North Sound SeaWolves News Release -- www.seawolvesfc.com
Friday, June 29, 2012
EDMONDS, Wash. — The North Sound SeaWolves will conclude their 2012 home schedule with a 7:30 p.m. PT matchup Friday against the Sounders FC U23 at Edmonds Stadium.
North Sound will finish its regular season with four road games in July. Fans unable to attend Friday’s match can follow along live at www.seawolvesfc.com.
“It’s a good way to end our home schedule, playing against one of our MLS teams, which will be fun for the fans to see,” SeaWolves coach Alex Silva said. “They’re a good team and it will be a good experience for our young players to see how they match up.”
The SeaWolves are 4-7 and in a tie for sixth place in the PDL's Northwest Division. They’ve lost four of their last five, including a 3-0 road defeat against the Sounders on June 10. Seattle is 6-2-3 and in fourth place in the division. The Sounders have won four of their last five, including three by shutout.
“They have a lot of experienced players, guys who have played at a very high level,” Silva said. “And they’re playing very well right now so it will be a good challenge.”
The SeaWolves have scored seven goals in their past four games and offensively are generating plenty of chances. The defense, though, has allowed 15 goals in their past five matches as Silva has continued to try to find the right combinations to put in the back to join stalwart Kevin Cook. Offensively, Abdul Aman leads the team with five goals while Brady Ballew and Quinton Beasley each have three. North Sound gets Marshall Kosaka back Friday after the midfielder sat out the previous match due to yellow card accumulation.
The Sounders are led by midfielder Fernando Monge, who led UCLA to the national semifinals last fall and has five goals this summer. Midfielder Aodhan Quinn has four goals and three assists and Sean Morris, a 2011 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft pick by the Sounders, has three goals. Morris has also played with the Sounders Reserves this season. Sean Okoli, who played for the United States U-18 National Team, also has three goals.
The defense is anchored by keeper Doug Herrick, who has 50 saves in 10 games. Herrick was picked by the Portland Timbers in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft after a record-setting career at St. Mary’s University. In front of him are defender Anthony Arena, a member of the US U-18 and U-20 national teams, and Mark Lee, who helped the Kitsap Pumas to the PDL championship in 2011.
In the previous meeting with the Sounders, the SeaWolves were without several key starters including Kosaka and Cook, so Silva is looking forward to having his full team this time.
“We were short-handed and it showed,” Silva said. “This time we should be in better shape and will be able to put together a great game to thank our fans for their support this season.”