TUKWILA, Wash. – Seattle Sounders FC 2 will open their second USL season against a familiar opponent at Starfire Sports on Friday (7:30 p.m. PT; Live Stream on SoundersFC.com), but that doesn’t mean it will be an easy task in the first meaningful game of the new year.
S2 will take on Sacramento Republic FC, the very same opponent they beat 4-2 in their inaugural match in 2015 at Starfire. S2 ultimately qualified for the postseason in their first season, thanks in large part to strong play at home.
“We showed last year that we’re a very hard team to beat at home,” said S2 head coach Ezra Hendrickson. “They came in as defending champions last year and we were able to get three points, so we’re looking forward to the same thing.”
Despite a positive result in their first contest, S2 were unable to claim any points from the then defending champs in their next two matches on the road, losing 3-0 in May and 2-0 in August. Hendrickson and company will have this in the back of their mind leading into tomorrow.
“Sacramento is always going to be a tough opponent for us; they’re a very good team.” Hendrickson said. “We expect a very good game.”
This year’s Sacramento team brings a much different challenge for S2 then they saw last year. New head coach Paul Buckle - who replaced former coach Predrag “Preki” Radosavljević after a sudden departure in the middle of last season - promises an attack-minded yet balanced squad in 2016.
Republic also lost leading goal-scorer Rodrigo Lopez in the offseason, however, and will be looking to third-year veteran Thomas Stewart to step up and fill the role. Stewart scored eight goals across all competitions last season and will likely present the biggest goal-scoring threat to S2 on Friday.
On the other side of the bench, forward Myron Samuel returns to S2 after signing a contract extension last Friday. Samuel made just one appearance for S2 last season before breaking his foot against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC but he still managed to score two goals and record one assist in his brief debut.
“[Samuel] is a talented player and a natural goal scorer,” Hendrickson said. “We see him as player who’s going to be on the first team sooner rather than later.”
With a year under their belt and new arsenal of young players, S2 will look to improve upon last year’s performance beginning this Friday in a match that Hendrickson believes will start them on the right foot.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to showcase some of young talent that we’ve brought into the squad,” he said. “I think the fans are going to have fun.”
