Philadelphia, Pa. — Former New Mexico Lobo men’s soccer player Oneil Fisher saw the next leg of his professional dream realized on Wednesday night as he made his first career MLS start for the Seattle Sounders.
Fisher started at right back in Seattle’s 4-2-3-1 formation against the Philadelphia Union. Seattle, which has never beaten Philadelphia, dropped a 1-0 decision on a goal in the 69th minute. That loss dropped Seattle to 9-6-2, although the Sounders are still tied for first in the Western Division with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and Seattle holds the tiebreaker.
Playing all 90 minutes, Fisher acquitted himself well with Philadelphia getting off just 12 shots and five on net. It was Fisher’s second MLS game, having debuted on March 28 against FC Dallas with four minutes of action. The game against Philadelphia saw three Sounders making their first career starts. Along with Oneil, Aaron Kovar and Jimmy Ockford started as well.
Sigi Schmid, Sounders head coach, thought all his young players did well. “I thought they all played with quality. I thought Oneil Fisher played well at outside back when we moved him over to the left when we went three in the back.”
Fisher was Seattle’s second round pick, and 40th overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. He is a native of Portmore, Jamaica.