Lion Links: 12/11/16

It’s Sunday, Mane Landers, and the season is officially over. It required the full 90 minutes, stoppage time, extra time, and a penalty shootout, but the Seattle Sounders are your 2016 MLS champs. More on that below.

The MLS trade window opens at 9 a.m. and closes at noon. We’re expecting movement from Orlando City (more on that below, too) so stay tuned to The Mane Land throughout the day.

Now let’s get to those links.

Harrison Heath to Atlanta United

Paul Tenorio, of FourFourTwo, tweeted yesterday that Harrison Heath is on his way to Atlanta for a late-round draft pick. While Tenorio gave us the “what” coming back in the trade, the Orlando Sentinel’s Alicia DelGallo confirmed the story and gave the “when” — today, as the day it’s happening.

The defensive midfielder has sustained mid-season knee injuries each of the last two seasons and got shuffled off to Orlando City B after his recovery this season. The Homegrown Player has shown glimpses of becoming a solid pro, but if Jason Kreis converts to the 4-4-2 diamond, he may be well down the depth chart in Orlando. If this comes to pass, Heath will join Tyler Turner as Homegrown Players the club has parted ways with this off-season.

Brek makes an Appearance in “The Nutcracker”

Brek Shea got into the Christmas spirit with an appearance in Orlando Ballet’s opening night of “The Nutcracker.” Brek, along with personalities from Channel 9 News, was invited to be a part of the production’s opening scene in full costume. Click the link above to check it out.

Sarah Hagen Inducted into UW-Milwaukee Hall of Fame

Sarah Hagen was honored by her alma mater this weekend. The Orlando Pride forward was named to the Class of 2016 Bud K. Haidet Milwaukee Athletics Hall of Fame. While at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hagen racked up an impressive 93 goals for the Panthers. She currently sits ninth on the all-time Division I goals list. 

Hagen on the honor:

"It's a huge honor and I am so happy to have all of my friends and family here tonight and to be listed with the three other inductees is very humbling," Hagen said. "It means a lot to me. The years that I played at UWM were some of the best I ever had playing soccer. Without my coaches and teammates that I had, I wouldn't even be in the position to be accepting this award. It's truly an honor to be going down as one of the best athletes that UWM has ever had."

Such an amazing honor to be inducted into the UWM Hall of Fame tonight along with these phenomenal athletes. Thank you everyone who came and to those who couldn't make it. It was an unforgettable night! 💛

A photo posted by Sarah Hagen (@sarahapplehagen) on Dec 9, 2016 at 10:16pm PST

Seattle Takes MLS Cup in Penalties

Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders worked overtime last night. Despite the Eastern Conference champions looking like the better side for much of the game, it was the visitors from the Western Conference that left BMO Field with the hardware last night. Roman Torres, who had a monster game defending Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, scored the winning penalty in sudden death of the PK shootout, giving the Sounders their first MLS Cup. Congratulations to our friends at Sounder at Heart, who wrote this recap of the match. Our hearts go out to Waking the Red, who offered their side of the story.

That’s it for now. Get ready for a busy week. In addition to today’s brief trade window, Expansion Draft and free agent lists come out tomorrow, the Expansion Draft is Tuesday, the Waiver Draft is Thursday and Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft is Friday.

Rest up during what’s left of your weekend. Things are going to get busier before the holidays.