MATCH PREVIEW
On Monday evening, Sounders FC 2 (7-11-6, 27 points) hosts Portland Timbers 2 (7-13-4, 25 points) at Starfire Stadium at 7:30 p.m. PT in the fourth and final matchup between the two sides in the 2016 campaign. S2 heads into Monday’s rivalry contest on a two-game skid after snapping its six-match unbeaten streak (4-0-2) on August 13 at Rio Grande Valley FC Toros. On August 20, S2 fell by a score of 1-0 at San Antonio FC. On May 26, Timbers 2 topped S2 1-0 at home, but has fallen to the Rave Green in each of the past two appearances. Seattle won in Providence Park 2-1 on June 13 before topping T2 1-0 at home on July 24. Portland heads into Monday’s fixture with 25 points, which is 14th place in the conference and two points behind Seattle. The Rave Green remain four points below the postseason cutoff line, but four clubs stand in the way in the cluttered Western Conference.
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Parra Makes Team Debut By Cam Rizzardini Coming into a new team is difficult enough for a professional athlete. Coming into a new country after two months off is even harder. Seattle Sounders FC 2 midfielder Irvin Parra logged his first minutes in a Sounders uniform last Saturday in San Antonio after spending four seasons in Germany and for Parra, it was admittedly a bit of an adjustment. “First half, I kind of felt a little lost,” he said. “I had to get used to the team, used to the connections, get that chemistry going on.”
But the rust soon fell off and Parra, 22, got into a groove as the match went on. “Second half I feel like I did much better going at players and just playing my game,” he said. “Overall I feel great with the team…It was a very special game after coming back to the United States.” Head coach Ezra Hendrickson echoed Parra’s statements on his debut performance. “I thought he did well for us; he’s very good one v. one, where we’re playing him on the wings,” Hendrickson said. “[He was] a little rusty, missed a couple of touches but that’s normal when you haven’t played in a while. We’re very happy that he’s available.” Despite signing on Aug. 4, Parra had to wait for his debut due to some unexpected circumstances. In an interview following Tuesday’s training session, Parra noted that he was actually supposed to play against Vancouver on Aug. 6, but that he then suffered a sprained ankle that set him back a couple of weeks. Parra signed with S2 after spending the past four seasons in Germany. Last season, the midfielder made 10 appearances for Kaiserslautern II after scoring two goals in 17 appearances in his first campaign with the club. Despite the recent injury, Parra said he felt good playing soccer again and is looking forward to helping the team reach the USL playoffs. “I want to help this team go to the playoffs,” he said. “That’s my goal.”
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Homegrown Watch By Joseph Mondello With S2 and the First Team entering the business end of their respective campaigns, a number of Sounders Academy products found themselves playing important minutes as both teams push for the playoffs. In San Antonio, Texas, a total of four former or current Sounders Academy players made the match day roster for S2. Meanwhile, homegrown striker Jordan Morris put in another well-rounded performance as he continues to build chemistry with USMNT teammate Clint Dempsey and new DP signing Nicolas Lodeiro.
S2 0 at San Antonio FC 1 August 20, 2016
After sitting out the match against Rio Grande Valley FC the week prior, former Sounders Academy standout Jordan Schweitzer started as the holding midfielder. Having the defensiveminded Jordy Delem lined up alongside him enabled Schweitzer to assume a more attacking role in the middle of the pitch. In the match against SAFC, Schweitzer demonstrated the full range of his passing ability, as well as his aptitude for dictating the tempo of a match. The former University of Denver Pioneer alternated between quick passing exchanges with nearby teammates and perfectly weighted long-balls to switch the point of attack.
SCHWEITZER
Forward Victor Mansaray featured in the S2 lineup after a spell away training with Norwegian sides Åsane and Brann. Upon returning to the starting XI, Mansaray lined up in his preferred position as the number nine in the middle of Seattle’s three-man forward line.
goalkeeper managed to hold onto his headed effort.
A majority of the match was played in the middle third of the field, as both sides looked to build from the back when in possession and pressing aggressively on the defensive side. As a result, Mansaray was starved of the kind of service he typically thrives on for long stretches of the match. In the 84th minute, Mansaray produced the best chance at an equalizer for S2. Outside back Oniel Fisher lifted a curling cross to the back post from the right flank, and Mansaray did well to elevate above his marker and redirect the ball on frame, but the SAFC
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Schweitzer also produced numerous interceptions to break up any potentially dangerous attacks by San Antonio. With S2 in search of an equalizer late in the match, Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson turned to a pair of recent Sounders Academy U-18 signings in Jamie Dimitrioff and Jake Morris. Dimitrioff entered the fray in the 74th minute and took all of S2’s setpieces after coming on, while Morris subbed on in the 85th minute for Oniel Fisher. With 24 league games played in the 2016 season, Sounders FC youth team players have made a combined 44 appearances for a combined 1,572 minutes of action, indicating the success of S2 as an effective medium for player development.
Sounders FC 3 vs. Portland Timbers 1 | August 21, 2016 Much has been made about the recent performances from Nico Lodeiro and second-year midfielder Cristian Roldan. So much so, in fact, that Morris’ rapid development in his overall game may have gone under the radar.
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Morris also played an important role in Dempsey’s second goal on the night. Cristian Roldan drove toward goal in the 80th minute, and Morris curled off and made an unselfish run to the right, which created the space for Dempsey to receive the ball from Roldan and fire home with his left foot. The biggest highlight reel moment for Morris came in the 75th minute. His 75-yard run at CenturyLink Field seemed more appropriate for a running back on the Seahawks, and inspired comparisons to a Super Mario Bros Super Star power up.
MORRIS
The Mercer Island Native’s speed and strength have never been in question, but having such a creative playmaker in Lodeiro playing underneath him has revealed some of the more subtle aspects of his play. Morris possesses an innate ability to ghost into spaces vacated by advancing defenders, or hanging on the back shoulder of the defender, and timing his runs to perfection. With his world-class pace and strength, combined with the incisive passing of Clint Dempsey and Lodeiro, Morris seems capable of bursting into dangerous positions at will.
A couple of plays in particular demonstrated Morris’ growing role in the Sounders attacking setup. Portland defender Alvis Powell seemed to make an early jump to intercept an Andreas Ivanschitz pass in the 10th minute, only to be shielded off the ball and turned by Morris, who narrowly missed his toepoked shot when driving toward Jake Gleeson’s goal.
2016 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC PLAYERS NO. 88 25 6 39 98 77 2 3 12 30 81 91 24 8 9 23 70 17 33 92 11 31 22 80 14 32 4 1 13 36 10 90 5 38 95 15 7 97 30 34 20 18 35 29 16
NAME AGE Emir Alihodzic* 22 Tony Alfaro 23 Osvaldo Alonso 30 Oalex Anderson 20 Matt Bersano* 23 Jordy Delem 23 Clint Dempsey 33 Brad Evans 31 Michael Farfan 28 Alvaro Fernandez 30 Devon Fisher* 22 Oniel Fisher 24 Stefan Frei 30 Erik Friberg 30 Herculez Gomez 34 Andreas Ivanschitz 32 Brandon John* 21 Darwin Jones 24 Joevin Jones 25 Willy Kapawa* 24 Aaron Kovar 22 Damion Lowe 24 Charlie Lyon 24 Victor Mansaray 19 Chad Marshall 32 Zach Mathers* 21 Tyrone Mears 33 Tyler Miller 23 Jordan Morris 21 Michael Nelson* 22 Nicolás Lodeiro 27 Mark O’Ojong* 19 Jimmy Ockford 23 Irvin Parra* 23 Carlos Patino* 21 Dylan Remick 26 Cristian Roldan 20 Myron Samuel 23 Amadou Sanyang* 24 Jordan Schweitzer* 21 Zach Scott 35 Nathan Sturgis 29 Nouhou Tolo 19 Román Torres 30 Nelson Valdez 32
BIRTHPLACE Tulza, Bosnia Michoacan, Mexico San Cristobal, Cuba St. Vincent & Grenadines Chandler, AZ Fort-de-France, Martinique Nacogdoches, TX Phoenix, AZ San Diego, CA Soriano, Uruguay Chesapeake, VA Portmore, Jamaica Altstaetten, Switzerland Lindome, Sweden Oxnard, CA Eisenstadt, Austria Kingstown, St. Vincent Chicago, IL Carenage, Trinidad & Tobago Douala, Cameroon Seattle, WA Kingston, Jamaica St. Charles, IL Freetown, Sierra Leone Riverside, CA Ft. Worth, TX Stockport, England Woodbury, NJ Seattle, WA Austin, TX Paysandú, Uruguay Douala, Cameroon Yardley, PA Inglewood California Tulua, Colombia Inverness, IL Artesia, CA Layou, St. Vincent Bakau, Gambia Dallas, TX Wailuku, HI Boca Raton, FL Douala, Cameroon Panama City, Panama Caaguazœ, Paraguay
PREVIOUS CLUB Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (NCAA) Cal State – Dominguez Hills Charleston Battery (USL) System 3 FC (St. Vincent & Grenadines) Penn State Nittany Lions (NCAA) Club Franciscain (MAR) Tottenham Hotspur (England) Columbus Crew SC D.C. United Chicago Fire Timbers 2 (USL) New Mexico Lobos (NCAA) Toronto FC Esbjerg fB (Denmark) Toronto FC Levante (Spain) FC Erzgebirge Aue U-23’s (GER) Washington Huskies (NCAA) Chicago Fire Lion Blesse (CMR) Stanford Cardinal (NCAA) Hartford Hawks (NCAA) Marquette Golden Eagles (NCAA) Sounders FC Academy Columbus Crew SC Duke Blue Devils (NCAA) Bolton Wanderers (England) Northwestern Wildcats (NCAA) Stanford Cardinal (NCAA) Old Dominion Monarchs (NCAA) Boca Juniors Rainbow FC (CMR) Louisville Cardinals (NCAA) Kaiserslautern II (GER) Kitsap Pumas (PDL) Brown Bears (NCAA) Washington Huskies (NCAA) Rendezvous FC (BRB) Charleston Battery (USL) Denver Pioneers (NCAA) Gonzaga Bulldogs (NCAA) Houston Dynamo Rainbow FC Millonarios (Colombia) Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
*Signed to a S2 Contract
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2016 SOUNDERS FC 2 USL REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE DAY
DATE
OPPONENT
KICKOFF (PT) LOCATION
Fri.
March 25
Sacramento Republic FC
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Wed. March 30
Arizona United
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sun. April 3
San Antonio
5:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Tues. April 12
Rio Grande Valley FC
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sun. April 17
Colorado Springs
7:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Tues. April 26
Real Monarchs
6:00 p.m.
Rio Tinto Stadium
Sun. May 1
Oklahoma City Energy FC 7:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sun. May 8
Tulsa Roughnecks FC
7:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sat. May 14
Sacramento Republic FC
7:30 p.m.
Bonney Field
Sun. May 22
LA Galaxy II
5:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Thurs. May 26
Portland Timbers 2
7:00 p.m.
Providence Park
Sat. June 4
Orange County Blues FC
7:00 p.m.
Anteater Stadium
Thurs. June 9
Whitecaps FC 2
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Tues. June 14
Portland Timbers 2
7:00 p.m.
Merlo Field
Sun. June 26
Swope Park Rangers FC
5:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sat. July 2
Sacramento Republic FC
8:00 p.m.
Bonney Field
Wed. July 6
St. Louis FC
5:00 p.m.
World Wide Technology Soccer Park
Sun. July 10
Colorado Springs
5:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sat. July 16
Arizona United
7:30 p.m.
Peoria Sports Complex
Sun. July 24
Portland Timbers 2
5:00 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Mon. August 1
Real Monarchs
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Sat. August 6
Whitecaps FC 2
3:00 p.m.
Thunderbird Stadium
Sat. August 13
Rio Grande Valley FC
5:30 p.m.
RGVFC Stadium
Sat. August 20
San Antonio
5:30 p.m.
Toyota Field
Mon. August 29
Portland Timbers 2
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Fri.
Sept. 2
Whitecaps FC 2
7:30 p.m.
Starfire Stadium
Mon. Sept. 5
Whitecaps FC 2
3:00 p.m.
Thunderbird Stadium
Sun. Sept. 11
Oklahoma City Energy FC 4:00 p.m.
Taft Stadium
Sat. Sept. 17
Colorado Springs
6:00 p.m.
Switchbacks Stadium
Sat. Sept. 24
Swope Park Rangers FC
5:00 p.m.
Children’s Mercy Victory Field
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2016 USL TEAM STATS GP MIN G A PTS SHT SOG FC YC RC OG UNF Player 17 Darwin Jones 15 1235 5 1 11 26 14 14 1 0 0 80 Victor Mansaray 15 1084 4 0 8 18 9 23 3 0 0 97 Myron Samuel 19 1446 3 4 10 30 15 22 1 0 0 99 Andy Craven 16 1335 3 2 8 33 15 19 1 0 0 90 Mark O’Ojong 22 1442 2 0 4 21 6 25 3 0 0 32 Zach Mathers 19 1309 2 3 7 35 15 31 3 0 0 34 Jordan Schweitzer 18 1325 1 2 4 8 3 19 4 1 0 88 Emir Alihodzic 17 478 1 1 3 5 2 10 1 0 0 25 Tony Alfaro 14 1252 1 0 2 8 3 15 2 0 0 41 Lorenzo Ramos 13 424 1 0 2 1 1 3 0 0 0 11 Aaron Kovar 3 148 1 0 2 5 3 2 0 0 0 39 Oalex Anderson 3 120 1 0 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 44 John Magnus 4 123 1 1 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 36 Michael Nelson 17 1511 0 1 1 6 2 9 1 0 0 77 Jordy Delem 13 1107 0 1 1 5 0 19 3 0 0 91 Oniel Fisher 9 796 0 1 1 6 3 11 0 1 0 95 Carlos Patino 17 672 0 1 1 1 0 10 0 0 0 81 Devon Fisher 20 1276 0 0 0 4 1 14 2 0 0 35 Nouhou Tolo 19 1664 0 0 0 10 4 21 3 0 0 70 Brandon John 9 545 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 50 Tobi Jnohope 6 436 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 18 Nathan Sturgis 5 373 0 0 0 2 1 6 1 0 0 92 Willy Kapawa 9 383 0 0 0 3 0 7 1 0 0 40 Nick Hinds 6 249 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 12 Michael Farfan 7 251 0 0 0 5 0 8 1 0 0 15 Dylan Remick 2 180 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 42 Handwalla Bwana 5 160 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 45 Harrison Kurtz 4 92 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 38 Irvin Parra 1 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 53 Kei Tomozawa 5 53 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 48 Jamie Dimitroff 1 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 Jake Morris 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team totals 24 2160 26 18 70 245 105 305 32 2 0 Opponent totals 24 2160 40 22 102 307 119 300 48 2 0 GP-games played; GS-games started; MIN-minutes; G-goals;A-assists; P-points; SHT-shots; SOG-shots on goal; FC/FS-fouls committed/fouls suffered; CK-corner kicks; OFF-offsides; C/E-cautions/ejections
UNF Player 1 Tyler Miller 22 Charlie Lyon Team totals Opponent totals
GP 9 15 24 24
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MIN 810 1350 2160 2160
GA 11 29 40 26
SV 38 40 79 79
SV% .771 .580 .664 .752
GAA 1.22 1.93 1.67 1.08
W-L-D 4-2-3 3-9-3 7-11-5 11-7-5
SO 2 1 3 8
HEAD COACH EZRA HENDRICKSON
Ezra Hendrickson initially joined Sounders FC as an Assistant Coach on January 20, 2009, after completing a 14-year professional career, including 12 seasons in Major League Soccer. He is now the Head Coach of Sounders FC 2, the club’s USL PRO team. Hendrickson played parts of eight seasons for Sigi Schmid, including three in Columbus prior to his retirement. Hendrickson appeared in 266 regular season matches with 225 starts. Playing defense, he scored 23 goals and added 30 assists. He also played in 32 postseason games with five goals and three assists. Hendrickson was a member of three MLS Cup championship teams, winning two with Schmid. Together, they won the 2002 MLS Cup with the Los Angeles Galaxy and the 2008 MLS Cup in Columbus. Hendrickson was also with the champion D.C. United team in 2004. A native of the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean, Hendrickson began his career in 1997 with the New York MetroStars, before joining the Galaxy
later that season. He totaled six seasons in Los Angeles, where he won the 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory, and the 2001 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, scoring one goal in a 2-1 victory. He was named Galaxy’s Most Valuable Player for the 2001 season. Hendrickson went to Dallas in 2003 and began the next season with the A-League’s Charleston Battery before joining D.C. United for its run to the 2004 MLS Cup. After starting all 31 appearances in 2005 for Chivas USA, Hendrickson was acquired by Columbus in early 2006. An All-American and business administration major at Drake University, Hendrickson first played professionally with New Orleans of the USISL Select League (1995-96). After earning his first international cap in 1995, he served 12 years as captain of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines national team. Hendrickson earned his U.S. Soccer “A” Coaching License in December of 2008. He is a resident of Layou, St. Vincent, and has two daughters, Xavia and McKenzie.
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