Sounders camp highlights, Day 13

Today's Sounders FC Q&A is with Brad Evans, who is anchoring the center midfield spot for the team in practices.

Kickin' it with ... Brad Evans

Position: Midfielder

Age: 23

Height: 6-1

Weight: 160

Hometown: Phoenix

Last club: Columbus (MLS)

Question: Were you rooting for the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl?

BE: Of course. It was a good game, though, so you can't complain. Tyson [Wahl, teammate] was in our room watching it, hoping they were going to pull it off. The last couple of minutes, [Larry] Fitzgerald was a beast. Too bad.

Q: What's it like for you to be playing with coach Sigi Schmid again, after you were with him in Columbus?

BE: "It's good. It's good to be out here. I've had Sigi a couple of times before and obviously the past two years in Columbus, so I guess when you come to a new team and new coach, there's some nerves, but you know, I know what he expects, so it's good."

Q: How much does that familiarity help you?

BE: "For sure, it helps. I think I've been asked this question a million times, but it's the same answer every time. It's familiarity with the drills, and just familiarity with what he expects. Whether it's pressure in a certain part of the field or shoot when you have the chance."

Q: What was winning the MLS Cup with Columbus like last season?

BE: "Oh, it was unbelievable. It was kind of weird how it worked out. The previous year, I think we only had like 37 [standings] points. So the first meeting of the year as a team we said, well, let's get more than 37 points. We hit that. OK, now let's try and win the Eastern Conference. We did that. Let's try to win the Supporter's Shield. We did that for most points [in MLS final standings]. Let's try to win our first playoff game. We did that. So everything that we strove for during the year, we kind of hit, so it was a banner year. And it's going to take another special team to do what we did."

Q: In that sense, were you kind of bummed to not be protected in the expansion draft?

BE: "Yeah. I mean, when you look at who they [the Crew] protected, you understand why they had to. Chad Marshall had an incredible year and his option was to go over to Europe. So they had to protect somebody for covering the back line, so they did that in Andy Iro. And then you have a good young prospect in [Emmanuel] Ekpo, an international player, so you understand where it came from ... it could have been any one of us. But I'm happy to be on the West Coast for sure. I built great relationships with the guys over there."

Q: So that's always the tough part, when you've been somewhere for a couple of years?

BE: "Exactly. It's building the relationships. Knowing the city. But I'm very, very excited to be in Seattle and back on the West Coast. It's easier for my fiancee to get up [from Arizona] and she's more excited about Seattle than Columbus, that's for sure."

**

Day 13 highlights:

• Friday's practice was moved to a FieldTurf surface at Ventura College. It was held on the football field at the college. The rain stayed away.

• After some passing drills, players were allowed to pick form four teams. Two teams played an 8-on-8 game on one side of the field with goal fixtures placed on the football sidelines while the other two teams did the same on the other half of the field, using smaller nets.

• The Orange team was most victorious. It consisted of Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua, Sanna Nyassi, assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson, Osvaldo Alonso, Zach Scott, Danny Jackson and Kasey Keller in goal. Each team played six short games, and Montero scored six goals in five of those.

• Montero was again impressive, scoring off a dribble against Taylor Graham and converting a penalty kick. He also took a couple of fine passes from Nyassi and Alonso for goals. In the Orange team's fourth game, against the Blue squad, Nyassi started the play of the day when he stole the ball from defender Adam West, made a perfect long cross to Montero from right to left, and Montero finished it for a goal.

• Montero was tackled hard twice, including an aggressive slide from D Ryan Caugherty. Alonso had assists on three Montero goals. "That's his quality," Schmid said of Montero. "If you give him half a chance and you get him in the box with what he's able to do, it's not the amount of goals, it's the type of goals. There's a shot from distance. There's holding the ball in the box and slipping it into the corner. There's getting on the end of a cross ... He's alert, he's aware in the box and that's what makes him so dangerous."

• Sounders FC had a weight training session in the afternoon. Practice resumes Saturday with a two-a-day scheduled for Ventura College. The team has since Monday practiced twice at Ventura College, twice at Oxnard College and once in Santa Paula, Calif.

• General manager Adrian Hanauer and technical director Chris Henderson watched practice, with Henderson getting some work in with the team before the scrimmages.

• D Nicola Andelic is no longer with the team. MF Peter Vagenas arrived for lunch with his teammates after practice. Vagenas has yet to suit up and practice after recent knee surgery. D Jared Karkas is still out with a hamstring injury, prompting the team to use Hendrickson, who retired from playing last month, in his place for scrimmages.