After starting the season a mere 1-4-3, Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer reshuffled his lineup and was left with Sakuda as his right back after he had started nearly 100 consecutive games as holding midfielder. The move has resulted in a back line that may be the best in the division and has Sakuda in line for an MLS tryout with Chivas USA after the Sounders' season.

Several circumstances contributed to Sakuda's move from the midfield spot he had held for most of the past four seasons to the right back spot he played at Duke. The biggest factor was the emergence of rookie Kenji Treschuk in the midfield. But since Day 1 of the move, Schmetzer said Sakuda has not only embraced his new role, but excelled in it.

"A lot of people would have taken his circumstance and would not have handled it as well," Schmetzer said. "He has taken it on and it may push him to the next level. Now that I've seen him there, I thought, 'What was I missing?' "

Sakuda, who played a key role in the Sounders' 15-game unbeaten streak, has started 113 consecutive games.

"I just enjoy playing soccer, and I'm fortunate enough to not have any serious injuries that have kept me out of the lineup," said Sakuda, who has played through a broken right wrist and ligament damage in his left wrist this season and a torn meniscus through the final month of last season. "I just have fun and I don't see it as anything else."

As important as the shift in positions was a change that the Fremont, Calif., native, 27, didn't make in the offseason. The expansion Carolina RailHawks pursued Sakuda as a free agent.

He returned to the Sounders and now has a Commissioner's Cup -- given to the USL First Division regular-season champions. He will face the RailHawks on Friday in Cary, N.C., in the opening leg of a home-and-home aggregate goal series in the first round of the playoffs.

With veterans Zach Scott, Taylor Graham and Danny Jackson, a strong midfield, the scoring duo of Sebastien Le Toux and Roger Levesque and the league leader in shutouts and saves in goalkeeper Chris Eylander, Sakuda is as confident as he was in 2005 when the Sounders won the league championship as a fourth seed.

For Schmetzer, a defender in his playing career who has a clear appreciation for the efforts of a good defense, it is all about the back line.

"With our back four, it is arguably the best back four in our league," Schmetzer said.

The Sounders conclude the aggregate goal series with a 6 p.m. kickoff Sunday at Qwest Field.

SOUNDERS VS. RAILHAWKS

WHAT: Opener of a two-game, aggregate goal, first-round USL First Division playoff series.

WHEN/WHERE: Today, 4:35 p.m., SAS Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.

RECORDS: The Sounders won the 2007 regular-season title at 16-6-6 (54 points). Carolina was eighth at 8-12-8 (32 points).

NOTES: The Sounders and RailHawks met twice this season, with Seattle winning 1-0 each time. Sebastien Le Toux was the only goal scorer in both games. Seattle GK Chris Eylander was ejected in the 65th minute of the May 23 home match and came back to shut out Carolina in a physical rematch on the road June 15. ... The Sounders finished the regular season with two consecutive shutouts after dropping a U.S. Open Cup semifinal game to FC Dallas and a game to the Minnesota Thunder. Seattle went 13-0-2 before those losses. ... Carolina topped Miami FC by one point and the Charleston Battery by two points for the final playoff spot. ... Each of the RailHawks' past eight regular-season games has ended in a shutout. They are 4-3-1 in that stretch. ... Seattle's leading scorer was Le Toux with 10 goals in the regular season and 17 overall. Connally Edozien topped Carolina with seven goals.

-- Matthew Gaschk