Archives for February 2017

The Seattle Sounders played their second preseason, friendly/ scrimmage game Tuesday morning in Tucson, Ariz. The Sounders 1-0  scrimmage loss to the San Jose Earthquakes comes on the heels of Saturdays 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers.

The most important item for the Sounders in Saturday’s preseason game and Tuesday’s scrimmage was the participation of Clint Dempsey. No, I cannot explain why the Sounders play a full blown preseason game on Saturday then have a scrimmage three days later. You would think they would scrimmage then play a full stop preseason game the next time out . This is the MLS and anything goes. Oh yea, the MLS is experimenting with using video assistance replay during the preseason to help with game-changing referees decisions. More to come no doubt.

DEMPSEY HEALTH WATCH

Of all the offseason moves the Sounders made, the return of  Clint Dempsey to the practice field is the most important and at the same time the most unpredictable. The United States Men’s Soccers Team’s second all-time scorer was medically ruled out to participate in any soccer activities last September due to an irregular heartbeat.  Before the medical banishment, Dempsey had eight goals in 17 games. The task for the Sounders organization is to get Dempsey physically ready for the upcoming season without causing a medical setback. The return of a healthy Dempsey can go a long way in whether the Sounders accomplish their goal of repeating as MLS Champions.

NOTES

Dempsey played the whole first half in the scrimmage with  San Jose after playing 38th minutes in the friendly against  Portland.Center back Roman Torres played for the first time this preseason, starting the match and exiting at halftime, while Joevin Jones and Harry Shipp, had the match off. Both players started  Saturday’s scrimmage against Portland. Shipp is battling a knock on his ankle he sustained in the second half on Saturday.

Captain Osvaldo Alonso did not play for the second straight game as he continues to rest his knee. The Sounders featured three academy players and two Homegrown signings in the second half against San Jose. Sam Rogers, Jake Morris, Shandon Hopeau played with the first team along with recent signings Seyi Adekoya and Henry Wingo.

The Sounders will return to Seattle on Wednesday before traveling to Charleston, S.C., for the Carolina Challenge Cup from Feb. 18-25.

It was never going to be an easy task for the University of Washington Huskies (9-14 2-9 Pac 12) to upset the 11^th ranked UCLA Bruins (21-3, 8-3)  Saturday Night in front of a sell-out crowd at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The underachieving Huskies needed to come out focused and determined as soon as they stepped onto the court for pregame warmups. Yes, the task at hand needed that type of commitment, determination, and effort.

As has been the case too many times this season, the Huskies were not present too and aware of their monumental task at hand when the referee tossed the ball up to begin the game. The Bruins scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. The Huskies started the game with a turnover, a foul a missed two jump shots and gave up three rebounds before Freshman sensation Markele Fultz’s jumper put the Huskies on the board at 6-2.

While the Huskies were sleepwalking the 11^th ranked Bruins were focused and well aware of the mission at hand and promptly went on a 12-2 run that saw their lead balloon to 18-4 with 13:18 seconds to play in the first half.  Fultz’s team-high 12 first half points kept the game at a respectful blow out with the Bruins holding a 52 to 34 lead at the break. Faultz finished with a team-high 25 points.

The  Huskies looked like they had awoken from their slumber and were determined to put up a fight when Matisse Thybulle drained a three to begin the second half to cut the lead to 34 to 52. The shot was nothing but a tease as the Huskies continued their poor shooting effort and lackluster defensive effort that saw the Bruins go on an 11-3 run for a 63 to 40 lead that propelled the Bruins the easy win.The 40 point loss to the Huskies was the fourth worst in the program’s history.