Over the next 10 days, the Seattle Sounders will face their two biggest rivals – the Vancouver Whitecaps (Sept. 27) and Portland Timbers (Oct. 4) -- at Lumen Field, with a chance to climb the table and secure home-field advantage in the first round of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
As far as can’t-miss rivalry matches go, the stakes don’t get much higher than this.
“Every game is a playoff game,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “Vancouver is ahead of us [in the standings], but we want to stay close. Portland is chasing us from behind. So these are all critical games.”
The Rave Green went on a dominant streak following the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, coming away with only one loss in 16 matches and securing their first-ever Leagues Cup title on Aug. 31.
The Sounders’ prolific run across all competitions faltered a bit last week, as they only managed to pick up one point from a home match against the LA Galaxy followed by a two-game road swing at Inter Miami and Austin FC.
TWO CASCADIA SHOWDOWNS
Immerse yourself in the passion and intensity of our fiercest rivalry matchups with the Cascadia Pack, featuring games against Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers. You won't want to miss Cascadia week!
Coming out of the Club World Cup, players and coaches spoke often about how competing against the top teams in Europe and South America helped unlock a new level and mentality for the group. As the team looks ahead to hosting two bitter rivals in the span of week, they’ll need to tap back into that gritty, championship mindset.
Midfielder Paul Rothrock describes the last string of matches as a “hiccup,” confident that he and his teammates will be able to bounce back from the recent results.
“We're working different guys back into the lineup and onto the field who have been out for a while, and they offer different things, and those relationships are going to grow and develop over the next couple of weeks too,” he said. “So, I think it's a moment of testing our resilience right now and testing our mindset, but everyone needs to step it up just a little bit more.”
The stakes are high in any Cascadia Cup match. Dating back to 2004, the three teams have built a long-standing rivalry that has earned its reputation as the best in MLS.
The Whitecaps enter Saturday night’s fixture as one of the hottest teams in the league, led by Bayern Munich legend and mid-season signing, Thomas Müller. Seattle’s rival to the north boasts the third-best offense and the top-ranked defense in the West, racking up an impressive +25 goal difference.
And while the Timbers have struggled for consistency in 2025, they hold a 10-match unbeaten run against the Sounders in Seattle.
But when it comes to rivalry matches, you can throw league standings and current form out the window. It comes down which team can tap into the electric energy in the stadium and capitalize in crucial moments.
Even after their frustrating loss against Austin FC, Schmetzer highlighted that this collection of players is a “special group”.
“I don't want them to lose the feeling that everybody had two and a half weeks ago for the Leagues Cup Final,” he said. “And we're going to try the best we can to get that good mojo back.”
The Sounders boast arguably their deepest, most well-rounded squad in club history. With prolific attacking options like Danny Musovski, Jordan Morris, Jesús Ferreira, Albert Rusnák, Pedro de la Vega and Rothrock, Seattle has tallied 43 goals across 19 games since the Club World Cup. And as they showed in keeping a clean sheet against the likes of Leo Messi and Luis Saurez in the Leagues Cup Final, this team can shut down the league’s best attackers.
With one piece of silverware already added to their trophy cabinet this season, the team is hungry for more. Picking up wins against Vancouver and Portland over the next 10 days could just be the springboard this team needs to go on yet another MLS Cup run.
