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Hot to go: Sounders close out preseason with dominant win

Pedro de la Vega scores two in 4-0 win over Louisville City.

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Mike Russell / Sounder at Heart

RENTON – Continuing the strong offensive play they showcased in Spain, the Seattle Sounders put a bow on preseason with a 4-0 win over USL Championship side Louisville City on Wednesday at the Longacres training facility.

The Sounders got two goals from Pedro de la Vega – who finished preseason with four – and one each from Cristian Roldan and Yeimar Gómez Andrade. The Sounders followed that up with a 3-0 win in a second game, getting goals from Stuart Hawkins, an own goal and Danny Musovski.

The first Louisville match got off to a bit of a slow start. The first real Sounders chance came from a Jesús Ferreira pass that put Jordan Morris in on goal, but the Louisville goalkeeper was quick off his line and made a shoulder save just outside the penalty box.

But a few minutes later, the Sounders got on the board when Roldan flicked a header off a Ferreira corner to the far post, where de la Vega was waiting to smash it into the net.

On their very next possession, Ferreira cut the ball back to Roldan, who just sort of passed into the back of the net.

Yeimar the put the finishing touch on a dominant first half when he put away a rebound after de la Vega’s bicycle attempt was just barely kept out of the net.

The final goal came in the second half on a sequence that started with Morris fighting off a defender and then playing Paul Arriola down the sideline. Arriola then picked out de la Vega, who made a late run into the box and finished smoothly.

The Sounders finish preseason with a 4-0-2 record, scoring 19 goals in about 585 minutes of action. They will now begin the final stages of preparation for next Wednesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup match against Antigua.

Lineups

Game 1 (3-4-2-1): Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan; Jesús Ferreira (Georgi Minougou 73’), Pedro de la Vega, Paul Arriola; Jordan Morris

Game 2 (3-4-2-1): Jacob Castro; Kalani Kossa-Rienzi+, Josh Atencio, Stuart Hawkins, Jonathan Bell; Danny Leyva, João Paulo (Cody Baker 80’); Georgi Minougou (Sebastian Gomez+ 69’), Snyder Brunell+, Paul Rothrock (Travian Sousa 64’); Danny Musovski

+Tacoma Defiance player

Highlights

Key Takeaways

Pedro looks so good: It’s obviously preseason and I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but no one has looked better than de la Vega this preseason and especially not against Louisville City. In addition to the two goals, the fourth goal also came off a de la Vega rebound. He was also very active on the dribble, easily handling the Louisville defenders. My personal favorite moment though was something that didn’t really lead to anything. With the ball near the sideline, he held off a defender while bending the ball with a clever Rabona that put Arriola into space. It’s that kind of creativity that could unlock this offense.

More goals: Again, it’s preseason and this was a USL Championship team with even less game time, but it’s still feels good to see the ball hitting the back of the net as often as it did this preseason. De la Vega led all players with four goals but there were 10 different goal-scorers. That should bode well.

Depth appears strong: Last year, Albert Rusnák’s injury proved to be a significant setback in part because the Sounders didn’t have an obvious replacement. This year, it looks like they’re not only well positioned to weather his absence but have significant depth elsewhere. João Paulo continues to put in strong shifts and Leyva might finally get a chance to shoulder a larger load. Paul Rothrock was one of the team’s most important offensive players but will almost certainly be coming off the bench now. With potentially 10 games in the first six weeks of the season, that depth could come in very handy.

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