Sounders get striker Will Bruin and midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro back from injury for Saturday night's game against the Montreal Impact, while a tired Roman Torres will fill in at center back for an injured Kim Kee-Hee.
Will Bruin has cleared concussion protocol and is back in the starting lineup Saturday night as expected, along with returning midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro.
The Sounders have yet to score this season, so having those two rejoin the attack against the visiting Montreal Impact should help. A less stable situation is present on the back-line, where Roman Torres will make the start despite playing for Panama against Chile this past week.
The Sounders were going to sit Torres out until Kim Kee-Hee was diagnosed with a Grade 2 right calf muscle strain. No one is sure exactly when he suffered the injury and whether it occured against Chivas or FC Dallas. But the bottom line is, such an injury typically takes 5-8 weeks to recover from.
Subtract the two weeks already played and it’s possible Kim could play April 22 against Minnesota. But a more likely scenario, according to Sounders sources, is that he’s got another month to go before being ready.
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So, Torres is out there for now. If he can’t go the full 90 minutes — highly unlikely given his recent showings and activity — then look for starting midfielder Gustav Svensson to drop back a line.
Former University of Washington Huskies star Handwalla Bwana gets another shot starting out on the left wing. Bwana struggled mightily against FC Dallas his last time out. Osvaldo Alonso did not dress for the game. Look for him to return in two weeks against Sporting Kansas City.
SOUNDERS (0-2)
GK Stefan Frei
LB Waylon Francis
CB Chad Marshall
CB Roman Torres
RB Kelvin Leerdam
MF Cristian Roldan
MF Gustav Svensson
MF Magnus Wolff Eikrem
MF Nicolas Lodeiro
FW Will Bruin