Seattle Pitch - Salem Surge v. Sounders

March 30, 1996

Salem Surge 3 - 5 Seattle Sounders

Nate Daligcon  (S)
Chance Fry  (S)
Jason Dunn  (S)
Billy Joe Surge?  (C)
Nate Daligcon  (S)
Billy Joe Surge?  (C)
Billy Joe Surge?  (C)
Crook  (S)

This bodes well for the coming season. We have two match reports for an unadvertised pre-season match down in Salem.

This comes from Ron Stickney:
The defending A-League champion Seattle Sounders exploded for three goals in the first 15 minutes to cruise to a 5-3 win over the USISL Salem Surge on Saturday afternoon in Salem. Four Sounders scored, with two goals by former Seattle Pacific standout and recent Sounder draft pick Nate Daligcon. Daligcon started the week by being cut by the MLS Tampa Bay Mutants on March 25 in the first round of MLS cuts, and finished the week by notching his first two goals of his rookie season in professional soccer, perhaps sending a message to the Tampa Bay coach that cut him!

The win, the Sounders' second in two matches this exhibition season, unveiled the new, wide-open style favored by first-year head coach Neil Megson. Other goals were scored by veterans Chance Fry, Billy Crook, and Jason Dunn.

Megson felt that the match provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate his younger prospects, all of whom made it into the match. "That's what the pre-season is all about - getting an opportunity to show the ol' coach a little something," said Megson. "I would especially like to point out the fine play of Nate Daligcon. He was excellent."

The Sounders next fly to Kobe, Japan for their April 10 rematch against Vissel Kobe of the Japan Professional Football League. Seattle beat Kobe 3-2 last fall in the first-ever match between Japanese and U.S. professional soccer teams.

Seattle's regular season kicks off against the Vancouver 86ers April 27 at Memorial Stadium at 7:05 p.m. Season and 7-Game packages are now on sale, as are individual game tickets and group packages. Call 1-800-796-KICK for further information.

This comes from Tom Talbott:
Sorry, I'm not much of a stats guy [How un-American!] and I'm going from memory. I didn't get a program of any kind, so I had a hard time keeping track of names. There were some very promising new players for the Sounders, though. A Brazilian wearing #16 had some very skillful touches. He will be fun to watch. We need some help in the back, though. Webber didn't play and that could make all of the difference. Storkson played up front and made for a nice big target in the middle. I felt that he never really got into the game, though, and started he flagging quite a bit towards the end. Farrell also didn't play. He maybe able to get Storkson into the game. Hahnemann was replaced late in the game by former Surge player Tom ?. He seemed to be fairly sure in goal. Playing in front of Mom and Dad must have been fun.

Sorry this isn't a very thorough report, I was having too much fun at the game!