MLS Round-Up
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Zach Scott and Alex Caskey took different routes to being members of the Seattle Sounders FC, but Saturday proved to be a memorable day for both. Scott, a member of the Sounders when they played in the USL First Division who moved up with the club when it joined MLS in 2009, scored his first goal in MLS, while Caskey, who was making his first start for the club since joining them this offseason from the Charleston Battery, earned his first assist, providing the corner kick that led to Scott’s goal.
Scott originally joined the Sounders in 2002, and made 154 appearances for the club in the USL First Division, scoring eight goals. Saturday, though, was the first time the 31-year-old found the back of the net in the top flight of North American soccer.
“My wife and mom have been on my case lately about putting one of those away," Scott told the Seattle Times. "Hopefully I made them proud.”
For the record, Scott last scored for the Sounders on May 14, 2008 in a 1-1 draw against the Rochester Rhinos at the Starfire Soccer Complex during their last season in the USL First Division, and while he wasn’t named to the MLS Team of the Week, he did finish on top of the MLS Castrol Weekly Top 20 thanks not only to his goal, but also his dominant performance defensively.
For Caskey, the ascent up the depth chart has been quickened by injuries, but the former Battery man, who made 22 appearances for the club last year, has impressed since his return to the Pacific Northwest. A 2011 MLS SuperDraft selection by the Sounders, he joined the Battery to help adjust to the speed of the professional game, and that has paid off handsomely this spring.
While Scott and Caskey were achieving career-firsts, Chivas USA’s Dan Kennedy was continuing to build his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the league. The former Orange County Blue Star standout put together another brilliant performance to lead the Goats to a 1-0 victory on the road against Toronto FC, earning MLS Player of the Week honors in the process.
Kennedy made 26 appearances for Orange County in 2003-04, and was then named Rookie of the Year in the USL First Division in 2005 before heading to Chile to play for Municipal Iquique. Upon his return to the U.S. to join CD Chivas USA, the club that had selected him in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, he had to wait his turn to lock down the starting slot, backing-up Brad Guzan and Zach Thornton, but when his opportunity came last season he grabbed it with both hands, earning the club’s Player of the Year Award.
Elsewhere, Kennedy was joined on Major League Soccer’s Team of the Week by Osvaldo Alondo, with the former Charleston Battery standout making his third appearance of the season on the weekly list. As he had the week before against Dwayne De Rosario, Alonso’s tenacity in midfield caused the Colorado Rapids’ attack to repeatedly founder in the Sounders’ 1-0 win.