On the eve of MLS Cup 2017, Lamar Neagle finds himself in uncharted territory in his professional career: his first MLS Cup appearance.
And while wearing Rave Green isn't unfamiliar to the Federal Way native — he's currently in his fourth stint with the Sounders — the thought of playing for the league championship with his hometown team is still settling in.
"[It's] a little surreal still," said Neagle following the team's final training session ahead of MLS Cup on Saturday (1 p.m. PT; ESPN, UniMás, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM). "If you would have told me last year when I was watching them in the championship here that I’d be in the same position this year it would have been crazy. I’ve only done this once and you don’t get that many times in your career, so I’m just trying to get a ring."
The Sounders acquired Neagle on Aug. 7 from D.C. United in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. The UNLV product appeared in eight matches during the regular season, contributing two goals in 88 minutes of play.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer continually references a special bond between the players and fans, and for Neagle, who was signed by the club halfway through its inaugural season in 2009, delivering a championship, a second MLS Cup, to the city of Seattle would be something special.
"I think ever since the inception of Seattle into MLS the fans have been amazing. Obviously, the support there is huge and so to reward them with a championship was massive last year, but then to be able to try and do that for two years in a row that a lot of MLS teams haven’t done is something amazing and something that we definitely want to bring back."
