Sounders FC starts a three-game road stretch Sunday in San Jose

After more than a month of home games and a few days off for the league All-Star Game, Sounders FC hits the road for a match against the San Jose Earthquakes Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.

So begins a stretch of three straight on the road and eight of the team's final 12 Major League Soccer regular-season matches away from Qwest Field.

It's an important time of the season, defender Tyrone Marshall said.

"We've got to treat it as home games," Marshall said. "We have to get out there and get on top of those teams early and look to pick up points on the road. If we do that, we should be fine, always look to get points and not to give away points."

The road has not been unkind to Seattle (7-3-8) with four draws in seven away games, but Sounders FC hasn't earned three points since April 4 when it defeated Toronto FC. In San Jose, Sounders FC faces a team with which it shares a past — both were North American Soccer League franchises with the same nicknames — and finds itself at the bottom of the MLS Western Conference standings with just 14 points. The Earthquakes (3-10-5) haven't won at home since June 20, although they battled back from a 2-0 deficit for a home draw against D.C. United last Saturday.

"They're a team that's hungry. They're a team that's at home now," Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said. "They know that for them to have any chance [at the postseason] they need to win games, so they're probably a lot more desperate than some teams are in the league right now, and as a result of that, that makes them very dangerous."

After the San Jose game, Sounders FC is on the road at Real Salt Lake on Aug. 8 and at the Home Depot Center on Aug. 15 in a battle of two of the West's top teams, Seattle and the surging Los Angeles Galaxy.

"It's a little more difficult on the road, especially with us at home with our [32,000] fans. It's tremendous support and backbone for us," Schmid said. "We've got to be able to win games on the road if we want to compete and make the playoffs and win a championship. So for us it's good training and practice. I feel confident in what we can do on the road."

There's more at stake. A win or draw for Sounders FC or a clean sheet or two-goal win for the Earthquakes earns one team the Heritage Cup, a trophy conceived by a San Jose fan in honor of the reunion of the only teams in MLS that kept their original NASL nicknames.

Though the two teams will have played three times this season, the last two head-to-head meetings count for the Heritage Cup. Sounders FC won the first game 2-1 on June 13, now the Earthquakes must win big to take the inaugural cup.

Fan representatives of both teams will present the Heritage Cup to the winning team after Sunday's game.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com