# 2015 Seattle Sounders FC season

The 2015 Seattle Sounders FC season was the club's seventh season in Major League Soccer, the United States' top-tier of professional soccer. Including previous Seattle Sounders franchises, this was the 35th season of a soccer team playing in the Seattle metro area.

## Background

The Sounders came into the 2015 season following a successful 2014, winning the U.S. Open Cup for the fourth time as well as winning the Supporters' Shield for the first time in franchise history. By winning the Double, the Sounders became the sixth Major League Soccer team to win two major trophies in one season. This was the first time a club managed to win two trophies since the 2011 Los Angeles Galaxy. It was also the first time since the 2003 Chicago Fire for a team to do the Open Cup/League double.
Seattle also qualified for the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive time. Seattle came into the playoffs with the ability to become the first MLS club to win the Treble. Seattle ended up losing in the Conference Finals 2-2 on aggregate, losing by away goals.
By virtue of winning the Supporters' Shield, the Sounders qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League after a two-year drought from the competition.

## Roster

Major League Soccer teams are limited to eight players without U.S. citizenship, a permanent resident (green card holder), or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status). These international roster slots can be traded. Sounders FC began the 2015 MLS season with eight international slots; it was announced they traded with DC United for a ninth slot during the Summer Transfer Window.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of April 4, 2015.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Troy Perkins | United States |
| 2 | MF | Clint Dempsey (DP) | United States |
| 3 | MF | Brad Evans (c) | United States |
| 4 | DF | Tyrone Mears | England |
| 5 | MF | Andy Rose | England |
| 6 | MF | Osvaldo Alonso | Cuba |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Roldan (GA) | United States |
| 8 | MF | Gonzalo Pineda | Mexico |
| 9 | FW | Obafemi Martins (DP) | Nigeria |
| 10 | MF | Marco Pappa | Guatemala |
| 11 | MF | Aaron Kovar (HGP) | United States |
| 12 | DF | Leonardo González | Costa Rica |
| 13 | DF | Andrés Correa | Colombia |
| 14 | DF | Chad Marshall | United States |
| 15 | DF | Dylan Remick | United States |
| 16 | FW | Nelson Valdez (DP) | Paraguay |
| 17 | FW | Darwin Jones (HGP) | United States |
| 18 | MF | Thomás Jaguaribe | Brazil |
| 19 | FW | Chad Barrett | United States |
| 20 | DF | Zach Scott | United States |
| 21 | DF | Jimmy Ockford | United States |
| 22 | GK | Charlie Lyon | United States |
| 23 | MF | Andreas Ivanschitz | Austria |
| 24 | GK | Stefan Frei | Switzerland |
| 27 | MF | Lamar Neagle | United States |
| 28 | MF | Erik Friberg | Sweden |
| 29 | DF | Román Torres | Panama |
| 31 | DF | Damion Lowe (GA) | Jamaica |
| 42 | MF | Micheal Azira | Uganda |
| 80 | FW | Victor Mansaray (HGP) | United States |
| 91 | DF | Oniel Fisher | Jamaica |
| 99 | FW | Andy Craven (DL) | United States |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 53 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 3 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 53 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 51 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 5 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 56 | 46 | +10 | 51 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 6 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 48 | 45 | +3 | 51 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |

##### Overall

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 4 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 53 | |
| 5 | Portland Timbers (C) | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 53 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 6 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 51 | |
| 7 | Montreal Impact | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 51 | |
| 8 | D.C. United | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 51 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: October 20, 2015. Source: MLS

#### Results by matchday

| 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 | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | D | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | W | D | W | D | D | D | W |

#### Matches
### MLS Cup Playoffs
#### Conference semifinals

FC Dallas win 4–2 on penalties after 3-3 aggregate and advance to Western Conference Finals.

### CONCACAF Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Seattle Sounders FC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Olimpia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4 | |

### Friendlies
## 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 |
| 80 | FW | Victor Mansaray | Seattle Sounders FC Academy | Signed HGP deal | November 5, 2014 |
| 21 | DF | Jimmy Ockford | New York Cosmos | Return from loan at the end of 2014 NASL season | November 16, 2014 |
| 22 | DF | Eriq Zavaleta | Chivas USA | Return from loan at the end of 2014 MLS season | December 8, 2014 |
| 4 | DF | Tyrone Mears | Free agent | Discovery Signing | December 29, 2014 |
| 17 | FW | Darwin Jones | Washington Huskies | Signed HGP deal | January 9, 2015 |
| 1 | GK | Troy Perkins | Free agent | Out of contract at Montreal Impact and was not selected during the 2014 Re-Entry Draft | January 13, 2015 |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Roldan | Washington Huskies | Generation adidas; 16th pick of the MLS SuperDraft | January 15, 2015 |
| 99 | FW | Andy Craven | North Carolina Tar Heels | Signed MLS college senior contract; 48th pick of the MLS SuperDraft | January 20, 2015 |
| 13 | DF | Andrés Correa | Free agent | Discovery Signing | February 10, 2015 |
| 91 | DF | Oniel Fisher | New Mexico Lobos | 40th pick of the MLS SuperDraft | March 17, 2015 |
| 22 | GK | Charlie Lyon | Marquette Golden Eagles | 75th pick of the MLS SuperDraft | March 17, 2015 |
| 18 | MF | Thomás Jaguaribe | Discovery Signing | | June 1, 2015 |
| 28 | MF | Erik Friberg | Esbjerg fB | | July 29, 2015 |
| 23 | MF | Andreas Ivanschitz | Discovery Signing | Free | August 4, 2015 |
| 16 | FW | Nelson Haedo Valdez | Free Agent | Free, Signed as DP | August 7, 2015 |
| 29 | DF | Román Torres | Discovery Signing | Targeted Allocation Money | August 12, 2015 |
Seattle's first signing ahead of the 2015 season was the signing of 17-year-old Victor Mansaray to a Homegrown Player contract. In December 2014, English defender Tyrone Mears was added to the roster as a Discovery Signing; Mears had been a free agent since July when he was released by Bolton Wanderers following the 2013-14 English Championship season. Seattle added All-Pac-12 forward Darwin Jones from the Washington Huskies as a Homegrown Player on January 9, 2015.

#### 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 2015 MLS SuperDraft will be listed in the notes.
| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Notes |
| January 15, 2015 | Cristian Roldan (GA) | 7 | MF | Washington Huskies | MLS SuperDraft 1st Round Pick (#16); pick acquired from Real Salt Lake in exchange for pick #27 and allocation money |
| January 15, 2015 | Tyler Miller | | GK | Northwestern Wildcats | MLS SuperDraft 2nd Round Pick (#33); pick acquired from New England Revolution in exchange for future considerations (the rights to Sean Okoli and allocation money) |
| January 15, 2015 | Oniel Fisher | | MF/DF | New Mexico Lobos | MLS SuperDraft 2nd Round Pick (#40) |
| January 20, 2015 | Andy Craven | | FW | North Carolina Tar Heels | MLS SuperDraft 3rd Round Pick (#48) |
| January 20, 2015 | Charlie Lyon | | GK | Marquette Golden Eagles | MLS SuperDraft 4th Round Pick (#75) |
| January 20, 2015 | Andy Bevin | | FW | West Virginia Mountaineers | MLS SuperDraft 4th Round Pick (#80) |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date |
| 26 | DF | Onyekachi Apam | Retired | Waived | December 4, 2014 |
| 4 | DF | Jalil Anibaba | Orlando City SC | Out of contract; selected in Expansion Draft | December 4, 2014 |
| 7 | FW | Tristan Bowen | New England Revolution | Waived; selected in Re-Entry Draft Stage 2 | December 4, 2014 |
| 29 | GK | Josh Ford | Orlando City SC | Waived; selected in Re-Entry Draft Stage 2 | December 4, 2014 |
| 1 | GK | Marcus Hahnemann | Retired | Waived | December 4, 2014 |
| 13 | FW | Sean Okoli | New England Revolution | Waived; rights along with allocation money traded for the 33rd pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft | December 4, 2014 |
| 18 | DF | Djimi Traoré | Retired | Waived | December 4, 2014 |
| 23 | FW | Cam Weaver | Retired | Waived | December 4, 2014 |
| 22 | FW | Eriq Zavaleta | Toronto FC | Waived; rights traded for a 2nd round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft | December 4, 2014 |
| 17 | DF | DeAndre Yedlin | Tottenham Hotspur | $4,000,000 | December 23, 2014 |
| | FW | Andy Craven | Sounders 2 | | March 10, 2015 |
| | DF | Aaron Long | Sounders 2 | | March 14, 2015 |
| 77 | FW | Kévin Parsemain | | Waived | March 20, 2015 |
| 33 | FW | Kenny Cooper | Montreal Impact | Waived | April 2, 2015 |
On August 13, 2014, it was confirmed that DeAndre Yedlin would be transferred to Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League for a reported transfer fee of $4 million. Yedlin departed for the English club in January 2015.

## Recognition
### MLS Player of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent | Ref |
| 11 | Chad Barrett | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | |

### MLS Goal of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent |
| 1 | Clint Dempsey | New England Revolution |
| 7 | Obafemi Martins | Colorado Rapids |
| 9 | Obafemi Martins | New York City FC |
| 13 | Marco Pappa | New York Red Bulls |

### MLS Save of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent | Ref |
| 9 | Stefan Frei | New York City FC | |

### MLS Team of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent |
| 1 | Clint Dempsey | New England Revolution |
| 1 | Obafemi Martins | New England Revolution |
| 1 | Tyrone Mears | New England Revolution |
| 5 | Chad Marshall | Houston Dynamo |
| 7 | Stefan Frei | Colorado Rapids |
| 7 | Lamar Neagle | Colorado Rapids |
| 9 | Chad Marshall | New York City FC |
| 9 | Obafemi Martins | New York City FC |
| 9 | Dylan Remick | New York City FC |
| 11 | Chad Barrett | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
| 13 | Marco Pappa | Colorado Rapids and New York Red Bulls |

## Kits

| Home | Home Alt. | Home Alt. 2 | Away | Third |
| Type | Shirt | Shorts | Socks | First appearance / Info |
| Home | Rave Green | Blue | Rave Green | March 8 vs. New England Revolution |
| Home Alt. | Rave Green | Rave Green | Blue | March 28 at FC Dallas |
| Home Alt. 2 | Rave Green | Rave Green | Rave Green | June 24 at Philadelphia Union |
| Away | White | White | Black | May 9 at Columbus Crew |
| Third | Black | Light green | Light green | May 3 at New York City FC |