There's a lot going on among the various Sounders teams. Here's a quick update on what's happening with some of the less-covered squads.
Sounders Women - Despite not having the national team players, on Sunday the Sounders beat the LA Strikers 4-0 The scoreline is not flattery, as they completely dominated every aspect of the match. Three of those goals were scored by Husky alumna and Mexico national team player Veronica Perez, who's been given a free role in the midfield and is evidently enjoying it.
The win means the Sounders are undefeated in 6 matches, but amazingly they don't lead the division. The Pali Blues have won every one of their 7 matches and have a +18 GD. The first clash of the titans occurs this Wednesday at 7 when the Blues visit Starfire. Unfortunately, that coincides with the senior Sounders match against Sporting Kansas City, but if you can't make it to CenturyLink, the game in Tukwila has the potential to be epic. There may even be some of the national teamers if they can recover from the jet lag after leaving Sweden today.
Speaking of that, the Sounders on the national team represented well as the US Women beat Sweden and their nemesis Japan in a pair of friendlies. Alex Morgan scored 3 goals in the two matches, keeping her on an absurd goal per game pace, though she has a long ways to go to catch up to Mia Hamm's 158 or Abby Wambach's 138 (and climbing). Here's video of the sledgehammer she scored against Japan in the first minute of the match. Hope Solo held the two opponents to two goals total and Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux were also on the field.
Sounders U23 - In their first year of existence the U23s are remaining competitive in a very tough Northwest Division that includes the last two PDL national champions after the Kitsap Pumas won it last year and the Portland Timbers U23s the season before. The top of the division is tightly packed, with the currently leading Pumas only 4 points ahead of the Sounders in 4th, who are behind the Timbers and the cross-town Washington Crossfire. A number of Sounders Academy graduates are on the roster, including DeAndre Yedlin, Ryan Herman, Brandon Brockway, Darwin Jones, Jamael Cox, and Sean Okoli.
Their last match was a loss at Kitsap (where a win would have put them at the top of the division) and their next is this Friday at the Timbers.
Academy - The U18s missed out on the Academy playoffs, finishing in third when the top two advance. But the U16s advanced comfortably behind only the Whitecaps in their division. Today, their playoff group was drawn and it includes some tough teams. The full group is Seattle, the Chicago Fire, Real Salt Lake AZ, and the Clearwater Chargers out of Florida. Both RSL and Chicago had a higher overall PPG than Seattle, and advancing out of the group would be a big accomplishment. The matches start Monday, June 25.