The fourth-largest crowd in Seattle soccer history – 56,416 – largely heads home happy as the Mexican national team defeats China, 1-0, at Qwest Field. It's a festive atmosphere, with colorful costumes and mariachi bands. El Tri, playing Washington for the first time, sends the crowd into an early frenzy when Cesar Villaluz scores in the 13th minute for what proves to be the friendly's only goal. The city's only bigger soccer crowds turned out for Real Madrid-D.C. United in 2006, Manchester United-Celtic in 2003, and the Seattle Sounders-New York Cosmos NASL match in 1976, the first sporting event at the Kingdome. Many fans travel a great distance, such as the Yakima Valley, Skagit County and Portland area.

In a Fashion Week-style unveiling, Sounders FC jerseys and apparel are modeled and made for-sale at Qwest Field's WaMu Theater. The home uniform is the Rave Green jersey with Sounders Blue shorts. The club's main sponsor, Microsoft's Xbox 360 Live, is emblazoned across the chest. Wearing the jerseys on the runway are players Kasey Keller, Sebastien Le Toux and Sanna Nyassi, plus owner Drew Carey and actress Josie Bissett, a Seattle native.

Elliot Morton gets a late equalizer and Chris Carin makes the decisive save in the shootout as Bellarmine Prep wins the state 4A boys crown over Puyallup at Lakewood. Justin Veltung had put the Vikings in front before Morton struck near the end of regulation. After two scoreless overtimes the Lions won the tiebreaker, 4-3. It's Bellarmine's second championship in four seasons.

Brittany McMullen, Annie Sittauer and Valerie Stahl all score in the opening 26 minutes to give Everett a 3-0 victory over Seattle Prep in the 3A state championship game at Lakewood. It is Everett's first girls soccer state title. The Seagulls, whose previous best finish was fourth, knocked-out top-ranked and unbeaten Kennedy, 4-1, in the semifinals.

Saint Martin's gets an early goal at Bellingham and manages to hang on for a 1-1 draw at No. 15 Western Washington behind the record 14-save performance of goalkeeper Ashley Engel. After the Vikings equalize in the 76th minute Engel denies them a winner, with a double save in the 86th minute. She makes six saves in the second half of regulation and and seven more in overtime.

Hope Solo is allocated to St. Louis of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) ahead of the league's inaugural season. Solo is reunited with former UW teammate, forward Tina Frimpong Ellertson, also an allocation from the USWNT. Spokane's Amy LePeilbet is drafted by Boston with the fourth overall pick Oct. 6. Serving as the seven-team WPS Commissioner and CEO is Everett native Tonya Antonucci.

Seattle's MLS franchise elects to add a write-in choice as a fourth name option, giving the public the right to choose from the original three - the Seattle Alliance, Seattle FC and the Seattle Republic - or put in a different name. The winner of an online vote will be announced April 7. Season-ticket holders will be allowed the same number of votes as deposits purchased. The team has sold more than 13,000 season-ticket deposits.

Avenging its elimination a year before, Tacoma Tide FC upset the Fresno Fuego before over 3,000 hostile fans, 3-0, in the PDL Western Conference playoffs. Daniel Scott’s header in the 19th minute was all the Tide needed for its first postseason victory. Spencer Shomaker’s 10th goal of the season came in the 77th minute and Chase Tangney closed out the scoring. Vancouver Whitecaps Residency would defeat Tacoma in the West final, 4-1, the following day.

Elysse Van Leer converts a rebound in the third minute of the second overtime to give No. 24 Washington State a 1-0 home win over Arizona State. As it turns out, it earns the Cougars their first NCAA tournament berth in six seasons. After Kiersten Dallstream's shot is saved, Van Leer outraces a Sun Devils defender for her fourth game-winner at 102:56. Lindsay Parlee gets the shutout, the team's ninth.

Stout defense and an early Sebastien Le Toux goal give Seattle a victory in the final meeting with Portland in the USL era, 1-0, before 12,332 at PGE Park. It's Le Toux's third goal in three games, all wins. The Timbers are held to only seven shots with Chris Eylander making just two saves.

King County Council adopts legislation allowing Lake Washington Youth Soccer to build 7-9 non-lighted fields to the southern portion of Sixty Acres Park in Redmond.

Alisha Connors supplied a goal and an assist for Skyline to capture the girls' 4A championship at Lakewood. The Spartans defeat KingCo rival Woodinville, 2-0. Spartans goalkeeper Jill Stika, who posts her fourth straight shutout in the tournament, allowed only one goal after September. Connors drills a left-footed shot just inside the far left post from 15 yards. Coral Anderson makes it 2-0 in the 58th minute. Woodinville places at state for the fourth year in a row. The Falcons captured the 4A title in 2006, were third in 2007 and fourth in 2005.

Amanda Johnson's two goals fuel Seattle Pacific's NCAA semifinal victory over Metro State, 3-1, at Tampa. The 4th-ranked Falcons move into the national championship match for the second time in four seasons. Johnson opens the scoring after only 73 seconds, and after the Roadrunners equalize she responds with the go-ahead goal 38 seconds later, in the 56th minute. Johnson also assists on the third SPU score, by Jocelyn Charette, three minutes after that. Meredith Teague's assist on the opening goal is the record 34th of her career.

Sebastien Le Toux fires four goals past Hollywood United's pedigreed amateurs as the Sounders book a place in U.S. Open Cup's fourth round, 6-0 at Starfire Stadium. Le Toux ties Mark Baena's record of four goals, set in 1998. Hollywood, owned by actor Anthony LaPaglia and featuring a handful of ex-MLS players, had upset Portland in the second round.

Daman Hagerott returns to coach the Whitworth women after 12 years away. Hagerott, who had coached the Pirates from 1993-96, winning two conference titles, replaces Sean Bushey, who wants to focus on coaching the Bucs men.

Quinton Beasley scored the first of his two goals in the fourth minute of the match and Camas rolls to a 5-0 victory over Kennedy in the boys 3A state final at Lakewood. It's the Papermakers' second title in three years they were runners-up in 2007. Beasley finishes off a dynamic run up the center of the pitch by freshman Nick Palodichuk. Beasley also has two assists. Camas, which had lost 11 seniors from the year prior, outscored their five postseason opponents by 25-0. Kennedy had shocked Mercer Island in semifinal via penalties (2-2 4-1).

Junior Garcia of the Yakima Reds is named the PDL's most valuable player. Garcia is the league's scoring champion with 15 goals and 40 total points, both league leaders. The former Sunnyside High School standout scored in the Reds' first five games and led Yakima to its best record since 2001.

Samir Vejo adds to his hefty goal total with a hat trick as Western Washington secures its first GNAC men’s championship in six years by thrashing Saint Martin’s, 6-0, at Orca Field. Vejo, who earlier scored a Vikings record six goals at Colorado Christian, finished the season with 18. Two days later, coach Travis Connell guides the WWU women’s team to the conference crown as well. He is voted coach of the year for both.

Cameron Bushey’s penalty kick and assist helps send Whitworth to a Northwest Conference-winning 4-0 home defeat of Pacific on the final day of the regular season. The victory extends the Pirates’ unbeaten streak to eight (6-0-2) entering the NCAA Division III tournament. They finish two ahead of Whitman, which enjoyed its best season (11-2-7) since 1987. Whitworth hosts Augsburg in the first round but goes out on penalties (1-1 4-1).

Just seven years after beginning play, Seattle Pacific becomes the first Northwest women's program to win an NCAA championship at any level, edging West Florida, 1-0, in overtime at Tampa. Janae Godoy's 10-yard blast at 107:47 is celebrated by a pile-up of SPU (22-1-2) players as a downpour commences. It's Godoy's fifth game-winner in seven games. Alex Butler's right-wing cross is headed down by Jocelyn Charette for Godoy to volley home. Maddie Dickinson makes three first-half saves to register her 10th shutout and the team's 17th. The SPU men's program has five NCAA titles, including one won on the same field.

SounderatHeart.com – founded by Dave Clark to embrace fan passion while covering Puget Sound soccer news, rumors, tactics and analytics – goes live. It starts as an independent WordPress blog hosted by ProspectInsider.com and joins SBNation.com in November 2009.

Hope Solo returns to the USWNT and makes her first start since being dropped by Greg Ryan following her benching at the 2007 World Cup. Under new coach Pia Sundhage, Solo, 26, gets the shutout, making two saves vs. Canada in 4-0 win at Four Nations tournament in Guangzhou, China.

Hope Solo's spotless goalkeeping keeps top scorer Cristiane, Marta and high-powered Brazil off the scoresheet and Carli Lloyd scores the extra-time winner as the United States win the Olympic gold medal match, 1-0, before 51,000 in Beijing. Solo makes a handful of saves, the most impressive off two-time FIFA player of the year Marta in the 72nd minute. Brazil had scored six goals in its two previous knockout matches.

Meredith Teague's golden goal with 4:27 remaining in the final overtime propels No. 4 Seattle Pacific into the NCAA Division II quarterfinals at the expense of arch-rival Western Washington, 1-0, at Kirksville, Mo. The 12th-ranked Vikings, GNAC champion and the only team to defeat SPU during the regular season, were held scoreless for the first time in 25 games. Teague's 14th tally of the year ended more than 105 scoreless minutes in windy, 32-degree conditions. She dribbled across the top of the box before launching a left-footed, 20-yard strike that curled inside the right post. Two days later the Falcons defeat host Truman State, 1-0, on a Janae Godoy goal.

Robinho sets-up two goals and scores the winner for Brazil in an entertaining 3-2 win over Canada in a friendly at Qwest Field before 47,052. Robinho, who had led Real Madrid to a La Liga crown earlier in the month, steals a back pass from Julian de Guzman to snap a 2-2 tie in the 63rd minute. Brazil, ranked No. 2 in the world, plays without world player of the year Kaka. Coach Dunga complains that the temporary grass field slowed his team's speed. Dale Mitchell, formerly of the Tacoma Stars, is Canada's coach.

Chris Eylander's Open Cup scoreless streak extends to 300 minutes as the Sounders get goals from Taylor Graham and Sebastien Le Toux in ousting Chivas USA, 2-0, at Qwest Field. Eylander makes six saves and his deep clearance leads to Le Toux's fifth goal of the tournament to ice it in the 80th minute. The Frenchman hits the crossbar later. It's the third win over an MLS club in two seasons and Seattle hosts Kansas City a week later in the quarterfinals. Behind Eylander's 12 saves, the Wizards are shut-out for 120 minutes but prevail, 6-5, in penalties.

In a sendoff match featuring two ejections, eight cards and 25 fouls it's only fitting that a penalty kick decides Seattle's first-leg win over Montreal, 2-1, at Starfire Stadium. Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar scores out of a 14th-minute scramble and Leighton O'Brien's converts from the spot in the 42nd. It's the final home match in the Sounders' USL era. The Impact wins the second leg, 3-1, to take the first round series on aggregate.

Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson and GM Adrian Hanauer select 10 players in the MLS expansion draft. They are: Brad Evans, Nate Jaqua, Stephen King, Jeff Parke, James Riley, Jarrod Smith, Khano Smith, Nathan Sturgis, Pete Vagenas and Tyson Wahl. The team now has 14 players under contract.

A partnership between the Bremerton School District and the newly formed Kitsap Soccer Club brings professional soccer to Kitsap County. Owner Robin Waite, previously a part-owner of the USL Seattle Sounders, says the franchise has been approved and will play home matches at the school district's Bremerton Memorial Stadium. A video scoreboard and an additional 1,500 seats are among the planned renovations for Memorial Stadium, which seats about 3,000.

Olympia native Kasey Keller, 38, signs a two-year contract to play for Seattle Sounders FC beginning in their inaugural MLS season. The three-time U.S. Soccer Player of the Year has played only three times in his home state since going professional out of the University of Portland in 1992 all were with the U.S. National Team. Seattle uses its top allocation rating to secure Keller, the USMNT career leader in wins and shutouts.

Washington senior Jenna Robison makes her first career NCAA tournament appearance a memorable one, bending in a top-of-the-box, overtime winner in an NCAA first-round match vs. LSU at College Station, Tex. UW, with just one player with prior tournament experience, goes down 2-nil early in the second half. Kate Deines and Veronica Perez score to tie it, then Robinson seals the rally, 3-2, in the 95th minute. It extends Washington's unbeaten streak to seven (6-0-1).

The Yakima Reds will play-on after a rescue effort from new owner Perry Piercy. Two months earlier, previous owner Irwin Research & Development announced it could no longer fund the PDL club after 12 seasons in light of the ongoing economic crisis. Attendance had hovered between 300-500 and the annual budget reached $200,000 annually.

Bremerton's new Kitsap Soccer Club announces nickname to be Pumas following a name-the-team contest. Paladins and Kayaks were among the other top vote-pullers for the USL PDL club, to begin play in 2009. Lucita Flores-Alvarenga, who voted for Pumas in the online contest, won a drawing to receive the first two season tickets in club history. The club colors of blue, black and gold were displayed using a new logo for the club's mascot, Pedro the Puma.

Mike Jennings, owner of the Tacoma Tide men's PDL team, purchases the Seattle Sounders Women team, which will play its 2009 season at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. Teddy Mitalas will continue as coach and general manager. The fate of the W-League team became uncertain when the USL Seattle Sounders ceased operation due to the arrival of Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer.

Veronica Perez scores the tying goal in the 75th minute then gets the game-winner eight minutes later in Washington's 3-2 victory over No. 13 California at Husky Soccer Field. It's the Huskies' first win over a ranked opponent during a stretch of five such games in a row. In the 83rd minute Perez takes a ball deep in the right corner of Cal's end, dribbles past two defenders and unleashes a shot far post which eludes Golden Bears' keeper.

Jenny Moore and Fiona Gornick score in the first 4 minutes and Puget Sound proceeds to pummel Willamette, 4-0, for its Northwest Conference-clinching 16th straight win. The Loggers (18-1-0) complete the conference season with a perfect (16-0-0) mark to earn an automatic NCAA berth and first-round bye but lose to Carleton, 1-0, in second round at home.

At Seattle's iconic Space Needle comes the announcement that the new MLS club will be called Sounders FC. During a four-day, online election, about 82 percent of 14,500 voters preferred some derivation of Sounders, which was a write-in option. The other choices were Alliance, Republic and Seattle FC. The logo or badge will feature the Space Needle and colors are green, blue and gray.

Seattle's new Major League Soccer roster gets its first player with the signing of Sounders forward Sebastien Le Toux, 24. In his first season in Seattle, Le Toux had led Seattle to the USL championship and earned league MVP honors after scoring 10 goals. The Frenchman had been courted by other MLS teams.

Samir Vejo strikes for a record six goals in Western Washington's 10-0 rout of Colorado Christian at Lakewood, Co. The Vikings crush the winless Cougars when Vejo, who scores twice in the first half, suddenly erupts for three more goals in a 19-minute span of the second. His penalty kick in the dying minutes makes it Western's biggest scoring margin in 18 years. Vejo is not done. Ten days later he scores four times vs. Northwest Nazarene. He finishes the season with 18 goals.

Everett native Chris Henderson's next chapter will come at home. Fourteen months in advance of the first match, Henderson, 37, is named Sounders FC technical director by general manager Adrian Hanauer. Henderson earned 79 caps for the U.S. and played 13 professional seasons, the last 11 in MLS. He had been an assistant coach with Kansas City since retiring in 2006.

Former Arsenal and Sweden star Freddie Ljungberg signs as the first Designated Player for Sounders FC. Ljungberg, 31, is a two-time Swedish player of year who played 10 years in England's Premier League, including nine with Arsenal, where he was part of their unbeaten team in 2003-04. The attacking midfielder played for West Ham United last season and was Sweden's captain for the 2008 European Championships in June. He becomes the fourth player under contract. Ljungberg's contract is for a reported $2.5 million per season.

Kasey Keller's final Premier League performance helps prevent Fulham's relegation with a 1-0 win at Portsmouth. Keller's fourth shutout since returning to start the final 10 matches enables the Cottagers to stay up based on goal-difference, over Marcus Hahnemann's Reading. It completes Keller's European career, which began 16 years earlier as a 22-year-old at Millwall.

Tacoma Tide FC crush Yakima Reds, 6-2, in a winner-take-all final regular season game to determine a PDL playoff berth. Spencer Shomaker scores goals in the 16th and 18th minutes, giving the Tide (11-4-1) the lead for good, and he assists on Ruben Orozco's blast to make it 3-1 in the 31st at Curtis High School. Yakima finishes 9-6-1.

Xan Nixon bursts on the scene with a four-goal performance in 5-0 win for Saint Martin's over Northwest Nazarene in Olympia. Nixon becomes the first Saints player to score a hat trick, accumulating three goals in the second half alone. All of his team-leading eight goals come during a seven-game stretch during the second half of the season.