MLS Playoffs: "New Kids" Seattle and "Veteran" Houston Prepare For Clash

SEATTLE, Wash.—When Seattle Sounders FC host the Houston Dynamo in the Major League Playoffs it will pit a fresh, newly-assembled team against one that has won the MLS Cup in two of the last three years.

"They have been the dominant in the Western Conference for a number of years now,” explained Seattle coach Sigi Schmid about his playoff rivals. "They're a veteran team, they know how to get to championship games, they've done it before. We're the new kids on the bock, we're the upstarts."

Seattle became the first expansion team to nip a playoff spot since 1998 by finishing a point off Houston in third place in the Western Conference. Despite the proximity in league position, Schmid thinks his side has an uphill battle when it comes to cohesiveness.

"For us, it's always going to be a little more difficult because we don't have the history to lean on," Schmid said. "We don't have the combined experience as a group. Even though individually some guys have successes, as a group we haven't had that experience. When you have that experience as a group, it makes you a little stronger, you can lean on that."

One of his players with experience is Nate Jaqua, who won the MLS Cup with Houston in 2007. Against his former teammates, Jaqua expects a wholehearted clash.

"They're a tough team with a lot of playoff experience," Jaqua said. "They battle throughout the whole thing. We really need to come out and play the way we need to play. We're not going to get any gifts from them."

In the Houston camp, the mood was relaxed and laid back. Coach Dominic Kinnear seemed surprised to learn Thursday's match marked his side's fourth in 12 days, but brushed it aside as part and parcel of proceedings.

"We've tried to give them as much rest as we can," Kinnear said of his squad, which stayed in Los Angeles following its 3-2 win over Chivas USA on Sunday to finish off the MLS regular season. "We've had a little bit of travel, but we've had a pretty busy schedule all year, and the game is upon us."

In three previous meetings between the two clubs, Seattle won two and drew the other. Veteran Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad didn't see that as cause for alarm, but rather an indication of the sort of match his team would face.

"It'll come down to in the end is who can take their chances," the 41-year-old asserted. "In all three games that these teams have played so far have been pretty limited opportunities. The team that has taken their chances has been the team that has come out on top."

Schmid agreed with that. He's expecting a rough match.

"We know it's going to be a bang-bang series. It's going to be a rough and tumble series."

Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com

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