Seattle Sounders FC signed 28-year-old goalkeeper Andrew Weber Sunday, four days before the club’s CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal match against Santos Laguna of the Mexican Premiership at CenturyLink Field. The Sounders did not disclose terms. Weber has trained with Sounders FC throughout the 2012 preseason and joins Seattle from San Jose, where he spent the past three seasons, making two MLS starts.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Weber, born in Austin, TX., and a resident of Phoenix, attended the University of New Mexico. He launched his pro career with DC United in 2005, then joined the Montreal Impact of the USL First Division, making 29 regular season appearances from 2006-08. Weber played in one CONCACAF Champions League match in 2008.
“Andrew adds a goalkeeper who has had Champions League experience with Montreal and who has been in MLS for the last few years,” said Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid. “Obviously our goalkeeping situation has changed dramatically from last year with Kasey Keller retiring and Terry Boss having to retire. We are happy with our goalkeepers, and adding Andrew Weber gives another capable keeper.”
The Sounders’ match against Laguna Santos is 7 p.m. Wednesday. The teams will play a rematch March 14 in Mexico to determine the aggregate-goal winner that advances in the tourney. Sounders FC opens its Major League Soccer season March 17, hosting Toronto FC.
Seattle Sounders FC Off-season News/Transactions
- Nov. 23: Lost defender James Riley to the Montreal Impact in the MLS expansion draft. Riley came to the Sounders in the 2008 expansion draft from the San Jose Earthquakes. After his selection, the Impact traded Riley to Chivas USA.
- Nov. 23: Accepted the resignation of lead broadcaster Arlo White, who took a position with NBC as its lead announcer on MLS coverage.
- Nov. 24: Traded defender Tyson Wahl to the Montreal Impact in exchange for allocation money. Wahl made 39 appearances for the Sounders in three seasons after coming to Seattle in the 2008 expansion draft from Kansas City, where he played three seasons.
- Dec. 2: Announced that defender Taylor Graham, a seven-year MLS veteran, and goalkeeper Terry Boss both retired. They had been members of the Sounders since 2009.
- Dec. 6: Announced that the club would kick off its fourth season in MLS on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at home; time, opponent, and national broadcast information to be announced.
- Dec. 7: Signed Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning as a replacement for Kasey Keller. Gspurning, 30, has been capped three times by Austria and played the past four seasons for Skoda Xanthi of Greece’s top flight.
- Dec. 12: Selected D Marc Burch from D.C. United in the MLS re-entry process stage 2 draft.
- Dec. 14: Signed Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales to a two-year contract, announced at the club’s annual business meeting with season-ticket holders. Rosales, 30, set the club record with 13 assists in 26 league matches, ranking third in MLS. He also scored five goals.
- Dec. 29: Signed Swedish defender Adam Johansson to a multi-year contract.
- Jan. 3: Signed Burch, most recently of D.C. United, to a contract.
- Jan. 5: Announced that the U.S. National Team had called in midfielder Brad Evans and defender Jeff Parke for a training camp that will run through Jan. 26 in the U.S. and Panama.
- Jan. 10: Announced that Ross Fletcher, formerly of BBC Radio, and former goalkeeper Kasey Keller would serve as the team’s broadcast team, Fletcher as the play-by-play voice, Keller as analyst.
- Jan. 12: Drafted Andrew Duran, named the Missouri Valley Conference’s defender of the year at Creighton University, with the 15th pick in the first round of Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft. With their second-round pick, 34th overall, the Sounders selected forward Babayele Sodade (Bah-bye-elle-EE Sho-Dahd-DAY) of Alabama-Birmingham.
- Jan. 11: Announced that Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek, 23, has been signed.
- Jan. 17: Selected four players — D Tim Pontius of the UC Santa Barbara, M Jason Banton of the Liverpool reserves, UW F Abdul Aman and Cal Poly defender Wes Feighner– and also acquired the rights to UCLA midfielder Andy Rose from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to defender Leone Cruz, selected 21st overall in 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
- Jan. 18: Signed F Cordell Cato, a native of Trinidad and Tabago.
- Feb. 17: Traded F Mike Fucito and MF Lamar Neagle to the Montreal impact for U.S. international F Eddie Johnson.
- March 1: Signed 2012 MLS SuperDraft picks defender Andrew Duran and forward Babayele Sodade.
- March 2: Signed goalkeeper Andrew Weber.
Seattle Sounders FC 2012 MLS Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Time | TV | W/L | Score | Rec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/7 | *Santos | 7:00 | Fox Soccer | — | — | — |
| 3/14 | *Santos | 5:00 | Fox Soccer | — | — | — |
| 3/17 | ^Toronto FC | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 3/23 | Houston | 7:00 | NBCSN | — | — | — |
| 3/31 | San Jose | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 4/7 | at DC United | 4:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 4/14 | Colorado | 1:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 4/28 | at Chicago | 5:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/2 | LA Galaxy | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/5 | Philadelphia | 1:00 | NBCSN | — | — | — |
| 5/9 | at FC Dallas | 5:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/12 | Real SL | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/19 | at Vancouver | 1:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/23 | Columbus | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 5/26 | at Chivas | 7:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 6/16 | at Montreal | 4:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 6/20 | Sport KC | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 6/24 | at Portland | 2:00 | ESPN | — | — | — |
| 6/30 | vs. New England | 4:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 7/4 | at RSL | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 7/7 | Colorado | 8:00 | NBCSN | — | — | — |
| 7/15 | at New York | 1:00 | ESPN | — | — | — |
| 7/18 | RSL | 8:00 | NBCSN | — | — | — |
| 7/28 | at Colorado | 6:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 8/5 | LA Galaxy | 7:00 | ESPN2 | — | — | — |
| 8/11 | at San Jose | 7:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 8/18 | Vancouver | 1:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 8/25 | at Chivas | 7:30 | KING | — | — | — |
| 9/2 | at FC Dallas | 4:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 9/8 | Chivas | TBD | KING | — | — | — |
| 9/15 | at Portland | 12:30 | NBC | — | — | — |
| 9/23 | San Jose | 7:00 | KING | — | — | — |
| 9/29 | at Vancouver | 6:00 | NBCSN | — | — | — |
| 10/7 | Portland | 6:00 | ESPN | — | — | — |
| 10/21 | FC Dallas | 6:00 | ESPN | — | — | — |
| 10/28 | at LA Galaxy | 6:00 | ESPN | — | — | — |
*=CONCACAF; ^=Major League Soccer