Servando Carrasco put in a second-period equalizer to give Seattle a 1-1 draw in the 120-minute preseason meeting with Vancouver.
CASA GRANDE, Arizona – The Sounders FC opened up their preseason schedule on Monday with a 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Servando Carrasco scored for Seattle while Camilo scored the lone goal for Vancouver as the team’s played three periods, with the top two groups playing 45-minute periods with the rest of the team playing a 30-minute period.
“I thought the first team did well in the first 45 minutes and they didn’t produce a goal,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid said. “I was pleased with the way the second group started off. They got the equalizer and then they sort of faded a little bit. Overall I was pleased with what we got out of it and we got a lot of good work, the effort was good from the guys.”
Vancouver opened up scoring in the first minute of the match, with Camilo taking a pass from Atiba Harris up the left side, cutting it back to his right foot, then shooting past Michael Gspurning for the goal. On the play, both Camilo and towering Whitecaps forward Eric Hassli were clearly offside, though no call was made, and the Seattle defense was left out of position as a result.
After that goal, Seattle took control of the game, holding most of the possession throughout the opening period, when the two teams were playing with their strongest lineups.
Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero showed their strengths throughout the first 45-minute period and the club wasn’t frazzled by the rough tactics that saw Vancouver pick up two yellow cards in the first 15 minutes of the match – one for a high boot from defender Martin Bonjour in the 14th minute that left Mike Fucito hobbled and forced him out of the match before the 30-minute mark.
However, they weren’t able to find the equalizer until the second period, when both clubs underwent wholesale changes.
The second period saw a much greater distribution of possession, but it was Seattle that was able to equalize in the early minutes.
David Estrada, who was playing as a forward alongside Sammy Ochoa, made a run up the middle of the field and rolled the ball over to Carrasco on the right corner of the box. The midfielder gathered the ball and shot high and inside the near post for the goal, evening the tally at 1-1.
“Depth is always nice and their mentality right when they came on was good. I thought Estrada was active and caused a lot of problems. I thought that part of it was good,” Schmid said. “I saw a lot of good things in that second group.”
The final period continued the theme of spirited play, but neither team was able to add to the score line.
The Sounders will train on Tuesday morning, then return to Seattle. After two days off, they will resume training on Friday before heading off to Bradenton, Florida, for the next phase of training camp as they prepare for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal meeting with Santos Laguna on March 7 at CenturyLink Field.
Scoring
Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (David Estrada) 48.
Whitecaps FC – Camilo (Atiba Harris) 1.
Discipline
Sounders FC – Jeff Parke (caution) 20; Sammy Ochoa (caution) 74; Alex Caskey (caution) 94; Andrew Vanzie (caution) 101; Jason Banton (ejection) 115; Harlinton Gutierres (caution) 119.
Whitecaps FC – Atiba Harris (caution) 4; Martin Bonjour (caution) 14; Michael Boxall (caution) 77; Russell Teibert (caution) 103; Patrick Cregg (caution) 110.
Lineups (Game 1, 45 minutes)
Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning, Adam Johansson, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez, Fredy Montero, Mike Fucito (Roger Levesque 29).
Whitecaps FC - Joe Cannon, Young-Pyo Lee, Jay DeMerit, Martin Bonjour, Alain Rochat, Atiba Harris, John Thorrington, Jun Marques Davidson, Camilo, Sebastien Le Toux, Eric Hassli.
Lineups (Game 2, 45 minutes)
Sounders FC – Andrew Weber, Wes Feighner, Zach Scott, Andrew Duran, Marc Burch, Michael Seamon, Servando Carrasco, Andy Rose, Lamar Neagle, David Estrada, Sammy Ochoa.
Whitecaps FC – Brad Knighton, Greg Klazura, Michael Boxall, Carlyle Mitchell, Jordan Harvey, Lee Nguyen, Floyd Franks, Gershon Koffie, Darren Mattocks, Davide Chiumiento, Omar Salgado.
Lineups (Game 3, 30 minutes)
Sounders FC – Bryan Meredith, Amadou Sanyang, Tim Pontius, Harlinton Gutierres, Ever Alvarado, Cordell Cato, Andrew Vanzie, Alex Caskey, Jason Banton (Servando Carrasco 115), Roger Levesque, Babayele Sodade.
Whitecaps FC – Andrew Fontein, Russell Teibert, Bilal Duckett, Carlyle Mitchell, Chris Estridge, Long Tan, Floyd Franks (Bryce Alderson 106), Patrick Cregg, Michael Nanchoff, Matt Watson, Darren Mattocks (Caleb Clarke 106).
