The North Sound SeaWolves took an early lead but failed to make it stand up, losing for the sixth time in seven matches, 2-1, to the Kitsap Pumas Sunday at Bremerton Memorial Stadium.
The SeaWolves fell to 4-9 in the Premier Development League. Kitsap, the defending PDL champion, improved to 9-3-2 and took over sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division.
The SeaWolves jumped on top in the fourth minute when midfielder Nasyir Rodriguez scored his second goal of the season off of an assist from Brady Ballew. It was Ballew’s team-leading fourth assist of the season.
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“It was a great way to start the game,” SeaWolves coach Alex Silva said. “We were aggressive and attacked. Unfortunately we didn’t continue to play that way the whole game.”
Kitsap tied the match in the 34th minute when Matt Friesen finished off an assist from Luis Enrique Hidalgo. Friesen then scored again just before halftime from Daniel Fabian to give the Pumas the lead.
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The SeaWolves managed just two shots in the second half but a defense that allowed five goals to the Seattle Sounders U-23s on Friday did well to turn away a Kitsap attack that had 14 shots, including eight after halftime. North Sound keeper Claudio Lazar finished with eight saves.
“The defense was better,” Silva said. “We still give up too many easy chances, but Claudio played great and we competed much better than we did against the Sounders, and that was good to see.”
The SeaWolves played without leading goal scorer Abdul Aman, who missed the game for personal reasons. The SeaWolves, who have three matches left, will try to snap their three-game losing streak at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the Vancouver Whitecaps U-23s at Swangard Stadium.
“I want to see this team finish by playing with a strong effort and pride,” Silva said. “There’s still three games for these guys to show what they can do. You don’t know who is watching. We play two more matches against MLS teams and those are great chances to show their skills and how much they want to play.”
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