The Seattle Sounders Women continue their preseason slate Friday evening at the Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. with a friendly versus local Seattle University, which features three Inland Northwest players from Boise, Pasco and Spokane.
Junior M/F Carlee Norquist (Boise, Idaho), sophomore M/F Shawna Anderson (Pasco, Wash.) and redshirt sophomore midfielder Ashley Fritts (Spokane, Wash.) will be going up against the W-League team featuring five US Women’s National Team players.
The match-up will create a Tri-Cities showdown between Anderson and Richland native Hope Solo, the star goalkeeper from the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Solo faced only a few challenges in their opening friendly versus Seattle Pacific University, leaving late in the contest with a shutout performance and three saves.
In addition to Solo, the Sounders Women's team also includes fellow US internationals Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Stephanie Cox and Sydney Leroux as well as Mexican international Veronica Perez. Morgan (goal), Leroux (3 assists) and Perez (goal) played a role in the scoring Monday.
In Monday’s contest three players with Seattle U connections made their season debuts for the Sounders Women. Tafara Pulse, former Redhawk and member of the Seattle U Athletics Hall of Fame, played 90 minutes and earned an assist on the opening goal. Recent SU graduate Kara Kuttler entered the game in the 60th minute for Morgan, scoring a goal and combining well with the USWNT players.
Current Seattle U volunteer goalkeeper coach Katie Hultin also saw minutes in relief for Solo, and may prove to be a main feature for the Sounders this year when Solo is away on National Team duty.
"We couldn't be more excited to share the field with some of the best players in the world," said Seattle U women's soccer head coach Julie Woodward in the school’s announcement. "The team that the Sounders Women organization has assembled is great for women's soccer in the Pacific Northwest. We are happy to be a part of the experience, and will do our best to provide a good preseason game for the team."
In the Fall – Spokane’s Julia Moravec joins Seattle U
As an incoming freshman the Lewis and Clark High School and Spokane Shadow M/F will not have the opportunity to face the Sounders Women Friday evening. Profile: Julia Moravec is a driven and multi-talented forward/midfielder from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Wash. She has played with the Spokane Shadow club team for the past two years, helping lead the team to the semifinals in 2011. At Lewis and Clark, she was a three-time letter-winner, helping lead her team to the 2009 and 2010 state quarterfinals. In 2010, the team finished with a 17-2 record and finished 14-3 in 2011. She was the team MVP in 2009 and 2010, leading the team in goals (20) and assists (12) in 2010, and averaging 15 goals per season during her high school career. She was 2009 GSL Honorable Mention, 2010 GSL Offensive MVP, 2010 Second-Team All-State, and Seattle Times Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 19, 2010. She also was a three-time letter-winner for varsity basketball and was named the Basketball Team Defensive MVP and Team Captain in 2011, as she helped lead the team to the 2011 4A State Championship. Academically, Moravec was on the honor roll all four years of high school, a National Honor Society member, a Face to Faith member, and was a three-time academic letter-winner. Athletics runs in her family as her father, Don, was an Olympic trial qualifier for swimming.
