Sounders Youth Fall In Rivalry Battle

The Sounders FC U18s lost and the U16s drew with Crossfire in a rugged battle at Crossfire Sunday.

The Sounders FC U18 and U16 teams were on the brink of scoring opportunities all day at Lake Washington High School in their battles with Redmond’s Crossfire Premier.  However, they could only muster one own-goal between the two of them and had to settle for an 0-1-1 day on Sunday.

The U18 team were the aggressors throughout the first match, taking the game to Crossfire for most of the 90 minutes.  However, two scrambles in the box led to goals for Crossfire and they took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

In the 11th minute, Crossfire got a corner kick into the box and the initial header was well-defended, however, they knocked in the loose ball to take the 1-0 lead.

In the 42nd minute, a ball was sent through the back of Seattle’s defense from the left side to a player waiting at the far post to poke it home to take the 2-0 advantage.

A game that had already been hard-fought went over the edge early in the second half when an off-the-ball scuffle led to two red card ejections, leaving the remaining 40 minutes a 10-on-10 battle.

However, the Sounders were unable to capitalize until the 82nd minute when Dominique Dismuke sent a cross into the box that was redirected into the net by a Crossfire defender for an own-goal, narrowing the deficit to 2-1.  The Sounders continued to press, but could not find the equalizer and left with a 2-1 defeat.  It was only their second loss in USSDA action, dropping their record to 9-2-3.

In the U16 meeting, it was another tight matchup, but neither team could gain an advantage.  The strong defense from goalkeeper Keenan Townsend and central defenders Ian Lange and Michael Gallagher kept Crossfire off the board and Seattle managed eight shots on goal of their own, but could not manage a goal and had to settle for the 0-0 draw.

Their record now sits at 9-2-3 with their next matches coming on the road this weekend against Real So Cal and Cosmos Academy West.  The two teams will return to Starfire February 5 and 6.