Editor's Note: SoundersFC.com is counting down the Top 10 Stories of the Year in December, recognizing the top storylines on and off the field in 2015. In the latest installment, Branden Griffith looks back at the debut season for S2, the club's new USL affiliate.
Corralling a long ball out of the backfield lobbed forward by Damion Lowe, Andy Craven shoved, spun and got just free enough to lift his leg to meet the bouncing ball. As his lofted shot found the back of the net over the diving Sacramento Republic FC goalkeeper, Craven cemented himself in Sounders FC history as the first-ever goalscorer for Sounders FC 2.
Craven’s goal may be remembered most as S2’s first tally, but it ushered in a new era of Sounders FC development which saw more than 30 players don the Rave Green in USL in 2015 and gave professional playing time to 10 players from the Sounders FC Academy.
Just over a year later, it’s clear S2 is solidifying itself as the missing piece in the development pipeline under Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson.
Fans not only got a glimpse of Craven - became the first S2 player to sign a first team contract in club history - but also of Oalex Anderson, a promising striker out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines who will get invited to the first team’s preseason next year.
“I would say that if there are three or four guys we feel like we can bring into preseason from S2, the club is doing its job,” said Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey.
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Staying in stride with its big brothers in MLS, S2 carried on the tradition of reaching the postseason in its inaugural season as well as advancing to the U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round against MLS’s Real Salt Lake.
Moving into the new season, S2 remains a big part of Lagerwey, Hendrickson and the rest of the technical staff’s plans moving forward. So far, the club has announced three open tryout events and two new academy partnerships across the country with a focus on cultivating the best talent in close quarters with the First Team.
The pipeline is starting to flow in Seattle, and the performance in 2015 showed a lot to be excited for in the new year.
