Following a tough loss at home at the hands of Tulsa Roughnecks FC, Sounders FC 2 (6-4-2, 20 points) is back at Starfire Stadium to face LA Galaxy II (6-4-1, 19 points) for the first time in club history. Much will be on the line as the match will be a top-of-the-table clash as S2 and LA II sit in second and third place in the USL Western Conference.
Although the teams have never met, the two organizations are quite familiar with each other as a strong dislike between two of the best clubs in MLS will now extend to USL play.
S2 is 5-1-0 at home in 2015 (7-1-0 across all competitions), with its first loss coming last week against Tulsa. Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson chalks the 5-1 defeat up to an accumulation of minutes for the Rave Green team that has advanced through two rounds of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, requiring extra time in both matches to seal the victories.
"With all the games we have played and the emotions that have been involved in the matches, rilvary matches and overtime games, physically we just didn't have it against Tulsa, " said Hendrickson. "We started off brightly, knocking the ball around, but once they scored it took the wind out of us and we weren't able to get back into the game."
LA II comes to Seattle with a 6-4-1 record, winning six of its last seven USL matches. The team has played a bulk of its matches at home, and is 2-1-0 on the road.
LA II forward Jack McBean leads the USL in shots with 33, while Raul Mendiola leads the league with seven assists, and also has three goals on the season. Ariel Lassiter leads the team with four goals.
In the loss last week, S2 was missing many of its staples in the starting XI. Giuliano Frano has started in all but one game this season, while Andy Craven, Aaron Long and Pablo Rossi received a bulk of minutes as well. However, other well-known fixtures such as Damion Lowe, Oniel Fisher and Aaron Kovar were noticeably absent from the S2 lineup in the 5-1 loss against Tulsa Roughnecks. The average age of the roster was only 20 years old and included five current high school seniors and six Sounders FC Academy products.
Besides the Tulsa match, the mixture of players hadn’t seemed to affect the Rave Green play, however with two matches over the next six days, Hendrickson will likely lean on many of the younger players in one of the two matches.
S2 leads the Western Conference in goals, however LA II is tied for second for fewest goals allowed, achieving two shutouts with goalkeeper Clement Diop and one with Brian Rowe, who has played in net for LA First Team in its past three matches with Jaime Penedo on international duty.
The match will be live-streamed on SoundersFC.com, and tickets are still available here.
