SEATTLE SOUNDERS 2006 PREVIEW

LAST SEASON:

2005 results:	11-11-6; 44 points; +8 diff; 4^th place; lost in playoff quarterfinal
RD's 2005 prediction:	8-4-16, 10^th place

Seattle had a much better season than RD expected, though their lack of depth showed in the stretch (first 14 games: 7-5-2; last 14 games: 4-6-4). You would have expected better results in the second-half of the season, especially with the return of Andrew Gregor (missed the first 12 games with a broken foot) and the arrival of Leighton O’Brien from a loan with Real Salt Lake. Yet, somehow, they managed to eek out a few wins in the playoffs and – hocus cadabra – they’re the defending champions. The Sounders also were without the help of forward Craig Tomlinson and captain/defender Danny Jackson, who both missed the entire year with ACL ailments.

Sakuda

O'Brien

Gregor

Sutton

Merl

Boyden

Seacrest, Out:

F Welton Melo (4+0=8); one TOW

D CJ Klass (1+4=6); Rookie of the Year runner-up

D Scott Jenkins (2+0=4); 1013 minutes; one TOW

D Billy Sleeth; (1+0=2); 2196 minutes

D Ryan Edwards (3+0=6); 2283 minutes; two TOW

D Taylor Graham (2+0=4); Defender of the Year

GK Preston Burpo; 0.851 GAA; All-League 2^nd Team

Back in the Fold

F Roger Levesque (6+3=15)

M Kevin Sakuda; (1+1=3); 2484 minutes

M Leighton O’Brien (2+3=7)

M Andrew Gregor (3+3=9); two TOW

M Ben Somoza (0+1=1); 1134 minutes

D Zach Scott (1+2=4); 1711 minutes

D Danny Jackson

Fresh Meat

F Jamal Sutton; from Columbus (MLS)

M Cameron Weaver; from University of Seattle

M Santa Maria Rivera; from University of Seattle

D Noah Merl; from Cal

D Nate Boyden; from UC Santa Barbara

GK David Mahoney; on loan from Chicago (MLS)

Burpo

Graham

Sleeth

THE LOWDOWN:

We don’t usually like listing players straight from college in the “Fresh Meat” section, but Seattle acquired so few names with zero professional experience, we were forced to include four of them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. The Sounders return just one defender that started a single match in 2005, and will be without 2005’s most improved goalkeeper, Preston Burpo. The Seattle midfield remains largely intact, but there are big question marks up top. Mostly this one: “Who’s going to score the goals?” The Sounders will start slowly, but gain some traction in July.