Sounders Lean Toward Local Talent

C'mon baby, do the local-motion. . . .

That's Seattle Sounder Coach Neil Megson's twist on Little Eva's 1962 pop-music hit. And he hopes it takes his pro soccer team to the top of the A-League charts this season.

Nine of the 12 players signed, including six former University of Washington players, have Seattle connections. Californians Jason Annicchero, Mark Baena and Randy Mann give the team a definite West Coast beat.

The Sounders opened training camp yesterday in preparation for their May 1 season opener in Vancouver, B.C., against the 86ers. They'll meet again in Seattle's 7:30 p.m. home opener May 8 at Renton Memorial Stadium.

Former Huskies Bill May and Peter Van de Ven are competing for the Sounders' goalkeeping vacancy created when Dusty Huddock jumped to Major League Soccer's Miami Fusion. Both ex-Huskies finished their college careers with a goals-against average of less than 1.00.

Seattle traded defender Ryan Edwards to the San Francisco Bay for May, whom they originally drafted but never signed. Van de Ven, a free agent, had eight shutouts and a 0.85 GAA this year for Washington and played for the Seattle Bigfoot (now the Sounders Selects).

Forward Viet Nguyen joins fellow UW alumnus Ian Russell and Renton native Erik Storkson up front. Nguyen, with 15 career goals and 41 points in 69 Husky games, was the Sounders' territorial pick in the 1999 A-League draft.

They will provide an energetic complement to Baena, last year's league MVP and scoring champion.

Seattle midfield fixture David Hoggan retired, but Mann and Craig Waibel, a 1999 first-round draft choice, form a strong nucleus. Waibel started 42 of 56 games for the UW and scored all nine of his points in his senior season.

Joining Megson in the backfield are Scott Jenkins, another former Husky, and Bernie James, the 40-year-old local soccer legend and Sounder assistant coach who says this will be his last season - unless the team wins a third championship in five seasons. Annicchero, at 6 feet 3 and 200 pounds, will, like May, add some size and muscle in the defense.

The Sounders lost midfielder Vicente Figueroa and defender Brandon Prideaux to the MLS' Kansas City Wizards. Released were Fabian Davis, Paul Gelvezon and Kei Kinoshita, along with goalkeeper Preston Burpo, who still works out with the team.

Notes

-- The Sounders resume exhibition games tomorrow with a 7 p.m. match against the Vancouver 86ers at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

Other matches will be April 10 vs. Mayas at Pete's Pool Fairgrounds in Enumclaw, 3:30 p.m.; April 11 vs. Cascade Surge at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver, Wash., 4 p.m.; April 18 vs. Skagit Valley All-Stars at Mount Vernon High School, 6 p.m.; and April 24 vs. Seattle Sounders Selects at Olympic High School in Silverdale, 7 p.m.

-- The Sounders will have a booth and an interactive display at the April 17 Soccer Fair 1999 at the Bellevue Doubletree Hotel, 300 112th Ave. Players will be available for autographs and will conduct a free soccer clinic from noon to 1 p.m.

-- Players from as far as England and Argentina, as well as Florida, New York, Oklahoma, Missouri and Hawaii, were among the 71 who tried out for the Sounders last week at Renton Stadium and Lake Washington High School.

One of the more promising discoveries is former Stanford forward Shan Gaw, who played all 90 minutes in both of Seattle's exhibition matches last weekend.