If you take the USL regular season schedule, pepper in a pair of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches, and add a road trip to top it off, you’ll see the last two weeks for Sounders FC 2. However, the team is taking the extra matches in stride and putting in overtime (quite literally) to get results.
Tomorrow night, S2 is on the road again to face Orange County Blues FC in Irvine, California. The two teams battled at the beginning of the month at Starfire, and S2 left the heated match with a 2-1 win with goals from Sam Garza and Pablo Rossi. The Rave Green secured its first win on the road last Friday against Timbers 2, and will hope to repeat their success in Irvine.
OC Blues FC sits in third place in the USL Western Conference with a 5-3-0 record, with two of its losses coming at home. The Southern California team has allowed only seven goals this season, which is tied for the second-fewest in all of USL. Blues goalkeeper Pepé Miranda holds the second-lowest goals-against average and the second highest save percentage. He has recorded three shutouts so far this season.
Having played 120 minutes on Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round, S2 is going to need to recover quickly to face the staunch OC Blues FC defense. However, scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for Seattle, who has only been shut out one time in 10 games.
“These guys find something in the tank every time they go out,” said S2 Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson following S2’s win against T2 in the Open Cup. “Orange County is a good team, and we have played a lot of minutes, but these guys are fighters and we are ready to go and get more points on the road.”
Giuliano Frano, Damion Lowe, Nick Miele, Aaron Long, Sérgio Mota and Pablo Rossi all went the full 120 minutes on Wednesday, and Frano, Lowe, Sérgio and Long played the full 90 on Friday.
S2 is currently first place in the USL Western Conference, and three points on the road in Irvine would put the club over the 20-point mark, joining the undefeated Rochester Rhinos at 22 points.
Saturday’s match will be live-streamed on SoundersFC.com.
