The Seattle Sounders Women is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2001. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States, and as a club in the Western Division, they play against Colorado Force, Colorado Rush, LA Strikers, Pali Blues, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) and Victoria Highlanders Women.
The Sounders play their home games at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, 6 miles south of downtown Seattle. The team's colors are green and white.
The team was a sister organization of the former men's Seattle Sounders team, which played in the USL First Division. Following that team's reorganization into the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer, the team's ownership was taken over by Mike Jennings, owner of the USL Premier Development League franchise Tacoma Tide (Sounders U-23). In 2011, Cliff McElroy & Lane Smith of Datec Inc. became majority owners while Mike Jennings has maintained a minority stake.
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). Sounders FC was established in November 2007 as an MLS expansion team, making it the 15th team in the league. Fans chose the Sounders name through an online poll in 2008, making the Seattle Sounders FC the third Seattle soccer club to share the moniker.
The club's majority owner is Hollywood producer Joe Roth, and its minority owners are Adrian Hanauer, Paul Allen and Drew Carey. Two-time MLS Cup winner Sigi Schmid is the club's head coach. Sounders FC home matches are played at CenturyLink Field. Along with several organized groups, a 53-member marching band called 'Sound Wave' supports the club at each home match. Seattle competes with rival MLS clubs Portland and Vancouver in the Cascadia Cup.
Sounders FC played its inaugural match on March 19, 2009, winning 3–0 over the New York Red Bulls. Seattle has sold out every league match, set MLS records for average attendance, led the league in season ticket sales, and qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs in each of its first three seasons. In 2009, Sounders FC became the second expansion club in MLS history to win the U.S. Open Cup, and in 2010 became the first ever MLS club to repeat as Open Cup champions. Sounders FC won a third consecutive Open Cup in 2011, defeating the Chicago Fire 2–0.
Seattle (pronounced /siːˈætɫ̩/ ( listen) see-AT-əl or /siːˈæɾɫ̩/) is the county seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country. The city is a major coastal seaport situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 114 miles (183 km) south of the Canada–United States border. In 2010, Seattle was the sixth busiest port in the United States, serving as a major gateway for trade with Asia.
The Seattle area had been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent white settlers.Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to its current site and renamed "Seattle" in 1853, after Chief Seattle of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.
Alexandra Patricia "Alex" Morgan (born July 2, 1989) is an American soccer player from Diamond Bar, California. She is a forward for Seattle Sounders Women and member of the US Women's National Team. Morgan was the youngest player on the USA's roster at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Morgan was born in Diamond Bar, California, the daughter of Pamela S. (née Jeske) and Michael T. Morgan. She attended Diamond Bar High School. As a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, Morgan was the leading scorer for the Golden Bears with eight goals in 2007. Her last goal of her freshman season came against Stanford in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, tying the game at 1–1 with less than two minutes left in regulation time and forcing the Cardinal into overtime and then to penalty kicks. However, Stanford prevailed, and went on to the third round of the tournament.
Morgan continued to lead the Golden Bears' scoring during her sophomore season with nine goals in 2008, despite being out for part of the season due to national team commitments. The Golden Bears bowed out of the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament while Morgan was playing at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.