MATCHUP QUICK FACTS
- This will be the first MLS Cup Playoff meeting between Minnesota and Seattle and the first time they face each other this year.
- The last time Minnesota and Seattle met in the postseason was the 2003 USL A-League Western Conference Final. The Minnesota Thunder defeated the Sounders 2-0 on aggregate. MNUFC Director of Player Personnel Amos Magee appeared in both legs of the series for the Thunder.
- Minnesota has reached the Conference Finals for the first time in club history following a 3-0 win over first-place Sporting Kansas City.
- The win over Sporting KC was the Loons’ first-ever road win in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Emanuel Reynoso has provided three assists in back-to-back games. He is the first player in MLS Cup Playoff history to have at least three assists in multiple games.
- Reynoso’s six assists tie him for the single-season record in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Reynoso has gotten an assist in his last five appearances, with a total of 10 in that stretch.
- Bakaye Dibassy scored his first MLS goal with a header in the 39th minute.
- Kevin Molino scored two of the Loons’ three goals against SKC. Molino has scored multiple goals in his last three appearances.
- Dayne St. Clair made four saves to keep a clean sheet in the Conference Semifinal. He has shutout opponents in both MLS Cup Playoff games this year.
- St. Clair has not allowed a goal in the last 308 minutes, going back to November 4 against Chicago Fire FC. This is the second-longest shutout streak in club history, just 41 minutes behind the record mark he set in October.
- This is Seattle’s fourth appearance in the Western Conference Final in the last five years.
- Seattle won the 2019 MLS Cup, defeating Toronto FC 3-1 at home.
- The Loons are 0-5-1 against Sounders FC since joining MLS. The one draw came at Allianz Field on May 4, 2019 with both teams scoring one goal.
MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS
- Osvaldo Alonso played for Sounders FC for 10 seasons. He made 277 regular season appearances and captained the team to win four U.S. Open Cups, the 2014 Supporters’ Shield and the 2016 MLS Cup.
- Miguel Ibarra played in Minnesota from 2012 to 2015 before rejoining the club from 2017 through 2019. He made 95 appearances in all competitions at the second-division level and featured 84 times for the Loons in MLS. He scored 28 goals and had 25 assists across his career with the club.
- MNUFC Technical Director Mark Watson played for Seattle during its USL days, donning the Sounders’ green in 1997.
- Tyler Miller was in the Sounders FC organization from 2015 through 2017. He started his tenure with Sounders FC 2 and backed up Stefan Frei on the first team in his final two seasons with the club.
