Sounders
Sounders try to end season with major impact

By Matt Massey
Special to The Seattle Times

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Whatever starting lineup Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer settles on for tonight's A-League championship in Montreal, it's likely to give the club a more defensive look.

That's what playing without leading goal scorer Welton will do.

Welton must sit out the title match to serve a one-game suspension for his two yellow cards and subsequent ejection from Sunday's Western Conference final.

Schmetzer, the third-year coach, was leaning toward a more defensive lineup of 4-4-1-1 over the Sounders' customary 4-4-2 formation.

"I've gone back and forth with (assistant coach) Jimmy (Gabriel) and won't decide until game day," Schmetzer said. "It depends on how we want to play and the message we want to send."

Should the Sounders (18-12-5) opt for the more defensive approach, they could produce a low-scoring championship against the Montreal Impact (20-6-6). The Impact tends to play defensively.

"They don't let people get behind them," Schmetzer said. "It's going to take patience to work down for a deeper position on the field, so we can send balls across. Plus, their goalkeeper is very confident."

At Thursday's A-League banquet in Montreal, Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton became the third keeper all-time to win A-League MVP.

Sutton was one of five Impact players named to the all-league teams. Sutton registered a league-high tying 16 shutouts and the club broke a league record with 18 shutouts in 2004.

The Impact outscored A-League opponents 41-16.
 
Should Schmetzer elect to go with the 4-4-1-1 alignment, it would put midfielder Jonathan Bolanos in Welton's forward spot. If the Sounders go with a 4-4-2 formation, substitute Darren Sawatzky would likely replace Welton at forward.

Seattle is 3-6-2 without Welton in the starting lineup. Welton had 12 goals in 26 matches to tie for the club scoring lead of 24 points with Roger Levesque (9 goals, 6 assists).

The Sounders, who outscored A-League foes 44-37 and posted 10 shutouts, didn't have a player named to the first- or second-team all-league squads.

Sounders to return to A-League

The Seattle Sounders made their return to the A-League for 2005 official on Monday. Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer submitted the necessary paperwork, including a letter of credit, to remain with the league for at least one more season.

The commitment ends speculation that Hanauer might have left the Seattle pro-soccer scene "dark" in 2005 to concentrate on Major League Soccer expansion efforts for 2006.

"When we put in our bid for the (A-League) championship, the league said it might look bad if we let a city host that wasn't coming back," Hanauer said. "We're coming back."

Hanauer said the group he heads that hopes to bring an MLS team to Seattle is still interested in joining the league in 2006, but admits his focus has been on winning an A-League title.