SEATTLE – Seattle’s youth movement began in earnest Sunday night. Looking to break a three-match losing streak, coach Sigi Schmid went young against FC Dallas, dropping veterans Pat Noonan, Pete Vagenas, Tyrone Marshall and Freddie Ljungberg (on the injury report with an injured left ankle) to the bench.
In the end, Seattle’s bug-a-boo of conceding late goals but the team once again, as David Ferreira’s late strike effectively took two points away from Seattle in the standings. Despite the disappointing 1-1 draw, Schmid was happy with his team’s performance and especially its effort – a quality the coach thinks was in short supply in recent MLS matches.
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“I thought we put the right team out on the field,” Schmid told reporters. “We came out with a lot of energy and in the first half we scored a good goal.
The team was the Seattle’s youngest this season by a wide margin. The exclusions of the veterans brought the average age of the starters down by four years, from an average age of 29.2 years against the Los Angeles Galaxy one week previous to 25.8 years Sunday night. Aside from 40-year-old ‘keeper Kasey Keller, the average age of the 10 field players was 24.4 years.
Leading the line of newcomers were Miguel Montano (19 years old), Michael Seamon (21) and Nathan Sturgis (23). With those three playing alongside second-year player Steve Zakuani (22) in midfield, Seattle played with more energy.
“I think that helped up because everyone was excited and we just wanted to come out with energy,” Zakuani said.
The younger legs and the different formation appeared to make a difference. But FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman made adjustments at halftime to negate Seattle’s first-half advantages, primarily spreading the field more to unclog passing lanes.
The adjustments seemed to work, and FCD were especially aided when Montano was sent off for violent conduct for lashing out at Brek Shea in the 56th minute. According to Schmid, the red card changed the match.
“I don’t know if you want to call it blowing a late lead when you’re playing a man down, but I think we could have defended the play a little bit better,” Schmid said. “I think if we would have had 11 men on the field, I’m very confident we would have won the game tonight.”
Facing a short turnaround before a Thursday night match at D.C. United, Schmid indicated that a similar lineup could take the field in four days’ time. While disappointed with the draw, most of the Sounders chalked up the late goal to the red card.
Even so, Seattle defender James Riley he thinks he and his teammates have set the tone for the rest of the season with tonight’s performance.
“We don't really want to sit back anymore,” Riley said. “We kind of want to set the precedent and win battles early in the game so we can get chances that way. I thought we did that today.”
