MATCH PREVIEW
On Sunday afternoon, Sounders FC 2 hosts Portland Timbers 2 at 2:00 p.m. PT in the second contest of the 2017 campaign at Starfire Stadium. The meeting is the first of three matchups between the two Cascadia rivals, with the next contest set to be held at Starfire on May 5. The Rave Green look for their first win of the season after a 2-1 loss to Sacramento Republic FC last Sunday. Seattle jumped out to an early lead from a fifth-minute goal by Brian Nana-Sinkam. On a free-kick from outside the area, forward Irvin Parra sent a rolling through-ball into the center of the 18-yard-box. The pass found a streaking Nana-Sinkam, who delivered a hard strike that bounced off the underside of the crossbar and across the line. Republic FC would score twice in the second half for the win. Timbers 2 is also looking for its first win of the campaign, as it enters Sunday’s matinee with a record of 0-2-0. Portland fell to 1-0 on the road to Swope Park and 2-1 at home to Real Monarchs SLC.
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S2 Relying Heavily on Academy Standouts, Youth Internationals in 2017 By Joseph Mondello At first glance, the Seattle Sounders FC 2 roster for the upcoming USL season appears similar to years past in that the player pool is largely comprised of talented young prospects with the potential to contribute to the first team. A closer look, though, reveals a more nuanced approach that the staff has taken toward building the 2017 roster. In S2’s first two seasons, the roster was primarily comprised of former college standouts with a few promising prospects signed from abroad. This season’s roster is the inverse, with plenty of players who regularly suit up as youth internationals and a handful of NCAA talents. “We’ve done what we’ve wanted to do, which is get younger and bring some better players in,” said S2 head coach Ezra Hendrickson. “We’ve gone out and got some guys who’ve represented their respective U-20 teams for their nations, as well as getting some guys from our Academy.” With S2 still in its infancy, there’s an inherent learning curve when it comes to roster building and resource allocation. It’s no surprise then that the scouting and recruitment initiatives that were successful in the past two seasons, such as signing young internationals and integrating Academy standouts, have been cranked up for the 2017 campaign. For starters, the Cameroonian connection, first forged by former
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S2 midfielder Mark O’Ojong and current first team defender Nouhou Tolo, was tapped for the 2017 roster when forward Felix Chenkam and defender Rodrigue Ele signed from Rainbow FC Bamenda. Hendrickson mined the Caribbean once more for under-scouted talent and signed Javorn Stevens and Denso Ulysse from Antigua & Barbuda and Haiti, respectively. “We are very excited to bring these players into our organization,” Sounders FC Director of Player Personnel Kurt Schmid said. “These signings include young internationals and college standouts, plus an exciting player from our Academy.”
While there are fewer player signed from the college ranks this season, the signings that were made share similarities with the likes of Sounders FC first team midfielder Zach Mathers, who possessed plenty of raw talent but needed time in a professional setting to develop in a new position. Mathers was prolific for Duke as a No. 10/second striker, yet he earned a first team contract in the offseason after impressing in USL play as a box-to-box midfield dynamo. On the roster for this season, former Tulsa standout Ray Saari thrived as an attacking playmaker, but has played in a deeper midfield role so far with
S2. Defender Brian Nana-Sinkam, who scored his first professional goal in the 2017 season opener in a 2-1 loss to Sacramento Republic, will get plenty time to adjust to the positional nuances of outside back this campaign. The biggest change from years past is the club’s proactive decision to rely heavily on Sounders Academy prospects. The first team brought youth team standouts to preseason and made 14 youth players eligible for S2, all of
which demonstrates an organizationwide commitment to developing players internally. “S2 continues to provide a pathway to the professional levels of our organization, and we are so pleased for these Academy players that now have this opportunity before them,” said Sounders FC Academy Director Marc Nicholls. “Each year we continue to strengthen this process, further solidifying the connection between our club’s Academy, USL side and first team.” In years past, S2 provided an opportunity for Academy standouts to build fitness and impress the coaching staff before heading to college. This year, the Academy and S2 coaching staffs worked closely together to compile a list of players deserving of involvement, and those prospects have trained regularly with the second team throughout preseason. Despite the small sample size, the composition of the 2017 roster is capable of some truly breathtaking attacking soccer. The Starting XI against Sacramento had an average age of 21.2 years, including 27-yearold goalkeeper Bryan Meredith, and featured four teenagers. And although they dropped the opener, the youthful side produced some beautiful, free-flowing sequences against the reigning Western Conference champions. With so many young, talented players with high ceilings on the roster, the 2017 USL season should provide supporters plenty of opportunities to watch an exciting brand of soccer from potential future stars of the first team.
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2017 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC PLAYERS NO. NAME
POS. HT. WT. D.O.B.
HOMETOWN
GK F M M D M M M M M F F D D F M M GK D F M M D D GK D F M F D M F M D D F
Woodbury, NJ Nacogdoches, TX Phoenix, AZ Gothenburg, Sweden Douala, Cameroon San Cristobal, Cub Pico Rivera, CA Soriano, Uraguay Paysandú, Uruguay Seattle, WA Seattle, WA Mercer Island, WA Riverside, CA Santa Barbara, CA St. Louis, MO Martinique Seattle, WA Altstaetten, Switz. Panama City, Panama Green Bay, Antigua Fife, WA Ft. Worth, TX Trinidad & Tobago Lititz, PA Scotch Plains, NJ Gonaives, Haiti Kapolei, HI Inglewood, CA Seattle, WA Copley, OH Panama City, Panama Fife, WA Kansas City, MO Portmore, Jamaica Yaounde, Cameroon Doula, Cameroon
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 21 23 24 29 30* 31* 32 33 34* 35 36* 37* 38* 71* 73* 77* 80** 88* 91 92* 99*
Tyler Miller Clint Dempsey Brad Evans Gustav Svensson Nouhou Tolo Osvaldo Alonso Cristian Roldan Alvaro Fernandez Nicolás Lodeiro Aaron Kovar Seyi Adekoya Jordan Morris Chad Marshall Tony Alfaro Will Bruin Jordy Delem Henry Wingo Stefan Frei Román Torres Javorn Stevens Lorenzo Ramos Zach Mathers Joevin Jones Brian Nana-Sinkam Bryan Meredith Denso Ulysse Shandon Hopeau Irvin Parra David Olsen Riley Grant Francisco Narbon Victor Mansaray Ray Saari Oniel Fisher Rodrigue Ele Felix Chenkam
*Signed to a S2 Contract ** Out on loan
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6-4 6-1 6-1 6-0 5-10 5-11 5-8 6-1 5-7 5-10 5-11 6-0 6-4 6-2 6-2 5-11 6-0 6-3 6-2 6-0 5-7 5-11 5-11 6-0 6-2 5-8 5-10 6-1 6-0 6-1 5-9 5-11 5-7 5-9 6-0 5-6
195 170 170 155 175 155 165 159 150 155 170 185 190 190 194 156 170 195 195 150 150 172 160 185 209 133 158 188 180 182 150 180 150 155 160 165
3/12/93 3/9/83 4/20/85 2/7/87 6/23/97 11/11/85 6/3/95 10/11/85 3/21/89 8/14/93 12/5/95 10/26/94 8/22/84 6/15/93 10/24/89 3/18/93 10/4/95 4/20/86 3/20/86 5/9/98 1/29/97 4/14/94 8/3/91 1/1/95 8/2/90 11/20/98 12/1/98 8/18/93 2/5/96 1/27/95 2/11/95 2/22/97 4/18/95 11/22/91 3/2/98 12/8/98
PREVIOUS CLUB
Northwestern (NCAA) Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) Columbus Guangzhou R&F (CHI) Sounders FC 2 (USL) Charleston (USL) Washington (NCAA) Chicago Boca Juniors (ARG) Stanford (NCAA) UCLA (NCAA) Stanford (NCAA) Columbus Cal State (NCAA) Houston Sounders FC 2 (USL) Washington (NCAA) Toronto FC Milionarios (COL) Hoppers FC (AG) Sounders FC Academy Sounders FC 2 (USL) Chicago Stanford (NCAA) San Jose Real Hope (HT) Sounders FC Academy FC Kaiserslautern (GER) Seattle (NCAA) Penn State (NCAA) FC Cincinnati Sounders FC Academy Tulsa (NCAA) New Mexico (NCAA) Rainbow FC Bamenda (CAM) Rainbow FC Bamenda (CAM)
2017 SOUNDERS FC 2 USL STATS POS Player
GP MIN G
A PTS SHT SOG FS
FC YC RC OG
D Brian Nana-Sinkam 1 90 1 0 2 1 1 3 3 0 0 0 F Irvin Parra
1 73 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0
GK Bryan Meredith
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F David Olsen
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0
D Ethan Lotenero
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
M Francisco Narbon 1 90 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 0 0 M Lorenzo Ramos
1 60 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
M Ray Saari
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0
D Riley Grant
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
M/D Sam Rogers
1 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
F Seyi Adekoya
1 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
M/F Shandon Hopeau 1 50 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 D Joe Hafferty
1 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
F Felix Chenkam
1 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Team totals
1 1 1 1 3 6 2 13 20 1 0 0
Opponent totals
1
1
2
2
6 28 9 20
13
2
0
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; YC/RC-cautions/ejections; OG-own goal
GOALKEEPER STATS POS Player
GP
MIN
GA
SV
SV%
GAA
W-L-D
SO
GK Bryan Meredith
1
90
2
7
.777
2.00
0-1-0
0
Team totals
1
90
2
7
.777
2.00
0-1-0
0
Opponent totals
1
90
1
2
.666
1.00
1-0-0
0
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2017 SOUNDERS FC 2 USL REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE DAY
DATE
OPPONENT
KICKOFF (PT)
Sun. March 26
Sacramento Republic FC
2:00 p.m.
Sun. April 2
Portland Timbers 2
2:00 p.m.
Sat.
April 8
at Whitecaps FC 2
3:00 p.m.
Sat.
April 15
at LA Galaxy II
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
April 22
Real Monarchs SLC
7:00 p.m.
Tues. April 25
San Antonio FC
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
April 29
at Switchbacks FC
7:00 p.m.
Fri.
May 5
Portland Timbers 2
7:00 p.m.
Sat.
May 13
at San Antonio FC
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
May 20
at Reno 1868 FC
5:30 p.m.
Sun. May 28
Sacramento Republic FC
2:00 p.m.
Sat.
June 3
LA Galaxy II
7:00 p.m.
Sat.
June 10
at Toros FC
7:30 p.m.
Mon. June 19
OKC Energy FC
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
June 24
at Orange County SC
5:00 p.m.
Sat.
July 1
at Whitecaps FC 2
3:00 p.m.
Sat.
July 8
at Real Monarchs SLC
7:00 p.m.
Sun. July 16
Orange County SC
2:00 p.m.
Thurs. July 20
Swope Park Rangers
7:30 p.m.
Sun.
July 23
at Sacramento Republic FC
8:00 p.m.
Sat.
July 29
at Switchbacks FC
7:00 p.m.
Sun. August 6
Toros FC
6:30 p.m.
Sun. August 13
Whitecaps FC 2
6:30 p.m.
Fri.
at Portland Timbers 2
7:30 p.m.
Wed. August 30
Tulsa Roughnecks FC
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
September 2
at Phoenix Rising FC
8:30 p.m.
Sat.
September 9
Reno 1868 FC
7:00 p.m.
Sat.
September 16
Switchbacks FC
7:00 p.m.
Wed. September 20
Phoenix Rising FC
7:30 p.m.
Sat.
at Tulsa Roughnecks FC
7:00 p.m.
Wed. October 11
at Swope Park Rangers
7:30 p.m.
Sun.
at OKC Energy FC
5:00 p.m.
August 18
October 7 October 15
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