Seattle fans account for the largest opening-round crowd (35,807) in MLS history, yet Houston and Seattle are unable to score in the 0-0 first leg at Qwest Field. Former Dynamo Patrick Ianni clips the crossbar with a header off Freddie Ljungberg's free kick in the 43rd minute.

Records are made to be broken, and at Evergreen it’s the holder who is repeatedly breaking her own standards. In a span of seven weeks Camille Morgan establishes new single game scoring records three times for the Geoducks. First she scores all five goals in 5-1 victory at Western Baptist in September. In October, she raises the ante to six and finally Morgan erupts for eight goals and adds two assists, figuring in all the goals in a record 10-0 home win over Western Baptist. She finishes with a record 23 goals.

A Kingdome international double feature begins with the United States Olympic Team blanking Canada, 2-0, before the USA-USSR main event. Don Ebert and Larry Hulcer score, and Paul Coffee gets the shutout. Hermann Trophy winner Angelo DiBernardo starts and plays the first half, then is a USMNT substitute for the USSR game's final 21 minutes. Sounder defender Jeff Stock, a rookie out of Tacoma, starts and plays the first half. Canada center back Ian Bridge is signed by Seattle on Feb. 20.

Both Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan of the Sounders are named along with Seattle native DeAndre Yedlin in U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter's 26-man World Cup squad. It's Yedlin's second World Cup. Anthony Hudson, son of former NASL Sounder Alan Hudson and born in Seattle, is Berhalter's top assistant. Other Sounders to represent their nation are Nouhou (Cameroon) and Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador).

Just two weeks prior to the season opener, Seattle acquires Peter Ward, 26, and Gary Mills, 20, from England's Nottingham Forest. Mills, who at 18 played in Forest’s 1980 European Cup Final, is an England U21 international while Ward has one full England cap and led the English League with 32 goals for Brighton in 1976-77. Hinton says of Ward, "Seattle fans will see a player the likes of which they have never seen before.”

Cliff McCrath is voted 1986 Seattle Sports Star of the Year at the Seattle Sheraton’s Grand Ballroom, becoming the first soccer figure to earn the award in its 53-year history. McCrath, up for the award for the fourth time, is coming off the first ever back-to-back NCAA Division II championships at Seattle Pacific. His win is the first in 10 years by a representative coming from other than the Seahawks, Sonics or Washington Huskies football team. Over 1,000 attendees vote and presenting the award are Gov. Booth Gardner, Seattle Post-Intelligencer publisher Virgil Fassio and P-I sports editor Bill Knight.