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We are less than three weeks away from the NA League of Legends Championship Series summer championship in Toronto, Canada, but the road to get there starts Saturday in the warmer confines of the League Championship Series Arena in Santa Monica, California. While regular-season champions Team SoloMid (17-1) and runners-up Immortals (16-2) will be able to sit at home watching the action to see who makes the semifinals, the next four teams in the summer split standings will play in the quarterfinals to see which two advance.The time for preparation ends here. Its the postseason, and its either survive or perish in the ultra-competitive North American region.Quarterfinal #1: Cloud9 vs. Team EnvyThe Saturday matinee matchup will pit an upward-trending team against one that was decidedly sinking in the second half of the season. Cloud9, third-place in the league, comes into the quarterfinal matchup with a bit of the old swagger the organization used to have when it made four straight NA LCS finals. Although its been over a year since the former two-time champion has made it to a final, this is shaping up to be C9s best shot at it since back then, when it lost to TSM at the end of the spring 2015 playoffs.The added presence of veteran Jung Impact Eon-yeong has brought stability to a role that had been shaky ever since C9s golden days atop the league. The former world champion brings a shot-calling edge to the group that it seemingly lacked after captain Hai Hai Lam stepped down from the main squad; Impacts versatile style of play allows C9 the advantage of playing around any of the three lanes depending on the matchup.Its also been the readdition of old jungler William Meteos Hartman back into the lineup that has softened the blow of losing Hai. Meteos, who failed to gel with star mid laner Nicolaj Jensen Jensen in a short stint last summer, has rectified his in-game relationship with the offense-focused, talented ace of C9 to form a solid partnership. Meteos isnt a carry jungler -- eighth in kills and 11th in damage per minute (DPM) -- but he doesnt have to be; hes surrounded by the triple threat of Impact in top, Jensen in mid, and Zachary Sneaky Scuderi -- Mr. Consistent himself -- in the bottom lane. His set-up plays and engages have won C9 many a fight this split, and his supportive, experienced nature embodies the type of player the club needs prowling the jungle.Looking over to C9s opponent, Team Envy, there isnt nearly as much of a case for optimism. The team started out of the gate strong and appeared to be a shoo-in for a postseason slot, but a disastrous second half of the split left NV falling face first into the playoffs. The club changed team houses during the course of the season and had difficulties transitioning. Yet, when its postseason life was on the line versus last-place Echo Fox in the last game of the season, the navy-clad team was able to pull through.For NV to pull off one of the biggest upsets in NA LCS playoff history, itll need to find the form that brought them so much success in the early days of summer. The key player, per usual, for Envy will be Shin Seraph Woo-yeong in the top lane. Almost every team has at least one player that brings the entire team together, and for Envy that player is Seraph. When NV got off to a blistering start at the beginning of the split, it was thanks to the stellar play of the teams ace in the top lane. Seraph was believed to be one of the frontrunners for the MVP award in the first month of the season before his and Envys collapse back into the middle of the pack.Impact, who Seraph told ESPN.com was the player he looked up to most when he was developing as a professional, will be the one standing between Seraph and a flight to Canada. The rest of the team needs to wake up as well, but Seraph, above everyone else, needs to find the forward-thinking play that helped him lead Renegades renaissance at the end of last season and NVs bold beginning this past season.Prediction: Its hard to look at Team Envy in the second half of the split and think it can make the top four of the league. It possesses good players, yet, when compared to C9, the lineups seem like a mismatch in almost every position. While I think NV is an organization with a lot of potential to grow over the next few years, Cloud9 is at the point where its already full grown. C9 isnt just looking to settle for the third-place game in Toronto; rather, the boys in bright blue want another crack at the domestic title.Cloud9 3 - 1 Team EnvyQuarterfinal #2: Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team LiquidLast season, the semifinal matchup between Counter Logic Gaming (fourth seed) and Team Liquid (fifth seed) resulted in one of the greatest best-of-fives the LCS has ever witnessed. In the end, it was the defending champion, CLG, who found its path paved to a second straight finals. For Liquid, it was simply another split where regular-season expectations came crashing down. CLG went on to win its second championship in a row, and Liquid finished fourth for the umpteeth time by getting knocked around by Immortals 3-0 in the third-place series.After the first few weeks of the summer season, it felt like the roles were reversed for the teams. CLG was out of a playoff spot, and Team Liquid, having reinstated ace jungler Joshua Dardoch Hartnett, was rising up the rankings at a steady pace, believing it could challenge either Immortals or TSM for the top spot in the league. Yet, almost as though their destinies dictated it, CLG found its groove in the second half of the season and TL started to trail behind the rest of the top teams in the league. Eventually, TL settled into a fifth-place spot with an even record for the season.Team Liquid, fifth or not, wont be happy unless it makes Worlds this split. As the only remaining long-running North American team that has never qualified for the biggest tournament of the year, another missed opportunity would feel like a failure for a team that has always been on the cusp of greatness. It won its first regular-season title last year, but then fell in the postseason semifinals. In the spring split, the team was rounding into championship form with a confidence to back it up, and then, as mentioned previously, CLG ended its journey prematurely.Jovani Fabbbyyy Guillen is my highlighted player for TL in the quarterfinal duel. Liquid decided to swap its main rosters AD Chae Piglet Gwang-jin with Fabbbyyy from its minor league team. During the first few weeks it seemed like a brilliant swap for Liquid, with the main team communicating on a higher level and Fabbbyyy more willing to take on a background role; however, things havent been so smooth to end the season, and the new patch implemented in the playoffs will favor teams with stronger in-lane combatants. TL has been able to survive even with Fabbbyyy and support partner Matt Matt Elento getting held down early in games, but that wont be the case if it happens in the upcoming games against CLG.For the back-to-back winner of the league, Counter Logic feels at home being considered a longshot to win the championship. It wasnt expected to beat Team SoloMid at Madison Square Garden last summer in New York City, and then CLG swept them. CLG were underdogs once again to TSM last split in Las Vegas, and while SoloMid took two games that time around, it was CLG who ultimately raised the trophy.When it comes to leaders, CLGs Zaqueri Aphromoo Black is one of the best in the business. The veteran knows how to get it done in difficult situations, and he has two championships to back up his confidence. All season long, even when CLG was faltering near the bottom of the table, Aphromoo spoke confidently of his team as a whole and didnt fear missing the playoffs at any point. And here he is, again a top four seed in the playoffs, and only one match victory away from possibly facing TSM for the third straight postseason.Prediction: Like the matchup on Saturday, Sundays match is a contest between two teams on diverging roads, albeit less extreme. Liquid shouldnt be counted out by any means, but the team certainly comes in as an underdog against the reigning champion. Fabbbyyy will need to have the best professional games of his life to push Liquid into the semifinals. CLG will play like it has this past year once it found the most organizational success its ever had by far; its mantra: respect all, fear none, and believe youre going to win.CLG 3 - 2 Team Liquid Brandon Morrow Jersey . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Fergie Jenkins Jersey . 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SEATTLE -- For Nicolas Loderio, going two straight games without a goal or an assist amounted to a drought.He snapped out of it in a big way on Sunday night.Lodeiro scored twice and Nelson Valdez added a goal -- all in an 8-minute span early in the second half -- to help the Seattle Sounders roll past FC Dallas 3-0 in the first leg of the MLS Western Conference semifinals.Dallas, winner of the Supporters Shield with the best regular season record, now must score at least three times when the teams play the second leg in Texas next Sunday to keep its season alive.Since joining the Sounders in late July, the 27-year-old Loderio, a Uruguayan international midfielder, factored into the scoring in eight straight games. His last goal came on Oct. 16 -- in a 2-1 loss at Dallas -- but he was kept off the board in last Sundays 2-1 victory against Real Salt Lake that clinched a playoff spot, and Thursdays 1-0 knockout-round win against Sporting Kansas City.To me, its not only to score the goals, Lodeiro said. More than anything, its the assists, to support the attack, the defense, and be in the midfield.But of course, Im pleased when I can score the goals.Valdez, whose 88th-minute goal beat Sporting Kansas City, put Seattle on the board in the 50th minute. Joevin Jones crossed a target ball from the left side into the penalty area. Valdez ran to the top of the 6-yard box, went up and over Dallas defender Maynor Figueroa and headed it into the back left corner.I just want to be thankful to the coach and the team for their trust in me -- and the only way I could answer that trust was to score more goals and to continue to play the way I played tonight, said Valdez, who was insertedd into the starting lineup by interim head coach Brian Schmetzer.ddddddddddddLodeiro made it 2-0 at the outset of the 55th minute, running onto Jordan Morris short crossing pass and blasting it into the back right corner from 6 yards in front.Just three minutes later, Lodeiro took a through ball from Jones, streaked down the left side, and, from the top left corner of the 6, fired to the far corner.It was a typical first-leg game in a two-leg series -- two teams feeling each other out in the first half, Schmetzer said. In the second half, our team made the necessary adjustments, but then they also made the necessary plays. When youre trying to win an MLS cup, you have to make plays. Valdez, Loderio, Morris, Jones -- they make plays.Just as important for both teams heading into the second leg was goalkeeper Stefan Freis shutout -- his second straight clean sheet in the playoffs and ninth of the season. That denied Dallas a crucial away goal if the series should happen to come down to that tiebreaker next Sunday.This is the third straight year the Sounders and Dallas have met in the semifinals. Seattle prevailed in 2014; Dallas won last year on penalty kicks at home in the second leg.The first 20 minutes of the second half, we allowed them to get space, and they scored those goals, Dallas coach Oscar Pareja said. Obviously, were disappointed. But at the same time, we have to keep the optimism.We overcame a difficult result last year when we left this field, he added. This team has shown during the year that we can overcome difficult situations. ' ' '