars | Free agent | November 19, 2018 |
| 11 | MF | Aaron Kovar | Retired | Out of contract | November 19, 2018 |
| 90 | DF | Waylon Francis | Columbus Crew SC | Traded for $50,000 in GAM | February 5, 2019 |
| 30 | DF | Jordan McCrary | Sacramento Republic FC | Waived | February 26, 2019 |
| 14 | DF | Chad Marshall | Retired | Retired due to injury | May 22, 2019 |
| 23 | MF | Henry Wingo | Molde FK | Undisclosed Fee | August 12, 2019 |

### Other transactions

* On July 10, 2019, the Sounders signed 8-year-old goalkeeper Bheem Goyal to a first-team contract as part of a Make-a-Wish Foundation partnership.
* On August 27, 2019, Seattle Sounders FC received $100,000 in general allocation money from Nashville SC in exchange for the discovery rights for Hany Mukhtar.