TUKWILA, Wash. – It was a tough night on Sunday for Seattle Sounders FC 2, who struggled to get much going offensively in a 2-0 loss to visiting Swope Park Rangers at Starfire Stadium. S2 managed just two shots on goal to Swope Park's eight and the hosts found difficulty connecting passes through the middle in their first loss in three games.
“That was a very poor performance by us,” said head coach Ezra Hendrickson. “That was not Sounders soccer; that’s not the way we play.”
Both Rangers goals came in the second half after a tightly contested first 45 minutes. The first came in the 65th minute from forward Kris Tyrpak, who weaved his way brilliantly through two S2 defenders and drove a fine left-footed strike into the bottom right corner past goalkeeper Charlie Lyon.
“It was a counter attack and we got caught spread out I think,” defender Michael Nelson said. “That’s just something we’ve got to look at it in film and get better at.”
Said Henrickson: “A very unfortunate near post goal. As a coach, I never like to see goals scored like that.”
The second goal came late in the 88th minute, as S2 were chasing the game. A deflected clearance from defender Devon Fisher fell to forward Mark Anthony Gonzalez, who took a touch off his chest before slipping it into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area.
The result comes at a particularly unfortunate time for S2, who are now at the halfway point of the season. After just coming off of two big consecutive victories against Cascadia rivals, S2 had lifted themselves out of the bottom of the Western Conference and seemed to be hitting their stride. Then they ran into the new affiliate of MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
“It hurts; we felt like we were building momentum,” Nelson told reporters. “We felt like we were getting a rhythm and working our way up the table so this is a setback.”
It’s a hard pill to swallow for S2, but Hendrickson and his team are determined not to let it crush their season. With a difficult fixture coming up in Sacramento on Saturday, it’s back to the training ground to right the ship.
“We have to remain confident and just get better,” said Hendrickson. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board. We have a big game this weekend so we’re going to address it.”
