It isn't easy being (rave)green

The first team of the Seattle Sounders F.C. have already seen their ups and downs in the short time since their season started. A 2-1 victory over Santos Laguna at home in the first leg of the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Champions League was followed by a 6-1 thumping in the second leg at the hands of their Mexican opponents. Three days later, they started their regular season campaign with a 3-1 win over Toronto F.C. courtesy of a David Estrada hat trick. A week later they beat Houston Dynamo 2-0, but since have lost 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes and drew 0-0 in D.C.

The teams reserves have had their share of difficulties as well. Starting reserve league action in Vancouver, the Sounders reserves returned home with one point after a 1-1 draw. Last night, the team hoped to be able to get a win out of their match with the Portland Timbers reserves, but it simply wasn't in the cards. With injuries to the first team, players like Roger Levesque, Zack Scott and Patrick Ianni have been getting their playing time on the weekend rather than with the reserves. The result was a young and largely inexperienced squad that hasn't had much opportunity to play together.

The Sounders got off to a rough start, as the Timbers took an early lead after Jhon Kennedy Hurtado scored an own goal trying to head away a long throw-in. The Timbers would pick up another in the first half to give them a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the score would remain unchanged as the Sounders struggled to find each other or the back of the net. Frustration clearly built as Eddie Johnson tried step-over after step-over, losing the ball numerous times.

There were bright spots in an otherwise dreary game, though. Andrew Duran looked good coming back from a knee injury as he had a solid night at right back and regularly pushed up to help in the attack. Alex Caskey looked good, as did Andy Rose and Servando Carrasco, as they tried to pull the team together to get a result.

Carrasco and Duran link up on the right side.

As painful as the game may have been to watch at times, I did enjoy going to my first reserve game and I took quite a few pictures. They didn't all turn out, but they can all be seen here. Thanks for reading.