• Sounders 2 (3W, 2D, 12L) currently sit in last place in the USL Western Conference, 12 places and 24 points behind Rising in 5^th, who have played 2 games more.
• Tonight’s game is the first encounter between both sides this season. Rising picked up all 6 points in 2017. After a 2-0 victory in the Valley, Alessandro Riggi’s 44^th minute strike gave Rising a controversial 1-0 win in WA as defender Victor Vasquez was shown 2 yellow cards but not sent off by the referee.
• Sounders 2 come into this match on the back of a 5-game losing streak. During that time, they have conceded 15 goals and scored only 5 times.
• They boast a dismal away record. Of their 8 games played on the road, Sounders 2 have failed to pick up a single win, and drawn/tied 2.  These were a goalless encounter at the Switchbacks on April 21, and a 1-1 draw in Reno on May 19.
• Sounders 2 have failed to find the net on 7 occasions this season, including 4 games away from Cheney Stadium, Tacoma.
• Their shot conversion rate of 13.0% is only marginally lower than Rising’s at 13.5%, but their total number of shots is significantly lower (304 for Rising compared to 159 for Sounders 2).

• An impressive 8 of their 17-goal tally to date have been scored by David Estrada.  The 30 year-old Mexican originally played 41 times in the MLS for Sounders, 2010-2014, scoring 5 goals.  He joined Sounders 2 in the close season from Charlotte Independence (61 appearances, 11 goals over 2 seasons).  Estrada is the only Sounders 2 player to appear in all 17 USL games this season, starting in 11 and being subbed-off once.
• Young Cameroon forward Felix Chenkham has scored 4 goals for Sounders 2 this season.  Chenkham also scored 5 goals in 19 games for Sounders 2 in 2017, and represented Cameroon in the Africa U20 Cup of Nations, thereby earning himself an MLS contract with Sounders 2’s parent club.  He is currently on a season-long loan at Cheney Stadium.
• Another in-form player is midfielder Ray Saari. The 23 year-old, in his second year with Sounders 2, has scored 2 goals in their recent 5-game losing streak.  A former Tulsa Athletic star in the NPSL, Saari is the Sounders 2 player most likely to create a goal-scoring chance this season (16 in 12 appearances).  He’s created 5 more chances than his closest teammates (Hopeau, Ulysse, and top-scorer Estrada), despite less game time.
• Coach John Hutchinson has high hopes for young midfielder Jesse Daley. The Australian signed in May after impressing while on trial, and has since picked up 3 assists and a goal. He previously came through the youth ranks with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory, but failed to break into the A-League.
• Sounders 2 are currently conceding on average 2 goals a game.  21 of their 36 goals conceded have been scored in 8 away games.  They’ve also conceded 4 or more goals away on 4 occasions this season.

• Sounders 2 are least likely to concede in the first 15 minutes of games.
• Goalkeeping duties have been shared by 3 players – Calle Brown and Bryan Meredith, both on loan from Seattle Sounders, and Sam Fowler.
• Calle Brown has conceded 20 goals in 11 games, and kept Sounders 2’s solitary clean sheet away to the Switchbacks.  He previously played 19 games for RGV in 2016 and 2017, on loan from Houston Dynamo.  Brown has a 61.5% save success rate this season, and featured between the posts in the last 3 games against Swope Park Rangers, Reno and Real Monarchs.
• Bryan Meredith has conceded 10 goals in 4 matches for Sounders 2 this season, and has a 41.2% save success rate.  He played 12 times for Seattle Sounders in the MLS and CONCACAF Champions League in 2011 and 2012, but has barely played a game since that time.  Meredith featured 3 times for IK Brage (Sweden) in 2013, but failed to record a single game thereafter for New York Cosmos, San Jose Earthquakes, or Seattle Sounders who he rejoined in 2017.
• 17 year-old Sam Fowler has played twice for Sounders 2 in goal this season, and has a 40.0% save success rate.  A former Sounders Academy graduate, he last played in the 5-3 defeat away to Los Dos on July 1.
• Defender Denso Ulysee has clocked up the most game time of any Sounders 2 player this season – 1,386 minutes in 16 games.  The only game he missed was the result of a red card earned away to Sacramento on April 7. Ulysee joined Sounders 2 from Haitian side Real Hope Football Academy du Cap-Haïtien in March 2017.
• Ray Saari and defender Rodrigue Ele have also seen red this season.  19 players have been cautioned 31 times.
• One defender of note is Jake Morris.  The Fort Lauderdale-born 19 year-old has clocked up only 3 appearances for Sounders 2 in 2018, but he has already been capped at U19 and U20 level by the U.S. national team.
• Sounders 2’s favorite formation is 4-2-3-1.  It’s been used in 15 of their 17 USL games this season.

From The Ashes Prediction: Rising to put the Fresno defeat behind them by earning another 3 points at home.