Seattle Sounders Fc

The Philadelphia Union will open their inaugural Major League Soccer season on March 25, 2010, when the expansion team visits the Seattle Sounders FC at 9:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The Union will play their first home match on April 10 against the D.C. United at Lincoln Financial Field. In 2010, each MLS team will play 30 regular-season matches. Eight teams will qualify for the playoffs. The MLS Cup championship match will be played on Nov. 21. For the first time in its history, MLS will not play league games during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The last MLS game will be played June 10, with league play resuming on June 25. MLS does not plan to schedule games on the days of either World Cup Semifinal or the World Cup Final.

The second Major League Soccer campaign for the Union begins in March, but the club won't have to wait a month to play its first home game, like it did last season. Starting its second season in a row on the road, the Union opens on Saturday, March 19, at 8:30 p.m., against the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium. The home opener will be 1 week later, March 26, against the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps at PPL Park. MLS' First Kick begins March 15 when Seattle Sounders FC hosts the Los Angeles Galaxy live on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. MLS will feature a balanced 34-game schedule, with teams facing each other at home and on the road.

Defender David Myrie was a surprise starter in the Union's opening 2-0 loss on Thursday to the host Seattle Sounders FC. In another surprise, Myrie is no longer with the team. The Union announced yesterday that they have released the 21-year-old defender. Myrie was replaced in the opener by Jack McInerney in the 78th minute. Union team manager Peter Nowak was unavailable for comment. Originally from Costa Rica, Myrie was acquired in the 2009 expansion draft from the Chicago Fire.

The Union's first Major League Soccer game at PPL Park in Chester is sold out. Single-game tickets for the June 27 game against Seattle Sounders FC were sold in five hours Monday. The new stadium will seat 18,500. The Union cut off season-ticket sales at 12,000. The Union (2-6-1) will play at Kansas City on Thursday, then will take a break during the World Cup before resuming action on June 27. They played two home games at Lincoln Financial Field while awaiting the stadium's completion.

One of the off-season priorities for the Union was to change their goaltending, and that process is guaranteed after goalie Chris Seitz was one of two players selected in Stage 2 of Major League Soccer's reentry process. Seitz was selected by the Seattle Sounders FC with the ninth selection of the first round, while Union midfielder Fred was taken with the fourth pick in the second round by the New England Revolution. The players became available for the draft after the Union didn't pick up their contract options.

The Union's home opener is set for March 18 at PPL Park, Major League Soccer announced. The league revealed the home opening dates for each team, but did not provide opponents. MLS will have six games on March 10, two on March 11 and one on March 12. It is possible that the Union would open on the road in one of those games. All but one MLS club will play at home by the end of Week 3. The entire regular season schedule is expected to be released by the end of the year.

KANSAS CITY - Kei Kamara and Graham Zusi scored goals to lead the Kansas City Wizards to a 2-0 win over the Union in a Major League Soccer game last night. The Union dropped to 2-7-1, while the Wizards improved to 3-5-3. The Union will be off until after the World Cup when it returns to host the Seattle Sounders FC on June 27 at PPL Park, its new stadium in Chester.  In other news, the Union will play an exhibition game against Reading United A.C. on June 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Exeter High School's Don Thomas Stadium.

The Union have yet to play a game at PPL Park in Chester, but already the team has sold out its season-ticket allotment. The team cut season-ticket sales at 12,000 for the 18,500-seat PPL Park and will offer a limited number of partial-plan tickets. Single game tickets will be sold beginning June 7. For more information, see www.philadelphiaunion.com . Due to construction at PPL Park, the Union played their first two home games at Lincoln Financial Field, drawing 34,870 and 25,038.

As Major League Soccer takes a two-week break during the World Cup, the good news for the Union is that the 30-game MLS season is one-third completed and the Union have already played more than half their 15 road games. The bad news is that they are just 1-7 away from home. The Union dropped to 2-7-1 following Thursday's 2-0 loss in Kansas City against the Wizards. Kansas City, coached by Delran graduate Peter Vermes, is now 3-5-3. The Union return to MLS action on June 27 when PPL Park in Chester opens in a 5 p.m. matchup with the Seattle Sounders FC. The loss was the second in the row for the Union, who dropped a 2-1 decision on the road to Chicago on June 5. Kansas City got on the board early when Kei Kamara scored in the ninth minute.

What: Union (2-4-1, seven points) at Seattle Sounders FC (5-1-1, 16 points) When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Where: Century Link Field, Seattle TV: NBC Sports Network On the web: Streaming at MLSSoccer.com About the Sounders: Seattle sits third in a tightly contested Western Conference and hosts the Union following a 2-0 win against the conference rival Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday....

The Union's home opener is set for March 18 at PPL Park, Major League Soccer announced. The league revealed the home opening dates for each team, but did not provide opponents. MLS will have six games on March 10, two on March 11 and one on March 12. It is possible that the Union would open on the road in one of those games. All but one MLS club will play at home by the end of Week 3. The entire regular season schedule is expected to be released by the end of the year.

The second Major League Soccer campaign for the Union begins in March, but the club won't have to wait a month to play its first home game, like it did last season. Starting its second season in a row on the road, the Union opens on Saturday, March 19, at 8:30 p.m., against the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium. The home opener will be 1 week later, March 26, against the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps at PPL Park. MLS' First Kick begins March 15 when Seattle Sounders FC hosts the Los Angeles Galaxy live on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. MLS will feature a balanced 34-game schedule, with teams facing each other at home and on the road.

One of the off-season priorities for the Union was to change their goaltending, and that process is guaranteed after goalie Chris Seitz was one of two players selected in Stage 2 of Major League Soccer's reentry process. Seitz was selected by the Seattle Sounders FC with the ninth selection of the first round, while Union midfielder Fred was taken with the fourth pick in the second round by the New England Revolution. The players became available for the draft after the Union didn't pick up their contract options.

The Union's first Major League Soccer season met with great success at the box office but mixed results on the field. Despite being an expansion team, the Union players and coaches stated their goal all along was to make the playoffs. That didn't happen. Eight of the 16 MLS teams made the playoffs, and in 2009 the Seattle Sounders FC earned a postseason berth as an expansion team. That said, the Union were competitive in an 8-15-7 season, but the players and coaches felt a void.

When Stephen King looked at his Major League Soccer schedule to begin the season, the South Jersey native was excited to discover that the first game would be against the Union. King, a two-time Inquirer South Jersey player of the year from Shawnee High in Burlington County, was beginning his second season with the Seattle Sounders FC. The excitement of the opening game at Qwest Field was later tempered by the fact that King was a healthy scratch. The 24-year-old King couldn't get on the field this year until he was traded on April 30 to D.C. United for a second-round pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

At the midway point of the Major League Soccer season, the Union have gained enough respect that opponents no longer view them as an expansion team. That said, however, there is a feeling that the team left some points on the field during the first half of the 30-game season. As the second half begins with Thursday night's matchup against the Columbus Crew (10-4-4) at PPL Park, the Union (4-8-3) still have time to make a postseason run. At first glance that may seem far-fetched since D.C. United is the only team with fewer than the Union's 15 points.

Union midfielder-forward Sebastien Le Toux said he thoroughly enjoyed playing last week against Manchester United, among the best soccer clubs in the world. Le Toux hopes the rematch is even better. A week after the Union lost a 1-0 friendly to the English power, Le Toux gets a rematch during Wednesday's MLS all-star game against United at Houston's Reliant Stadium. "Playing against the greatest players was very nice," Le Toux said. "I'm going to enjoy playing them again and will try my best to have a good game.

For Celtic FC, tonight's game at PPL Park in Chester is nothing more than a steppingstone, a scratch to a preseason itch for a team desperate to find its name within the group stage of UEFA's Champions League picture next month. While the respect for the American game was apparent in the team's words, little in its actions dispelled the argument that tonight's match is viewed as anything more than a routine scrimmage. According to Celtic players, they've viewed virtually zero game tape.

It was a christening done in style, punctuated by a dominant second half. Playing their first Major League Soccer game in the $122 million PPL Park in Chester, the Union overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit Sunday to defeat the Seattle Sounders FC, 3-1, before a boisterous, sellout crowd of 18,755. It may not have been the Lambeau Leap, but afterward, a few Union players jumped into the arms of the Sons of Ben Fan Club members, situated behind one of the goals, soaking in the atmosphere of a crowd that never stopped cheering.