Sounders will face LA Galaxy in Western Conference finals

The Seattle Sounders will visit the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference finals on Saturday at 7 PM at Dignity Sports Health Park. The Galaxy, who are the top remaining seed alive in the playoffs, earned their spot after beating Minnesota United 6-2 on Sunday with Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsill and Dejan Joveljic each scoring two goals.

The Galaxy’s six goals tied an MLS record for most goals in a playoff game and the eight combined goals also tied an MLS record for most in a single playoff game.

The Galaxy have now scored 15 goals in their three playoff games, and have scored at least four in each of them. That appears to have tied the MLS record for most goals scored during a single playoff campaign.

The Sounders have played the Galaxy three times this year, going 1-1-1 against them but arguably being the better team in each. The Galaxy won the first meeting, 1-0, at Dignity Health, scoring an early goal and then withstanding quite a bit of Sounders pressure. The two teams played to a scoreless tie in their other regular-season meeting at Lumen Field, again mostly dominated by the Sounders. Their most recent meeting was in Leagues Cup play, where the Sounders won 3-1.

This will be the fifth time Sounders have faced the Galaxy in the postseason, but the first time since 2015, when they met in the Knockout Round. The Sounders won that game, 3-2, marking the first time they had bested the Galaxy in a playoff series after the Galaxy won their meetings in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The 2012 and 2014 meetings were also in the Western Conference finals, with the Galaxy going on to win MLS Cup both times.