The frustration in the voice of North Sound SeaWolves coach Alex Silva has been growing for the past few weeks. It was a month ago that his first-year team was right in the middle of the Premier Development League Northwest Division playoff hunt. The SeaWolves were attacking creatively, defending we
ll and seemed to have found a rhythm and chemistry that was somewhat surprising for an expansion squad.
And then starting goalie Claudio Lazar and forward Abdu Aman left the team for two games for personal reasons and all of a sudden what had been a season of optimism and excitement turned into a nightmare. North Sound has lost five in a row as Silva desperately has tried to find a combination that works.
Silva hopes his team can pull it together and end on a high note as the SeaWolves wrap up their inaugural season with a 7 p.m. home match tonight against the Portland Timbers U-23 team at Goddard Stadium.
“When you get to this stage of the season and you are not competing for the playoffs, it gets hard,” Silva said.
There’s plenty of meaning in that observation but it’s clear that the chemistry and drive that was so impressive a month ago has been faltering for the SeaWolves (4-7-4) during a losing streak that has seen North Sound get outscored 20-5, including the friendly loss to England’s Port Vale.
The low point may have come in Wednesday’s game at Vancouver, when eight key players, including top offensive players Marshall Kosaka, Brady Ballew and Aman, were unavailable for various personal reasons. That was far and away more players unavailable than at any point during the season. The absences left Silva to piece together a lineup of players lining up in unfamiliar spots and playing far more than they had all season in the 2-0 loss to the Whitecaps.
“With Vancouver’s good possession, our players ended up getting very tired,” Silva said. “I was proud of our guys that stepped on the field and worked hard.”
The fact that North Sound lost by just two goals given the lineup it used is actually pretty impressive. One of Vancouver’s goals came on a penalty kick and the SeaWolves played much of the second half down a man after Raymond Lind picked up his second yellow card and was ejected. The defender from Humboldt State University will not be able to play in today’s finale.
“I was way short-handed,” Silva said. “Players that are not used to playing a full game ended up playing a full 90 minutes.”
Silva said he expects all the players who were absent from the game Wednesday to be available today. Of course, what lineup Silva uses and how many of those players will be on the field remains to be seen. Silva has said these last two weeks will be spent evaluating players and figuring out who fits in and will be invited back next season.
Against a Portland team that has traditionally been one of the best in the league but has struggled this season, it should be a good test to end the season with. The Timbers, a developmental team for the expansion Major League Soccer squad, defeated the SeaWolves 2-0 on May 25. Six of the 11 North Sound starters in that game are no longer contributing members of the team and most of the collegiate players, including Kosaka and Ballew, were not available in that first contest. The Timbers (5-6-4), haven’t won a game since June 18, even longer than the SeaWolves’ last win, and are coming off of a 4-1 loss against the Washington Crossfire.
The Timbers do have some talent, though, led by defending league Player of the Year Brent Richards, a University of Washington star who has seven goals and six assists. Miles Byass has six goals, Erik Hurtado has five and Richard Abrego has four. Also on the team is Sean Morris, a former Seattle University star who was taken by the Seattle Sounders in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft and spent some time in training camp with the Sounders.
All of that means that the beleaguered SeaWolves defense, which actually seemed to pull itself together somewhat against Vancouver and can always rely on the talents of Lazar, is going to face a big challenge.
Silva said he hopes the team is able to get a decent crowd for the season finale, and fans will be invited onto the field after the game to mingle with the players and collect autographs.
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