Considering the state of their roster, the depleted Seattle Sounders defended reasonably well in Wednesday night’s 1-0 road loss to the Philadelphia Union.
But in the end, the absence of the Sounders' top three forwards proved to be too much for the club to overcome, as Seattle were unable to get any offensive traction going before falling to the Union courtesy of a 69th-minute tally off the head of CJ Sapong.
After the game, Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said he felt that his team was in a good position to salvage a result considering the circumstances.
Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans all missed Wednesday’s contest, forcing Schmid to turn to as youth-heavy a lineup as he’s had to field all season. Center back Jimmy Ockford, right back Oniel Fisher and midfielder Aaron Kovar all made their first career MLS starts on Wednesday, while Homegrown rookie striker Darwin Jones saw minutes as a second-half substitute as well.
“There were four guys, where if you added it up, all four guys only had about 200 minutes in the league,” Schmid said. “There was a lot of youth out there. ... When you add it all up, it’s a significant group of players [the team is missing].”
The Sounders kept the game competitive throughout, thanks in large part to some more heroic goalkeeping from Stefan Frei, who denied Philadelphia a first-half lead with a diving save on a Maurice Edu penalty kick.
“It’s been a tough stretch for us,” Frei said. “That said, I think we came out strong and competed for 90 minutes, which is a great sign, I think a great learning experience for us. Especially with some of the young guys getting the start, which is great. I think that’s going to go a long way for us.
“We just have to take the positives out and move on.”
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Ockford, a Yardley, Pennsylvania, native who made his first start in front of a group of family and friends, said that having the first-game jitters out of the way should keep him ready should he need to continue to provide first-team depth at center back in the future.
“Definitely getting the first game out of the way is good,” Ockford said. “I definitely felt a lot more comfortable as the game went on. It’s good to get that out of the way and I’m looking forward to stepping on the field at CenturyLink.”
Although the play of the reserve defenders can be considered encouraging, the goal-starved Sounders still have to find some source of offensive production going forward -- an issue that won’t be easily resolved without their superstar duo of Dempsey and Martins to command attention from opposing defenses.
“Lamar Neagle has been a dangerous player for us when he’s been on the field with Dempsey and Martins,” Schmid said. “But now, when he has to lead the frontline and there’s not those other guys to take pressure off him it’s a little more difficult for him.”
