The Sounders will win a match again, someday. If it isn't Wednesday, then it will have to be 2014.  If not then . . . well, let's not go doomsday.

By managing a tie Sunday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Sounders get to host a a game against Colorado at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the knock-out round of the MLS playoffs -- against a team that bashed them 5-1 Oct. 5. The brave post-game faces and rhetoric could not hide the fact fact that the Sounders  are still winless in the past seven games.

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MATCH: LA Galaxy (15-11-7, 52 points, 3rd, MLS West) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-12-6, 51 points, 4th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Sunday, 6 p.m., CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 12th (Galaxy leads 5-3-3). TV: ESPN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

Playoff qualifiers for five consecutive seasons, the Sounders will try to snap a franchise-record four-game losing streak when they host the LA Galaxy in a match expected to attract 66,000-plus. A win would secure a top-three seed in the Western Conference playoffs and avoid the dreaded knockout round, a one-match, win-or-go home affair next week.

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The Sounders have made the playoffs, but through the backdoor of a basement that opens onto a dark alley. The undramatic success came after the Los Angeles Galaxy had a scoreless draw with San Jose Sunday night, eliminating the Earthquakes from the playoffs.

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The Sounders are choking away their season.

Faced Saturday with a mediocre FC Dallas team (11-11-11, 48 points) eliminated from the playoffs, Seattle played as if its postseason berth was already guaranteed, losing 2-0 at Toyota Stadium.

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MATCH: Seattle Sounders FC (15-11-6, 51 points, 3rd, MLS West) at FC Dallas (10-11-11, 45 points, 8th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX. MEETING: 12th (Sounders lead 6-1-4). TV: NBCSN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

The Sounders aren't dead yet (it only seems that way) and have another opportunity to clinch a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs Saturday when they tangle with FC Dallas in a rare morning match (11:30 a.m., PT) in Frisco, TX. A win would get the Sounders, losers of three in a row, into the postseason, and a draw plus favorable results from Western Conference opponents would also do the trick.

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Winless in their last five and owners of a three-game losing streak, the Sounders (15-11-6, 51 points) are still in good position mathematically to make the playoffs with two regular season games remaining. Three teams -- Seattle, San Jose and Colorado -- are vying for two spots. The Sounders lead the pack of playoff scramblers. That's the good news for them.

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Largely due to injuries and the loss of a few of their best players to international duty, the Sounders have endured several sketchy stretches, none as significant as the current one, which includes a season-worst five consecutive matches without a victory (two draws, three defeats, two points). With two regular-season matches remaining, this dubious run is not only untimely, it’s beginning to resemble more of a gangplank walk than a slide.

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The Sounders had an opportunity Sunday to clinch a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs and secure their second Cascadia Cup in three years, but failed to accomplish either, falling to the Portland Timbers 1-0 at Jeld-Wen Field. A red card issued to Osvaldo Alonso in the 74th minute for throwing an elbow to a Portland player's chops only added to Seattle's late-season meltdown.

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MATCH: Seattle Sounders FC (15-10-6, 51 points, 2nd, MLS West) at Portland Timbers (12-5-14, 50 points, 3rd, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Sunday, 6 p.m, Jeld-Wen Field. MEETING: 82nd all-time (Sounders lead 42-28-11 across all competitions; tied 3-1-3 in MLS play. TV: ESPN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

A frustrated Sigi Schmid couln't contain his ire Wednesday after the Sounders, with a playoff berth and the Cascadia Cup for the taking, gagged both away in a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps that had 38,883 scarf wavers at CenturyLink Field booing. Schmid might have been more forgiving if his club had delivered one terrible performance. But two in a row? And one at home?

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As the first half neared end, Vancouver forward Kekuta Manneh waved his arms across his body in an olé motion, like a matador in a Hemingway novel, mocking the Sounders' lethargic defense after scoring his second goal. It was the first of many embarrassments.

With Brad Evans and Eddie Johnson absent because of U.S. national team call-ups, the Sounders (15-10-6, 51 points) lost 4-1 to the Whitecaps (12-11-9, 45 points) Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field. The announced crowd of 38,883 booed almost throughout, as Manneh completed the hat trick -- at 18, the youngest to the feat in MLS history.

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MATCH: Vancouver Whitecaps (11-11-8, 41 points, 7th, MLS West) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-9-6, 51 points, 2nd, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m, CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 132nd all-time (Sounders lead 63-47-21); 8th MLS (Sounders lead 3-1-3). TV: KONG. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

As far as Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid is concerned, the only good news about losing 5-1, as his club did Saturday in Colorado, is that it won't have long to dwell on one of the worst debacles in franchise history. The Sounders are back at it Wednesday, hosting the Vancouver Whitecaps, and a favorable result will secure a fifth consecutive MLS Cup playoff appearance and the Cascadia Cup for the second time in three years.

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Hours after suffering a 5-1 shellacking in Colorado, the Sounders learned that midfielder Brad Evans and forward Eddie Johnson were called into the U.S. Men's National Team for  FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches against Jamaica and Panama. However, the U.S. team captain, Clint Dempsey, nursing a hamstring injury, was not called.

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Colorado's Deshorn Brown scored twice in the first half hour, including the second-fastest goal in MLS history, and the Rapids steamrollered the Sounders 5-1 Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce, CO. Colorado's rout, set up with a 4-0 first 45 minutes, prevented Seattle from clinching a berth in the playoffs, and left the Sounders embarrassed and dazed.

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MATCH: Seattle Sounders FC (15-8-6, 51 points, 1st, MLS West) at Colorado Rapids (12-9-9, T4, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO. MEETING: 12th (Sounders lead 8-1-2). TV: NBCSN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

The Sounders blew an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs last week, but get another chance Saturday against the best possible opponent other than inept Chivas USA. Seattle is riding an eight-game unbeaten run against the Colorado Rapids, including seven straight wins until a 1-1 home draw July 20.

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The Sounders dominated early, but a sudden goal in the 76th minute by New York's Tim Cahill gave the Red Bulls a 1-1 draw at the Clink in a Sunday night downpour. Seattle was seeking to take over the lead the Supporters Shield, but the lone point kept them tied with Real Salt Lake in the MLS West, although they have two games in hand.

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MATCH: New York Red Bulls (15-9-6, 51 points, 1st, MLS East) at Seattle Sounders FC (15-8-5, 50 points, 1st, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Sunday, 6 p.m, CenturyLink Field. MEETING: 8th (Sounders lead 3-2-2). TV: ESPN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

In a meeting of best in the East vs. best in the West, the Sounders can become the first team to clinch a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs, as well as re-take sole possession of the Supporters' Shield race, when they host the New York Red Bulls at CenturyLink Field Sunday night. The Sounders, with a league-best six-game (5-0-1) unbeaten streak, lead MLS West with 50 points while the Red Bulls top MLS East with 51.

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An intense, rugged scrap between two of MLS's best ended in a 1-1 draw Saturday night as the Los Angeles Galaxy poured on pressure in the last five minutes but failed to get a winner past the Sounders defense. The Western Conference leaders were denied a club-record sixth straight win, but they gained a point on second-place Real Salt Lake, which lost earlier.

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MATCH: Seattle Sounders FC (15-8-4, 49 points, 1st, MLS West) at LA Galaxy (13-10-5, 44 points, 4th, MLS West). TYPE: MLS. WHEN: Saturday, 7:30 p.m, StubHub Center, Carson, CA. MEETING: 11th (Galaxy leads 5-3-2, MLS). TV: NBCSN. RADIO: 97.3 KIRO FM; SPANISH: KOMO2 (Comcast Ch. 114) and La Gran D 99.3 FM.

The Sounders have produced a remarkable run. After spending 17 weeks out of the top five spots in the Western Conference, including seven weeks in eighth or ninth place, the club has jumped six notches in the standings since an Aug. 3 victory over FC Dallas, collecting 24 of a possible 27 points. Now it's time to find out if the Sounders, having added Clint Dempsey, have what it takes to win the MLS Cup.

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If the Sounders brass is wary about Clint Dempsey's inauspicious start to his MLS rebirth in Seattle, they aren't letting on. He did, after all, join the club halfway through the year, when most were in mid-season form and he was still working himself into game shape. Whether it's fütbol or football, it takes time for any team athlete adjust to a new league and new teammates. The style is different and the system unfamiliar.

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First place never felt so good.

The Sounders (15-8-4, 49 points), who three months ago were dead last in the Western Conference standings, captured a quick lead behind goals from F Obafemi Martins and F Lamar Neagle and cruised to a 2-0 win over former table leader Real Salt Lake (14-9-6, 48 points) in front of 55,107 fans Friday night at CenturyLink Field.

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