A new era of Seattle Sounders player development kicked off on Sunday. In the most important ways, it was a huge success. Wade Webber’s Tacoma Defiance looked dominant in their first-ever MLS Next Pro match against Real Monarchs, traditionally one of the best developmental teams in MLS.
The 4-0 scoreline made it obvious enough — Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez had a brace; Dylan Teves had a goal and an assist; Sam Adeniran closed out the scoring; and there were several other chances that came close. Another first-team loanee, Stefan Cleveland, posted the shutout as well.
In short, the Defiance looked like a team that will enjoy quite a bit of success in this new league, especially when they’ve got a host of players on loan from the first team as they did in their season-opener.