Just one day after the Sounders beat their Cascadia rivals from the north (photo gallery here), the LA Galaxy reserve squad took on the Sounders reserves at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.
The decent crowd of supporters on hand got their first look at the recently signed Honduran, Mario Martinez. Fresh off reaching the quarterfinals in the London Olympics where he scored a brilliant goal against Brazil, Martinez joined his new team just this past Friday. He definitely had a strong performance in his first appearance as a Sounder.
Also on display for those that came out today was fan-favorite Steve Zakuani. He was back in his familiar position as the left winger and looked the most like his pre-broken-leg self. He had several impressive runs at defenders and showed that his explosive pace has returned.
In the second half, when the Sounders were down by one, Zakuani put in his first goal in a competitive match since April 2011. But one was not enough, and after LA had gone ahead again, Zakuani evened the score one more time in the 84th minute.
Sammy Ochoa scored the go-ahead goal in the 90th minute and they held on to win the match 3-2.
This was a very fun match to shoot. (I know, I know, I say that all the time.) But I love shooting day games at Starfire. It’s a smaller field so I am much closer to the action. And the conditions were perfect–not too hot or cold with a bright overcast sky so there was even and fairly consistent light.
As myself and another photographer lounged on the grass hill behind the endline during the second half, we joked about how great it would be if every match was like this. All we were missing were some beach chairs and a beer!
