TUKWILA, Wash. – Seattle Sounders FC 2 fell to San Antonio FC 0-3 on Sunday night at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila. The loss is S2’s third in a row at home to begin the 2016 USL season.
S2 went toe-to-toe with San Antonio FC on attempted shots generating 11 to their 12 but were only able to put five on target to SA’s eight. Finishing has been a chronic issue all season for S2 stretching back to the pre-season, but head coach Ezra Hendrickson thinks they have a much bigger problem on their hands.
“First and foremost, it’s their mentality.” Said Hendrickson after the match. “We’re at home, on our pitch and we’re getting pushed around. We’re just getting bullied right now, and yes we have younger guys, it’s a young team, but you’ve still got to man up.”
In 2015, S2 went unbeaten at home until June 5 and didn’t lose their third at home until the second to last match of the season on September 11.
“I think we have to have more energy as a team,” said midfielder Zach Mathers. “We’re letting teams go over us in the first 20, 25 minutes and it’s setting the tone for the rest of the game. We need to work this week on getting our energy levels up for the first 25 minutes of the game.”
Mathers, one of the bright spots in tonight’s match, challenged San Antonio goalkeeper and former Sounder Josh Ford several times throughout the match, putting three shots on target.
In the 21st minute, Mathers beat a defender in the midfield and unleashed a shot from the top of the box that Ford was able to smother. In the 40th minute, forwards Myron Samuel and Andy Craven combined seamlessly to set up a Mathers strike that forced Ford into a diving save.
After a challenging three match run in 10 days, S2 will have a moment to breathe as their next fixture is slated for April 12 (7:30 p.m. PT) at Starfire Stadium.
“I’m always itching to come back,” said Mathers. ”But it’ll be nice for guys to get off their legs for a little bit. We have to regroup as a team and figure out what’s going wrong.”
Hendrickson agreed, but insisted that the team's mindset needs to change before his squad sees results. "We’re going to make winners out of these guys," he said.
"We need more fight in the team."
