Player development is a pillar of the Sounders roster strategy and the Tacoma Defiance is a key part of that development pipeline. This is self-evident when looking at the first team roster where 11 players spent time at the second team. It is even more apparent when the club’s leadership is claiming it is where they are spending their resources.

“Look, our fourth Designated Player is our development system,” Sounders general manager Craig Waibel told Backheeled. “That’s where we choose to spend the money because it’s working.”

With this in mind and the 2026 Defiance season kicking off on Sunday, let’s look at who might be next in this successful talent pipeline.

Academy prospects

The club’s academy players are the most likely to use Defiance as a stepping stone to the first team given the club’s familiarity with their game and the investment that has already been put into their development. The unique aspect of academy players is there will be minutes played by players that are signed to Defiance contracts as well as un-signed promising prospects.

Signed

Edson Carli

Edson Carli is an 18-year-old versatile midfielder from Lake Forest Park who took his chance with Defiance last season. He played over 1,400 minutes and finished with three goals and three assists. 

His play last season stands out as his profile is different from what the academy has been known to develop. He has a “try shit” aspect to his game that captures attention and shows real creativity. 

The video below was shared in the announcement of his signing but it is worth sharing again because the creativity mentioned is evident at the 0:14 and 1:40 timestamps.

Omar Hassan

Omar Hassan is only 16 years old and is still figuring out how to be effective at the MLS Next Pro level given he is a bit undersized. However, he has one of the more impressive resumes at the youth level from a Sounders academy player with multiple appearances at the U15 and U16 levels and winning MVP of the U15 Vlatko Markovice tournament in 2024.

He looks to be a true winger who can use pace to get in behind and has shown some strong finishing ability. Due to his youth and size he is likely further away but this year should be telling as there is an expectation he increases his playing time substantially having only 500 minutes with the Defiance thus far.

Mohammed Shour

Shour is an 18 year old goalkeeper thus far has not gotten a ton of time at Defiance, even though he was signed back in 2023. Though that has started to change as over 500 of his 800 minutes was in 2025.

He has shown promise at the youth level, most notably being named MVP of the MLS Next All-Star game in 2023. Goalkeeper is traditionally a position that the club has let prospects go off to college so Shour getting signed as a teenager indicates a high upside, perhaps this is the year we see more of what he can do on the pitch.

Cris Batiz*

Batiz is an academy player announced alongside Carli, and he is getting a mention here because he is only 14 years old! He won’t get a ton of time this year and he is years away from any realistic first-team opportunities but if the club is signing a player at this age there has got to be something worth paying attention to.

Un-signed

Gallatin Sandnes

Gallatin Sandnes is not signed to the Defiance but has gotten minutes at this level in both 2024 and 2025. For a 17-year-old to already be approaching 1,000 minutes without a professional contract shows the club's development staff likes what they see. That admiration is shared by Brian Schmetzer and the first team coaching staff as he was brought to preseason this offseason as one of two academy players.

He plays as a center back and even at his age already has impressive size and physicality. It looks as if this position might be crowded but it would not be surprising if Sandnes gets even more opportunity this season, potentially even a professional contract.

Noah Newman

Newman is another 18 year old goalkeeper that got an opportunity with Defiance at the end of last season, making 4 appearances and earning a clean sheet. While the team still conceded 6 goals across those appearances, Newman turned heads with some outstanding saves.

He is an interesting contrast to Shour as currently he has signed with the University of Washington for the Fall of 2026. It will be worth keeping an eye out to see if he gets any additional Defiance playing time before the college season starts and if those performances have any impact on his decision later this year.

Investment players

The club has also been using Defiance as a place to see interesting young players that may not yet have the resume to justify signing to the first team immediately. Recently that has even included transfer fees, such as Georgi Minoungou being acquired from MFK Vyškov. 

This offseason we have also seen a few players brought to Defiance through transfer fees (undisclosed) which indicates that the club likely sees them as having first team potential.

Mark Bronnik

One of the most interesting signings for Defiance is Mark Bronnik who is a 19-year-old attacker that won the 2025 USL League One Young Player of the Year with Union Omaha. Sounder at Heart’s Tim Foss has an excellent story about how exciting he could be this season but he is not the only one lauding this move.

John Morrissey of The USL Show which is the self described “biggest podcast in the world dedicated to the United Soccer League” shares some eye-popping stats that indicates a really goal dangerous player joining the team this year.

Xavi Gnaulati

Another signing from the USL pyramid is 20-year-old Xavi Gnaulati from Monterey Bay FC. In 2025 he finished with five goals and two assists in about 1,400 minutes.

Since he comes from the USL, John was again providing valuable insight into what might be expected with the Defiance.

With so many of our central midfielders having moved on to other opportunities in the last couple seasons, the club may be looking at Xavi as a player that has the potential to restore depth at the position.

Codey Phoenix

The final player acquired with a transfer fee this offseason is 20-year-old New Zealand youth international left back Codey Phoenix. This signing is exciting given the international experience he has already, having played at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup where he got an assist.

This signing also got even more interesting after the transfer of Reed Baker-Whiting as there is only one true left back on the first team roster. If Codey can show enough quality he has potentially the clearest path toward the next level at the club. 

Second chance

Defiance has also been a place for players who may be looking for a shot to restart their career. The most notable examples would be local players Ragen and Rothrock and when looking at the roster this year, there are a couple of ex-academy players that fit a similar mold.

Peter Kingston

Peter Kingston was a Sounders academy player who went off to college, playing with Seattle University from 2021-2023, then finishing his collegiate career at University of Washington. During that time he also made 50 appearances with Ballard FC.

However, from what can be gathered it didn’t appear he had many professional opportunities and thus came to Defiance at the beginning of last season. He proved himself an intriguing central midfielder who played over 2,600 minutes and finished with two goals and six assists.

This has been noticed by the first team as he made a first team appearance last season in a win over Real Salt Lake and joined the first team in preseason. Similar to Gnaulati, Kingston has a chance to restock the depth at central midfield.

Antino Lopez

Antino (Tino) Lopez was drafted by the Sounders in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, alongside current first teamer Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. He is another former academy product who the club gave brought back for after a successful college career at Duke.

He struggled a bit with injuries last season but the club still seems to hold him in high regard as he also made his first team debut alongside Kingston against Real Salt Lake and was brought to preseason. He was also a short term call up for the home opener, though he didn’t get on the field.

The first team is showing that Lopez has a chance to claim a spot and this Defiance season may be the time he grabs that opportunity.