TUCSON, ARIZ. – Sounders FC kicked-off its run in the 2015 Desert Diamond Cup in style on Wednesday night, as Sigi Schmid’s side ran out to 4-0 first-half lead over host FC Tucson and never looked back. The Rave Green capped their scoring spree with two additional second-half strikes, cementing a 6-0 win to open the preseason tournament. Three Sounders FC players had two goals apiece during the contest: Lamar Neagle, Clint Dempsey and Kevin Parsemain.
Neagle started the scoring early for Sounders FC, as Seattle’s attack flooded Tucson’s area, with the Federal Way native driving home the opening goal following build-up play between Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. Seven minutes later it was Dempsey’s turn, as the Sounders forward doubled his side’s advantage, taking another assist from Martins. Neagle and Dempsey then swapped goals that were ten minutes apart, in the 27th and 37th minutes, respectively.
Schmid made wholesale changes to his side in the 69th minute, bringing on 10 new field players to close out the match, with Parsemain leaving no doubt about a Seattle victory. The Martinique native put away two tidy goals in consecutive minutes, closing the scoring just before stoppage-time in the 88th and 89th minutes of play.
Seattle returns to action tomorrow morning against NASL side Minnesota United in a scrimmage that is likely to feature second-half substitutes from the FC Tucson contest and players that did not factor in tonight’s match. Thursday’s exhibition is set to take place at Kino Sports Complex and is open to the public, with kickoff slated for 11:30 a.m. MT. The club returns to Desert Diamond Cup play on Saturday, February 21 against fellow MLS side Sporting Kansas City (8:00 p.m. MT / SoundersFC.com).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 6 – FC Tucson 0
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Venue: Kino Sports Complex (Tucson, Ariz.)
Weather: Clear and 66 degrees
Attendance: 1,856
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Lamar Neagle (Obafemi Martins, Clint Dempsey) 4’
SEA – Clint Dempsey (Obafemi Martins) 11’
SEA – Lamar Neagle (Gonzalo Pineda) 27’
SEA – Clint Dempsey (Tyrone Mears) 37’
SEA – Kevin Parsemain (Chad Barrett) 88’
SEA – Kevin Parsemain (Chad Barrett, Kenny Cooper) 89’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
SEA – Tyrone Mears (caution) 31’
LINEUPS
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei (Troy Perkins 61’); Tyrone Mears (Zach Scott 69’), Brad Evans (Damion Lowe 69’), Chad Marshall (Jimmy Ockford 69’), Leo Gonzalez (Andres Correa 69’); Marco Pappa (Kenny Cooper 69’), Micheal Azira (Andy Rose 69’), Gonzalo Pineda (Cristian Roldan 69’), Lamar Neagle (Aaron Kovar 69’); Clint Dempsey (Chad Barrett 69’), Obafemi Martins (Kevin Parsemain 69’)
Substitutes not used: None
FC Tucson: Pat Pablete; Edgar Reyna, Sebastian Pineda, Michael Kafari, Ian Ramos; Andreas Acosta, Eliot Prost, Garrett Losee, Shadi Harb; Dominic Papa, Odaine Sinclair
Substitutes not used: None
