Also worth mentioning, Cecilio (injuries aside) has been putting in way more effort than I remember last season

I think he's in a more comfortable position and benefits from another playmaker (Driussi) drawing defenders

So that was fun. Went to my first match of the season yesterday and saw more goals than I did the entire first half of the season last year

Driussi is operating on another level, and with a full preseason behind him he's really raising the level of play of the entire team. ***undez and Dominguez were both excellent yesterday and we don't miss a beat bringing in Finlay for either of them.

As mentioned Kolmanic was outstanding yesterday (he shut down US international DeAndre Yedlin), Keller looks really solid at centerback only two matches into his rookie season, and in somewhat limited time Gabrielsen is looking the part. In his defense Cascante has been much better than last season, but I'm assuming we'll see a Keller/Gabrielsen pairing at centerback sooner than later.

One other huge difference is the improvement in Pereira's play. He's not quite the bulldog kind of #6 that Valencia or Ring play, but he's definitely lifted his game and has had two very good matches so far. Combined with Ring pushing up a bit more into the attack and Driussi's play our central midfield has been pretty dominant this season.

At Portland next weekend then hosting Seattle, the next two weeks should be a good test of where this team is really at.

Djitte wasn't bad in the first half, probably should have had one but his hold up play was solid and we were unlucky on a few chances. Finlay wasn't bad either, had some good defensive play and was the spark in attack a couple times. What's nice is that our bench depth is SO much better this year, any subs (or these two starting) are a totally different quality level than last season.

A lot of debate on whether the Seattle goal was offside on the pass that set the play in motion, there's not a great angle but at first glance he sure looks off.

Great second half and I think we were unlucky not to get the 3 points, had several great looks. Stadium was electric too, fun game to watch.

Couple weeks off for the last round of World Cup qualifying, then we're at San Jose on April 2nd (very winnable match, bottom of the table) before coming home to host Minnesota United on the 10th (1 spot ahead of us in the table, tough defense but haven't been scoring much).