The Seattle Sounders returned home long enough to say goodbye to former teammate Waylon Francis and hold a brief practice inside the somewhat warm confines of Starfire Sports. Like the rest of the Puget Sound Region, the outdoor practice fields at Starfire were covered with snow.
Before Tuesday’s morning practice the Sounders sent out a press briefing announcing that the team had received $50,000 0f General Allocation Money ( GAM) from the Columbus Crew in exchange for returning defender Waylon Francis back to the Crew. Francis played for the Crew from 2014-2017 before joining the Sounders for the 2018 season.
The 28-year-old Costa Rican defender had 11 appearances ( five starts ) and recorded one assist in his tenure with the Rave Green. Francis recorded 56 minutes as a substitute in leg one of Seattle’s Western Conference Semifinals series against the Portland Timbers on November 4, 2018.
The Sounders will return to Tuscon on Wednesday and spend the next 11 days wrapping up their preseason training with three exhibition games against the Houston Dynamo (February 9), Portland Timbers (February 13) and FC Dallas (February 16), all at Kino Sports Complex in Tuscon. The Sounders have 23 players under contract as they begin the final stretch of their preseason training.
The Sounders first preseason game in Seattle will be Wednesday, February 20th at CenturyLink Field with a 7:30 p.m. PST kickoff time. The Sounders will wrap up their preseason with a trip to Avaya Stadium to take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, February 23rd ( 12:45 PST).
The Sounders will open the regular season on March 2nd 7:00p.m. (PT) when they host first-year expansion side FC Cincinnati.
