Josh Atencio’s standout performance on Friday night against Minnesota felt like more than just a great performance from a teenager. If you zoomed out, it seemed like a possible sign that the wealth of talent in the Seattle Sounders development pipeline might be breaking through. Garth Lagerwey spent a significant portion of his conversation with Jackson Felts on 950 KJR’s Sounders Weekly show discussing that performance, what it means, and the plans for the ongoing youth movement at the club.
With Atencio’s 90-minute performance in the heart of the midfield, as well as Ethan Dobbelaere’s substitute appearance for the final eight minutes of the match, Lagerwey was pleased with what he saw as those two Sounders Academy products and the coaching staff demonstrated to the rest of the kids in the system that there’s a pathway to the First Team if they keep working.