While Sounders FC didn’t pick up any points in its 1-0 loss at the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, many of the club’s young players gained MLS experience that could pay dividends later this season.
Four rookies were on the pitch together at one point for the Rave Green, and three players made their first career MLS starts: Jimmy Ockford, Oniel Fisher and Aaron Kovar. With over half of Seattle’s regular starters not participating in the match – partly due to injuries and partly due to it being the fourth competitive game in 12 days – many young players had a golden opportunity to show what they can do.
It was especially exciting for Ockford, who grew up about 30 miles north of Philadelphia and had tons of friends and family in attendance Wednesday night. Here’s what Ockford, Kovar and Schmid said in their post-match interviews.
Sigi Schmid:
“I thought they all did all right. I thought Oniel Fisher played well at outside back. We weren’t sure if [Ockford] could play 90 minutes – He’s been out for a month and played his first 60 minutes back last week. So he hasn’t really been in that groove, but I thought he did all right.”
“If you put a young player out there with a veteran player, it makes it easier on them. When you put young players next to each other, there are growing pains.”
Jimmy Ockford:
“It was amazing. The support was unreal here. I’m so happy that I could come back and get my first start here. …It’s cool because the SuperDraft was here, so [my family] got to see that. And then my first appearance was here, too. It couldn’t have been better.”
“Getting the first game out of the way was good. I felt a lot more comfortable as the game went on. So it’s good that I got it out of the way, and I’m looking forward to stepping on the pitch at CenturyLink Field.”
Aaron Kovar:
“It was a good opportunity tonight, but it’s an unfortunate result. I thought we really worked hard and battled. …I’ve just got to take every opportunity possible, and if I keep working hard, good things will happen.”
