February 4, 2012 in Sports

Sounders count on veterans Levesque, Scott

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SEATTLE – They have been Sounders for a decade, long before the days of rave green. They are two of the oldest players on the team, but you’d never know it after career years in 2011.

Roger Levesque and Zach Scott are Sounders FC’s only remaining carry-overs from the United Soccer Leagues squad. But beyond their reliability on the field, the two might be most needed for their experience and maturity entering Year 4, especially on a team looking for leaders.

“You can’t say enough about them,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “Their attitude is great. They come out to practice every day, they have a good work rate, they’re great examples for the younger players.”

Sounders FC kept five USL players in their leap to MLS in 2009: Levesque, Scott, Sebastien Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi and Taylor Graham. Seattle’s USL coach, Brian Schmetzer, also stayed as Schmid’s top assistant.

That group’s impact has been far greater than just being a link to the Sounders’ past. All the former USL players, minus Graham, saw the field in Seattle’s inaugural MLS game, a 3-0 win against the Red Bulls.

“… I’m a strong believer that that group helped form a backbone of (depth for our) expansion team,” Schmetzer said.

Le Toux and Nyassi were lost in expansion drafts in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Graham retired in December. So carrying the USL tradition now falls on Levesque and Scott, both 31 years old.

Levesque played at forward, midfielder and defender last season and expects more of the same this year.

“Anywhere I can fit in and anywhere I can help is fine,” said Scott, who is the oldest player on the team by four months following the retirement of Kasey Keller.

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