Listen: Ezra Hendrickson on Azriel Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, a native of Las Vegas, joined
Seattle’s academy when he was 13 and attended the Sounders' first-team preseason in January. He scored 13 goals in 23 games for the Sounders' U-15/16s.
S2 pipeline: Sam Rogers, Shandon Hopeau and Lorenzo Ramos also signed S2 pro contracts, making the jump from Sounders FC Academy this
season.
Of the 13 players who played for the Sounders in their 3-2 overtime loss to the LA Galaxy in the USSDA U-17/18 semifinals, eight have played for S2 in the USL in 2017:
Milo Barton, Jamie Dimitroff, Paul Rothrock, Kei Tomozawa, Ethan Lotenero, Jackson Ragen, Hopeau and Rogers.
The top
prospect in the Sounders' youth program might be 15-year-old Alfonso Ocampo Chavez, who moved from Merced, California. Ocampo Chaves, who plays for the U.S. U-15s, has made one S2
start.
How many of these players will wind up playing for the good old USA. I hope all of them want to.