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Sounders Weekend Features Local Colleges

April 3, 2008 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Seattle Sounders News Release


Coming off weekend victories over the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Hispanic All-Stars, the Seattle Sounders look to maintain their momentum through the exhibition season with matches against local colleges, Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University.

The Sounders will play the Seattle Pacific University Falcons at 7:00 pm on Saturday, at Lake Stevens High School and will play the Redhawks of Seattle University at 6:00 pm, at Goddard Stadium in Everett.

LOCAL COMPETITION

The Redhawks have started their spring training schedule coming off a season which saw them win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for the sixth time in the last seven years. This year, SU will find their success harder to come by as head coach, Brad Agoos, has some holes to fill. The Redhawks lost four key starters from the 2007 side including first team All-American John Fishbauger, All-America honorable mention Dustin Allbery, and first team All-Far West Region players Eric Forner and Jason Cascio who all return to play their alma mater as trial players for the Sounders. The return of these standouts to play against SU makes Sunday's fixture in Everett, especially interesting.

At SPU, the Falcons have lost seven seniors from the 2007 campaign, but bring in five new recruits under first year head coach, Mark Collings. The Sounders currently have one veteran from last year's squad on trial in Justin Abel. This Saturday's match against Seattle Pacific at Lake Stevens High School will mark the fourth consecutive year that the Falcons have featured in the Sounders preseason schedule.

FIRST TEAM UPDATE

With college week over and the April 19th opener fast approaching, the Sounders roster is beginning to come into clearer focus. As of today, there were 25 players in training, down from as many as 35 to 40 that were present earlier last month. Among a few fresh faces this week trying out for the team is defender Desmond Brooks, the former St. Mary's standout and Chivas USA draft pick.

After scoring two goals and dishing out one assist on Saturday against Gonzaga, Sebastien LeToux traveled to France for the early part of the week to finalize issues on his working visa. He will be back with the squad today and will feature in the weekend exhibition matches. Roger Levesque was held out of practice Monday with a sore hamstring and Ben Dragavon missed workouts early in the week with a sore knee. Both are expected to be available this weekend.

The Sounders regular season opener is April 19th at Charleston and can be viewed on www.usllive.com. Don't forget, the Sounders home opener is May 10th at Qwest Field.

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