Sounders Academies Transition to 2011-12 Season

by sidereal on Jul 28, 2011 6:00 AM PDT in Sounders: Academy, U23 PDL and Reserves

It was only 11 days ago that the Sounders U16 team finished 5th in the country at the US Soccer Development Academy Finals and only a couple of weeks before that the Sounders U18s were eliminated from the Playoff groups in Frisco, Texas. But the Sounders Academy didn't get much of a break before preparation for the new season began.

On July 21 (last Thursday) Seattle conducted trials for next season's U18 team and the next day the roster was announced. It should be a pretty familiar team. Of the 25 players, 5 are players returning from this season's U18 team who are still eligible and haven't gone off to college. That's supersub Dom Dismuke and key player Aaron Kovar along with three players who were primarily subs last season: Kurtis Pederson, Justin Solomon, and Travis Strawn. The other U18 players have mostly moved on to the college game, notably including DeAndre Yedlin who'll play for Caleb Porter at Akron as well as Ryan Herman to Santa Clara and Sean Okoli to Wake Forest. There are also some players staying closer to home, including Drew White to UW, Evan Robicheau to SPU, and Jeremy Wentzel to Shoreline. Chase Hanson and Darwin Jones are the only players I wasn't able to find future plans for. Jones in particular would be one to keep track of since he's been a pretty dynamic and prolific scorer as a youth player.

The bulk of the new U18 roster will be made up of players who played for the U16s last season. There are 14 graduated players in all and the list includes every player that had at least 10 starts for the U16s last season except for Michael Steele (who had 13 starts, but hasn't graduated. It's possible he still has U16 eligibility as he's on the U17 GA Cup roster). Graduated players to keep an eye on include Keenan Townsend — who was an excellent keeper for the U16s and is likely to take over that position for the U18s — and Jesse Klug, who led the team in scoring with 14 goals in the regular season.

The remaining 6 spots on the new U-18 roster are taken up by these newcomers:

Austin Curtis - Moved from Colorado this season to play for Bonney Lake HS. The Tacoma News Tribune says he's already the school's best player. May have already been in the Sounders system as a midseason 'transfer' though I don't think he appeared for the team.
Jordan Kollars - Plays for Central Kitsap HS and made the All-Narrows Second Team as a midfielder. Helped lead the Wolves to another state tournament appearance. Probably a lot of ferry rides in his future.

The next three players all moved into the Sounders system from cross-lake rivals Washington Crossfire

Josh Gehrke - Plays for Seattle Christian HS and was MVP of the Nisqually League this season. Started 16 games for the Crossfire U16s last season as a defender.
Jimmy Oganga - Kenyan exchange student and Thomas Jefferson HS player played for the Crossfire U18s last season and the U16s the season before (and even scored a goal playing up for the U18s that propelled them to the national championship game in 2010). Fast midfielder most likely a winger in Sigi's system.
Sawyer Preston - Midfielder started 10 games for the Crossfire last season and was KingCo All League Second Team for Eastlake HS.

And finally, a player that might have the most upside of the incoming class:

Mikhail Doholis - Vancouver (WA) forward played club soccer for Eastside United in the Portland suburbs and scored the goal that won Eastside the USYS national championship in 2010. Was a resident at the US Soccer Bradenton Academy in Spring of 2010. Played for Union HS in Vancouver and helped lead the Titans to a league championship and made the GSHL All-League first team.

On Monday the U-17s (which is made up mostly of this season's U16 team) started play in the GA Cup and they lost their first match 0-1 to the Philadelphia Union. Tuesday was match 2 and the Sounders had a thrilling comeback fall short as the scored on the last kick of the game to tie Sporting KC 2-2, but ended up losing in penalties. Their last group match is against FC Dallas today.

Finally, Wednesday the 'pre-academy' (which are basically U-15s and are likely to make up the bulk of the U-16 team next season) team played their first match and beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0. Their next match is against the LA Galaxy, who took home the U-16 championship this season.

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Cool to see a Central Kitsap player on there.

Go Cougs!

"The fans are excited. And the stadium, well, it ignites with explosion."

by DarthGreedo on Jul 28, 2011 8:03 AM PDT reply actions

To add

Michael Gallagher is the real deal. I don’t get why he’s not getting YNT call ins but the Sounders/UW convincing him to stay in Seattle is huge so they can keep an eye on him. He’ll be the starting CB at some point in the future, mark my words.

Ryan Herman apparently has a partial Achilles tear. Not good news, but at least it’s not a full blown Achilles.

Darwin Jones is attending Oregon State, but, if I were a betting man, he’s the first homegrown player signed.

by TheTank123 on Jul 28, 2011 8:17 AM PDT reply actions

Paden to OSU as well

by TheTank123 on Jul 28, 2011 8:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for the Jones info

Updated my spreadsheet. Brockway (starting CB for the U18s) is also going there. Big Sounders presence for the Beavers.

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Jul 28, 2011 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions

You're 100% right

Forgot about him. If i think of any more I will post.

by TheTank123 on Jul 28, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Do you mean Darwin Jones is first from this class to sign?

I would think there would be a signing or two from the older kids that no longer are U-18.

"The fans are excited. And the stadium, well, it ignites with explosion."

by DarthGreedo on Jul 28, 2011 9:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Not sure what you mean

He is literally the oldest age possible to still have been associated with the Academy last year. U18’s this year are 93/94, he was born in 92 making him too old to play for the Academy but still eligible to be signed as a homegrown.

by TheTank123 on Jul 28, 2011 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm not really sure what i mean either.

I’m not too familiar with the system. I thought you were talking about players also on the new u18 team. I didn’t realize you were talking about players from the past year. My mistake.

"The fans are excited. And the stadium, well, it ignites with explosion."

by DarthGreedo on Jul 28, 2011 10:02 AM PDT up reply actions

I obviously didn't read before the jump very well as this is all explained up there.

This is what happens when i try to comment on something i know nothing about first thing in the morning. Ouch.

"The fans are excited. And the stadium, well, it ignites with explosion."

by DarthGreedo on Jul 28, 2011 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions

LOL no problem

The HGP system is ridiculously convoluted.

by TheTank123 on Jul 28, 2011 10:06 AM PDT up reply actions

Because I know very little about the Academy process

How did we end up getting Mikhail Doholis? Vancouver is clearly closer to Portland than us.

I thought that each team had first rights to players within a 150-mile radius of their city, or something like that. Did Portland pass on him, or is there something else I’m missing here?

"It's scintillating, it's sensational, it's Seattle Sounders FC soccer."

by LoiteringWithIntent on Jul 28, 2011 9:34 AM PDT reply actions

Very good question

Just a quick check on Google maps shows that Vancouver is 165 miles away on I-5. So, it might not even be in our catchment area. I believe the academy teams are allowed 2 players outside their catchment area. Perhaps making Doholis one of those two allows the Sounders to swipe a kid in another team’s catchment area? I don’t know.

by Dizzo on Jul 28, 2011 9:41 AM PDT up reply actions