Feb. 6, 2010 - Day Four - Sounders FC Preseason Training at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona
Notes released by the club
Sigi Schmid maintained a high level of competition in Day Four of training camp in Casa Grande, Arizona. But there were no goals on the field as the team played the 2nd Annual Sounders FC Soccer Tennis Tournament.
Last year, Tyson Wahl and Brad Evans topped Taylor Graham and Roger Levesque in the final to win the tournament in the rain in Ventura, California, in the tournament’s inaugural year.
This year, those teams remained together to try and repeat the past glory only to both wind up watching the final after being ousted in the semifinals.
Nate Sturgis and Pete Vagenas team up in tennis soccer. (Sounders FC photo)
The preliminary rounds saw hotly contested battles all over the field, with points being argued on each court as the teams of two strived to reach the championship. Pete Vagenas and Nathan Sturgis looked to be a contender after topping Jarrod Smith and Tyrone Marshall in a tight match in the first round of games. Kurt Schmid and David Tenney even jumped out to a 2-0 record in their first two games. It was also tough to count out Kasey Keller and Terry Boss or Fredy Montero and Osvaldo Alonso. But in the end none of those four teams would have enough to reach the semifinal.
Zach Scott and Josh Gardner went unbeaten on the far court with silent precision and Stephen King and Patrick Ianni lost just once en route to the championship final.
In the end, Scott and Gardner were able to rekindle some of their left-sided magic that helped the Sounders to the 2007 USL Championship and they topped King and Ianni to win the championship.
Zach Scott, far left, and Josh Gardner against David Tenney and Kurt Schmid. (Sounders photo)
It was another fun, competitive experience for the Sounders in 2010 training camp. They will continue some light competition later this afternoon when the team plays in a golf tournament on the Francisco Grande Golf Course.
Nate Jaqua, Eddie Johnson and Freddie Ljungberg were all spectators from the bench, sitting out with some nagging injuries.
Comments
I love Zach Scott! Happy to see him having fun back on the practice field.
Josh Gardner. Interesting. He was occasionally quite good with the USL club.
RAVE: Reserves Shine In Scrimmage...Jacob Lousky gets some room on the left side of the box and unleashes a lazer into the far corner of the net for a goal. Orange leads 2-0. (Not bad for a long shot)
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