Down in Arizona, the Seattle Sounders faced off against Real Salt Lake on Tuesday, with the end result a 3-3 draw. This match was really more like three mini games (45/35/30), with the majority of the scoring occurring in the last thirty minutes. Lamar Neagle, O’Brian White and Fredy Montero all got on the score sheet for the Sounders.
The first 45 saw the young Sounders take the field, including a few trialists. Neagle kicked things off with an unassisted third minute goal, although Javier Morales equalized off a free kick in the 37th minute. The 35 minute period brought no goals, but White put Seattle back in the lead with 20 minutes left to go in the exhibition match. Then Collen Warner grabbed two goals inside two minutes against new keeper Bryan Meredith, giving them the lead for the first time in the game.
Seattle's equalizer came with one minute left to play. Steve Zakuani got loose in the area and the Salt Lake defender had little option but to handle the ball. The referee blew the whistle and Montero stepped up to take the shot, easily putting away the penalty. Sounders fans will hope that this bodes well for the current season, considering that it took Seattle months to score off a penalty kick last year.
The Sounders defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps last Friday, 1-0, and now face Columbus Crew on Thursday at 10 PT. According to Joshua Mayers, the Sounders won't make any more cuts this week, but they'll likely make more before the team heads to Florida. The team has already cut supplemental draft pick Corey Attaway and trialist Kerry Baptiste, with 34 players remaining with the Sounders.
And a very happy birthday to Steve Zakuani, who turned 22 today! Wish him well via his Twitter account.