Injuries, roster overhaul leave Lights FC threadbare
Two new injuries and a suspension have left a thin Lights FC roster suddenly threadbare during a two-match week.
The Lights will have 14 players, counting two goalkeepers, available for the start of their match against Seattle Sounders FC 2 at 8 p.m. Saturday at Cashman Field. That means no rest for many of their starters after a Wednesday loss in Phoenix.
“It’s however you take it. We’ve been in worse situations,” coach Isidro Sanchez said. “I like these kind of moments. They take (out) the best of everyone. You say ‘We are losing, what more can I do?’”
The Lights suffered two lower-body injuries early against Phoenix, as midfielders Matt Thomas and Eric Avila both exited in the first half. Avila, along with injured midfielder Raul Mendiola and defender Miguel Garduno, will be available in the second half Saturday but Thomas will join the team’s long list of sidelined players.
Injuries, as well as a midseason roster overhaul, have kept the Lights from fielding a full 18-man game day roster since May 5. The team has three players — forward Daniel Guzman Jr., defender Rodrigo Inigo and forward Omar Salgado — that are healthy but ineligible to play until the international transfer window opens July 10.
“We can’t make excuses,” midfielder Carlos Alvarez said. “That’s the last thing we need to do at this moment. We just need to go out and keep challenging, keep competing.”
In the second half against Phoenix the Lights also lost goalkeeper Ricardo Ferrino, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 79th minute and a one-game suspension. The punishment carried an extra sting because Ferrino was 11 minutes away from having a yellow card taken off his record for good behavior.
“Ferrino made four spectacular saves (in the game),” Sanchez said. “He must understand, and it’s my job to make him understand, that that’s enough. He doesn’t need to do extra things.”
Because of that mistake, one of the Lights’ two local backup goalkeepers, Rancho product Angel Alvarez or Bishop Gorman grad Thomas Olsen, will make their professional debut Saturday. Alvarez made one start during the preseason and backed up Ferrino the last three matches.
“We have to pick, but today I’m not afraid of either of Angel Alvarez or Thomas Olsen,” Sanchez said Thursday. “They can play.”
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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.