It has been a heartbreaker of a week for Sounders FC 2, which was knocked out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after entering halftime at Real Salt Lake with a one-goal lead. The Rave Green has shaken it off and is looking to continue its successful run in USL play this weekend against Arizona United SC.
“We expect a very competitive match, and coming off a tough loss we are going to want to go out and play well,” said S2 Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson. “I believe we have a team capable of winning this match regardless of how many minutes we have played in the last week.”
Six S2 players went the full 90 minutes in Tuesday’s Open Cup match against Real Salt Lake, including Andy Craven and Giuliano Frano, two staples in the S2 lineup. Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson will be balancing a squad returning to full fitness as it enters its third match in 10 days.
“Playing at altitude in Salt Lake City was tough on the team, and going into 100-degree weather in Arizona is going to be another physical challenge,” said Hendrickson. “It’s part of learning and teaching the players how to recover and prepare for games with a short turnaround.”
S2 (7-4-2, 23 points) is currently second place in the USL Western Conference and is coming off a 1-0 shutout victory over LA Galaxy II, a team that was on a hot streak before visiting Starfire Stadium. Arizona United SC (4-6-1, 13 points) has been struggling as of late, having lost its last three matches, including a 5-0 defeat against Colorado Switchbacks FC.
The Rave Green has excelled in goal-scoring this season, and is currently tied for first in the USL Western Conference. Andy Craven and Darwin Jones lead the team in regular-season scoring with five apiece, and are facing a porous Arizona defense that has conceded the third-most goals in the league. Arizona has completed one shutout with goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski in net, while S2 has only been shut out once in 13 matches.
“The guys put everything they had into the Open Cup match, both physically and mentally,” said Hendrickson. “Being knocked out of the tournament means we can focus solely on USL play, development and playing good soccer. At the end of the day, it is about making players better and better, week by week, game by game.”
Arizona is led by forward Long Tan who has played every minute for the team and has five goals and an assist to show for it. Tan won USL Player of the Week for Week Nine for scoring a brace in his clubs 3-2 victory over Austin Aztex.
Saturday’s match will be live-streamed on SoundersFC.com, and kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT.
