Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey last Wednesday watched his team extend its streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 10 while his own personal tally climbed to 11.
But Lagerwey nearly had that personal playoff streak ended before it truly got started as GM of Real Salt Lake in 2009 when his sub-.500 squad barely qualified on the season’s final day. And they only did so because the Sounders, who’d already made the playoffs that year and had nothing to play for their final regular season game, nonetheless defeated FC Dallas and allowed Lagerwey’s squad to leapfrog into the sixth and final Western Conference slot.