RENTON — Saturday’s match against Real Salt Lake will be the latest and maybe biggest test of the depth that the Seattle Sounders have built this season. Missing 11 outfield players through a mix of injury, international duty and suspension, Brian Schmetzer and his staff will likely have to reach all the way to the end of the roster and beyond.
The next-man-up ethos that the club espouses has been put to the test time and time again this season. Down to 13 outfield players available, the Sounders will be able to make use of extreme hardship call-ups from the Tacoma Defiance roster, and it’s no real coincidence that the three players they’ll call up will be chosen from a group of four players who have come up through Seattle’s academy before reaching MLS Next Pro with Defiance.
Leo Burney, Sebastian Gomez, Peter Kingston and Antino Lopez are the four players vying for that call-up, with the final decision likely coming down to the two centerbacks Burney and Lopez competing for a spot on the game day roster. Whichever three players get the nod, they’ll join a roster that already features plenty of players who have followed a very similar path to eventually make a permanent home with the first team for themselves. The Starting XI will likely include Danny Leyva, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock, all of whom at least spent time with Defiance before signing an MLS contract with the Sounders. Osaze De Rosario, Stuart Hawkins, and Andrew Thomas will all be on the roster against RSL, and have also used Defiance as a part of their path to the first team, and even Alex Roldan used Seattle’s second team as a foot hold if not a stepping stone on his climb to being a key piece for the Sounders.
Five of the players unavailable for this game due to international duty all made their way through Tacoma Defiance, the lone exclusion from that group being Cristian Roldan, a testament to the heights players in this pathway can reach. It’s no guarantee that any of the players called up for this game will see the field, but if people within the organization like Wade Webber are right it will be far from our only chance to see these guys in Rave Green. Alongside Hawkins, Leyva, and other promising younger players with an opportunity for increased minutes ahead of them, this game could provide a small glimpse of the Sounders of the next couple years.
Yeimar and Kim Kee-hee won’t be around forever, and someone will need to step forward and make the spot next to Jackson Ragen their own. There’s every reason that one of Burney, Hawkins or Lopez. Sebastian Gomez has already proven himself to be a smart and skillful player at the MLSNP level with abilities that should translate well to the next level. Peter Kingston follows a long line of utility players who have matriculated to the Sounders from Seattle’s premier universities — Kingston played at both Seattle University and the University of Washington between his time in the Sounders academy and signing with Defiance — with set piece service that could make him a serious threat. Danny Leyva should have a serious chance to make a case for himself to have a larger role when Obed Vargas eventually departs. The list goes on.
Even beyond the team’s Defiance graduates, the attack on Saturday will almost certainly feature Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Morris and Pedro de la Vega, a trio that could conceivably be Seattle’s three Designated Players when the 2027 season begins.
With Seattle’s playoff position all but locked-in, there’s not a ton to play for from a Sounders perspective beyond getting a bit of rhythm and momentum going. That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to watch for from a fan point of view. Against RSL we’ll get a good look at some players of the present who could be poised for a much larger role down the road.
No drop
Despite missing all those players, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said he was very pleased with the level they maintained at training this week.
“The Defiance the whole youth organization at this club have done a really good job,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said on Friday. “Top to bottom, there’s lots of people who have pitched in, but it’s also the players themselves. The players come here, they get to work out with teh team in different parts of the year. They understand what we expect. The understand it’s a little more more pressure that what they’re used to, but they enjoy it. They always give maximum effort.”
Pedro de la Vega injury update
Pedro de la Vega was able to get through the full week of training without much issue, but Schmetzer noted that the winger will likely be dealing with some level of pain from his tendinitis for the foreseeable future. Asked to give an update, Schmetzer said “It’s not getting any worse.”
Banner unveiling
The Sounders will unveil their Leagues Cup championship banner on Saturday where it will join other banners that celebrate the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, two MLS Cups, four U.S. Open Cups, a Supporters’ Shield and four titles from the A-League/USL era.
“It never gets old,” Schmetzer said. “It’s a reward for the work that the guys did in that tournament. It’s a reward for fans for supporting the team. We’d like to have as many people there as we can.”
