By FRANCO PANIZO

The Seattle Sounders have acquired Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek following his transfer from FC Midtjylland, the Sounders announced on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old midfielder arrives in Seattle after playing for Midtjylland since 2006.

Date Opponent Time 4/7 at Charlotte Eagles 7:00 pm 4/15 vs. Wilmington Hammerheads 6:00 pm 4/21 at Richmond Kickers 7:00 pm 4/28 vs. Richmond Kickers 7:30 pm 5/5 vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 pm 5/11 at Antigua Barracuda FC 7:00 pm 5/13 at Antigua Barracuda FC 4:30 pm 5/24 vs.

Richmond Kickers News Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, January 11, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the 2012 professional schedule, opening their 20th Anniversary season against longtime rival Charleston Battery on Saturday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. As one of the three longest tenured professional soccer clubs in the United States, the Kickers will celebrate 20 years alongside the Battery and the Charlotte Eagles in 2012.

Jason Yeisley | Photo property of Matthew Visinsky RICHMOND, VA - (Tuesday, December 6, 2011) - The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce that former FC Dallas forward and USL PRO All-League player Jason Yeisley recently signed a long-term contract, pending USSF approval.

After a long hiatus (for a number of reasons), here are the final (in most cases) attendance figures for the primary men's and women's outdoor soccer leagues in North America for 2011. As always, corrections and additions are welcome.

THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders 17 654,431 38,496 Los Angeles Galaxy 17 396,693 23,335 Vancouver Whitecaps 17 346,909 20,406 Toronto FC 17 344,535 20,267 New York Red Bulls 17 335,740 19,749 Portland Timbers 17 320,051 18,827 Philadelphia Union 17 310,401 18,259 Sporting Kansas City 17 302,776 17,810 Houston Dynamo 17 300,796 17,694 Real Salt Lake 17 299,047 17,591 DC United 17 258,332 15,196 Colorado Rapids 17 252,248 14,838 Chivas USA 17 252,102 14,830 Chicago Fire 17 242,648 14,273 New England Revolution 17 224,770 13,222 FC Dallas 17 218,636 12,861 Columbus Crew 17 207,147 12,185 San Jose Earthquakes 17 201,587 11,858 MLS TOTAL 306 5,468,849 17,872 NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE G Total Avg.

The Cosmopolitan 2011 Bachelor of The Year Awards are after happy hour this evening and unfortunately, we're sitting this one out. We and are livers feel shameful disgust so please don't verbally lash out on us. We feel terrible enough thanks to our internal free booze demons.

If you recall, last year D.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The quarterfinals of the USL Pro playoffs passed with only a marginal upset over the course of the weekend.

The Wilmington Hammerheads' late-season hot streak did them little good in the end as they succumbed on penalty kicks to early-season favorite Richmond.

J.C. Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) played a major role as the Rochester Rhinos routed the visiting Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-0 in a United Soccer Leagues PRO National Division semifinal Friday night.

Banks helped set up the first two goals as the top-seeded Rhinos (13-8-4) completed their season-long dominance of the fourth-seeded Riverhounds (7-12-6).

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With a week to go in the USL Pro regular season, the playoff picture is clearing up.

The National Division has its playoff participants settled following the Pittsburgh Riverhounds' 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Eagles. Pittsburgh will be joined in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Blues, Harrisburg City Islanders and the Rochester Rhinos.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Orlando City off until the middle of August, it's now or never for the Richmond Kickers and the Wilmington Hammerheads to mount a challenge on the American Division regular-season title. The results were mixed over the weekend with neither team making significant progress or falling completely out of the picture.

The Rochester Rhinos clinched a playoff berth for the 16th consecutive year by beating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on the USL PRO Game of the Week last Friday night. Here are the highlights:

After seven games in seven weeks, I have a break this weekend and will get back after it for the stretch run and the playoffs starting August 5 in Wilmington.

The final to the unpredictable Copa America is on tap for this weekend, as Uruguay and Paraguay do battle for South America's regional crown and a place in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

New seasons around the world get set to begin as well, as the Mexican Apertura campaign kicks off this weekend with American striker Herculez Gomez debuting with his new team, Estudiantes Tecos.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Just as it looked like Orlando City is poised to run away with the American Division, the mid-season leaders go winless over a weekend.

In a move that is becoming all too common among division leaders, Orlando gained just one point from two games over the weekend with a scoreless draw against the woeful Dayton Dutch Lions and a 1-0 loss to the Charleston Battery.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

There was no shortage of action during the holiday weekend as the USL Pro packed 10 games into four days.

Despite the glut of games, everything is pretty much as it was in the races for the division titles as Orlando City padded its massive lead in the American Division and Rochester clings to a three-point lead over on the National side.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

If the rest of the American Division isn't careful, Orlando City could wrap up the division title before the end of July.

A couple of weekend wins saw Orlando City move 10 points clear of the Richmond Kickers. Richmond does have three games in hand but a scoreless draw with FC New York highlights the early-season leaders inconsistent form.

Two rounds were played within one week as the US Open Cup continues to get more exciting. The teams in the lower levels of US soccer are fighting hard to make an impression against their MLS opponents. Round Three of the US Open Cup begins Tuesday night, June 28th.

Even though the match in Madison, Wisconsin started on time recently between the 56ers and the Chicago Fire's PDL side, the heavy rain and lightning storm found a way to postpone the match from the 21st to Wednesday the 22nd.

Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com

So long, Qwest Field. Hello, CenturyLink Field.

The home stadium for the Seattle Sounders has undergone a name change, with CenturyLink replacing Qwest. A press conference will be held on Thursday during which the new logo will be unveiled.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Antigua on hiatus and Orlando drawing with Wilmington, Richmond had an opportunity to mount a charge in the American Division.

Unfortunately for the Kickers, a 1-0 defeat to the Harrisburg City Islanders saw them fall to six points behind Orlando.

Sixteen teams have already been eliminated from the 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup after the first day of play, but our Pickem contestants are still going strong. Our current leader is bmvaughn who promised he'd go for the early points with a pile of lower division picks. But not as many lower division picks as Jeff Kusowski who started at the cheapest teams and kept picking until he ran out of cash.

What a great night of action in the first round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup as the lower levels showed what they are made. Some sides got their first action in this domestic club competition and dominated their opponents, but the one match that was very exciting to follow was in Western Pennslyvania.

The Harrisburg City Islanders came from behind to earn a 2-1 win over Reading United AC on Tuesday night in the First Round of the U.S. Open Cup. Former Philadelphia Union midfielder J.T. Noone scored an 86th minute equalizer for Harrisburg before Sainey Touray netted the winner in stoppage time.

Reading had taken the lead in the 35th minute from David Rodriguez, who has taken part in recent Union Reserve Team games.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After a month without a win, the Richmond Kickers are back on track and breathing down Orlando's neck.

Richmond scored twice in the final minutes of the first half for a 2-0 victory over FC New York. It was Richmond's first victory since May 7, and the Kickers are within four points of Orlando City with two games in hand.

Due to high demand (1 person asked) we are going to run a 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup contest. The unique nature of this tournament makes an NCAA style bracket is impossible; hosts aren't known throughout the tournament and we still don't know match-ups for the eight MLS teams that will enter the contest in the Third Round.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Orlando City took advantage of its rivals being on hiatus during the weekend to increase its lead in the ultra-competitive American Division to seven points.

Orlando scored three times in the second half to earn a comeback victory over a Wilmington team that was riding a four-game unbeaten streak.

Once again after two full months of qualifying matches from Major League Soccer all the way down to the National Premier Soccer League, twenty-three spots along with seventeen automatic entrants have been filled for the 2011 Edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

A historical moment came to NPSL as they were allowed four spots, one per conference to enter the first round when they would normally enter thru US Adult Soccer Association qualifying.

The U.S. Open Cup field of 40 is a game away from being set, but the pairings for the first two rounds of the tournament have been released.

The first round is slated for June 14, when 32 teams will being their battle for the right to face eight MLS sides in the Round of 16, which is scheduled for June 28.

Harrisburg City Islanders Defeat Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-2 in PA Derby

While most of us were paying attention to the Reading-Philadelphia friendly Tuesday night, the other two biggest soccer teams in the state of Pennsylvania also faced off in USL PRO play. Harrisburg, a Union affiliate, got the win over their rivals with help from former Union midfielder J.

Might be the last one for a while, but here's the latest list of attendance figures for the prominent leagues (if a team's not listed, either they haven't had a home game yet or I have no figures for them).

THE MLS G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders FC 7 253,864 36,266 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 136,938 22,823 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 140,923 20,132 Toronto FC 8 157,020 19,628 Portland Timbers 6 111,762 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 Houston Dynamo 7 122,414 17,488 New York Red Bulls 6 104,036 17,339 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 Real Salt Lake 5 81,360 16,272 Colorado Rapids 6 83,007 13,835 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 Chicago Fire 5 66,439 13,288 New England Revolution 7 87,146 12,449 Columbus Crew 6 60,427 10,071 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 TMLS TOTAL 106 1,852,818 17,479 NASL G Total Avg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers' fall from grace continued with a 1-1 draw to FC New York on Saturday.

Richmond is winless in four games after starting the season with a six-game winning streak. The Kickers find themselves three points behind Orlando City with no games in hand.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With their closest rivals on hiatus, the Richmond Kickers are looking to take advantage.

A midweek loss to Orlando City put the Floridians into pole position in the American Division, a place Richmond has occupied since the first week of the season.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With the Richmond Kickers off for the weekend, Orlando City took a temporary lead at the top of the Atlantic Division while Antigua Barracuda FC gifted Charlotte its second win of the season.

It was the second 2-0 loss in as many weeks for Antigua, which is cooling rapidly after a hot streak during April.

All the leagues are up and running now, so here's a look at where the crowds are going in the prominent soccer leagues in the US and Canada as of yesterday's games:

THE MLS G Total Avg. Median Seattle Sounders FC 6 217,838 36,306 36,255 Los Angeles Galaxy 5 122,480 24,496 24,998 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 6 119,923 19,987 20,664 Toronto FC 7 136,898 19,557 20,086 Portland Timbers 5 93,135 18,627 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 18,482 Houston Dynamo 6 105,705 17,618 17,281 New York Red Bulls 5 85,955 17,191 16,365 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 14,058 Real Salt Lake 4 66,634 16,659 15,907 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 15,276 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 12,109 Chicago Fire 4 54,513 13,628 12,315 Colorado Rapids 5 66,568 13,314 13,598 New England Revolution 6 65,353 10,892 11,585 Columbus Crew 5 50,996 10,199 10,306 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 10,006 Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0 0 TMLS TOTAL 94 1,633,480 17,377 16,752 NASL G Total Avg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers had to drop points eventually.

After an eight-game winning streak kicked off their season in style, the Kickers were held to a 1-1 draw with the Harrisburg City Islanders. Richmond continues to be the only unbeaten team left in the USL Pro and holds a one-point lead with two games in hand over Antigua Barracuda FC in the Atlantic Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

And then there were 12.

With Puerto Rico's three franchises no longer a part of USL Pro, the league has reorganized the standings to feature two six-team divisions instead of three five-team divisions. Antigua Barracuda FC joins the American Division while the Los Angeles Blues are now part of the National Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Try as they might, the Wilmington Hammerheads couldn't stop a Richmond Kickers side that is starting to look unbeatable early in the 2011 USL Pro season.

Two second-half goals from Richmond canceled out an early goal from Wilmington as the Kickers got the better of a match-up between two unbeaten teams.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The USL Pro season may only be five weeks old but time is already running short for some struggling sides.

The Harrisburg City Islanders and FC New York are both looking for their first win as the two teams square off at St. John's University.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers winning streak continued in emphatic fashion with a 6-0 rout of the Dayton Dutch Lions.

The USL Pro leaders have one five-straight game to begin the season and have racked up a +9 goal difference in that time.

Not to be outdone, Antigua Barracuda FC put seven by Puerto Rico United on Wednesday before squeaking out a narrow victory over River Plate Puerto Rico over the weekend.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

An early-season clash between a defending champion and the league leader highlights the fourth weekend of fixtures in the USL Pro.

The Easter weekend slate of matches kicks off tonight with the resurgent Orlando City welcoming a Puerto Rico United side that is struggling to find its feet after going winless in its opening home stand.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Welcome to the USL, Los Angeles.

The expansion L.A. Blues started off their existence with a couple of victories on the road over Sevilla FC Puerto Rico and fellow newcomer Antigua Barracuda FC. Walter Gaitan is off to a blistering start with three goals in two games.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

It's the first full weekend of action the USL Pro as 18 teams take to the field.

Making their debut are the Rochester Rhinos, Los Angeles Blues, Harrisburg City Islanders, Dayton Dutch Lions, Wilmington Hammerheads and Antigua Barracuda FC.