Sounders FC Can Claim MLS Cup on Home Pitch v Toronto Today

The Sonics claimed their lone NBA title on the road against the Washington Bullets in 1979.

The Seahawks won the NFC Championship Game at home three times, in the 2005, 2013 and 2014 seasons, but their lone Super Bowl title came away from home, obviously, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as no home team has ever played in, let alone won, a Super Bowl in their own crib.

The Huskies won a share of the National Championship in 1991, but beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl game was also away from Seattle, in Pasadena, California.

That's why today's battle in Seattle between the Sounders and Toronto FC is so rare and precious ... you just don't get the chance to win it and celebrate on your home turf very often. Of the three WNBA titles the Seattle Storm has claimed, only one, in 2004, was cliched in front of the home faithful.

Sunday marks Goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s third MLS Cup final, but it might be his most cherished because he didn't think it would happen to him again, at least not this soon.

Seattle lost to Toronto on the road in 2017 for the MLS Cup after winning against the Reds for the 2016 Cup in the same venue.

Frei said, “For us to have another opportunity so soon after, I can’t believe it. There are players who have terrific careers, amazing careers who never have a chance to win a championship.”

Seattle upset top-seeded Los Angeles FC for the chance to face Toronto in today's title tilt. The Reds and Sounders have met in the MLS Cup final three of the last four years with Seattle winning in 2016 and Toronto raising the trophy in 2017. Both of those contests were contested in frigid conditions north of the border. Today's forecast is mostly cloudy with highs in the low 50's.

It will be electric, that's for sure.

The match begins at noon on ABC-TV.