And the Sounders U-23 team proved its worth on the pitch Friday night before 470 fans at Centennial Stadium in a 1-0 victory over the Victoria Highlanders. The hosts were left deflated by a late goal in the 86th minute as a deflected shot by Adam Jones found its way behind Victoria goalkeeper and man-of-the-match Simon Norgrove.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 do anything when it deflects like that. In the end, were were just unlucky,鈥� said Norgrove, the Reynolds Secondary Roadrunners graduate, who just completed his freshman U Sports season with the University of Guelph Gryphons.
Sounders U-23 moved to 2-1 on the young United Soccer League Premier Development League season while the Highlanders levelled to 1-1.
鈥淟et鈥檚 take it on the chin and move on,鈥� said Victoria coach Dave Dew, in addressing his charges following the game.
鈥淏ut we need to be smarter.鈥�
He liked his team鈥檚 play, but in patches.
鈥淲e panicked a bit in the second half,鈥� said Dew.
鈥淪ounders U-23 are a good team that is well organized. But that said, our finishing wasn鈥檛 there. We just need more time together to jell.鈥�
Dew gave a special shout-out to his keeper, Norgrove.
鈥淪imon was great tonight,鈥� said the Highlanders鈥� skipper.
鈥淭he deflection was unfortunate but it鈥檚 part of the game. One day, we鈥檒l get that bounce.鈥�
Seattle had the better of the chances, especially in the second half. Norgrove was well positioned on a close-in Seattle header in the 62nd minute. A Sounders header by Derek Johnson three minutes later floated just above the crossbar as the Puget Sounders began to come on. A Seattle goal was ruled off-side at 67 minutes. Norgrove deflected a labelled shot over the crossbar at 72 minutes, which was followed by a Seattle shot directly off the crossbar three minutes later.
Owen Pearce, a former sa国际传媒 U-20 long-list prospect now with NCAA Div. 1 Robert Morris University, and Solomon Constant from Iowa Western had Victoria鈥檚 best chances, but Sounders-23 goalkeeper Cameron Frost was there when needed for the clean sheet.
Pearce said Victoria tried a new attacking formation but it wasn鈥檛 connecting: 鈥淲e were kind of mismatched in what we were doing and then began getting frustrated.鈥�
It鈥檒l take time, said Dew, to get everybody on the same page: 鈥淚t鈥檚 only the second game. There are some things to look at and re-evaluate.鈥�
The next games for the Highlanders are June 2 and 4, both against the 2016 USL PDL runner-up Calgary Foothills at Centennial Stadium.
The Highlanders, Sounders-U23 and Foothills are part of the six-team Northwest Division of the Western Conference.
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