S2 prepare to play second preseason match

Saturday’s Sounders FC 2 practice was a much more trimmed down affair. With no Academy players present, the number of participants was down. Everyone who one would expect to be at practice was there, minus Sounders draft pick Kyle Bjornethun. All four tryout invitees still appear to be with the team and Alcides Thomas in particular was impressive during a short-sided scrimmage where he showed good first touch and the ability to keep the ball moving quickly. Irvin Parra also impressed during the scrimmage. Again posted up top, he continues to show good hold-up play and looks to be solidifying his potential as a true number 9 at the USL level.

After the scrimmage, which focused heavily on quick movement, as has been the theme, the team gathered to work on set pieces. The work was very detailed, with coaches offering instruction to seemingly every player. The standout during this drill was Brian Nana-Sinkam who, in contrast to last Sunday’s performance against SU, was commanding in the air and cleared away about half of the balls served in.

Hopefully Nana-Sinkam will be able to carry that dominance into tonight’s preseason match against the University of Portland. The Pilot’s are coming off of a resurgent 2016 (12-5-2) after two dismal seasons in 2014 (4-11-4) and 2015 (3-12-3). Portland should offer S2 a similar challenge to what they saw last week and it will be interesting to see if the goal continues to be player evaluation or if S2 comes out looking for some cohesion. The match kicks off at 7 PM under the lights at Starfire in Tukwila.