It was a blazing-hot day out at Starfire, as the team got in their final practice before traveling down to San Jose for their game tomorrow versus the Earthquakes. Much like yesterday, the focus was on making sure the team takes advantage of a struggle San Jose side, who is last in the Western Conference, and dealing with internal strife.

One bit of promising news is that Victor Rodriguez made an appearance at training. He was not involved in the team training, and came out late. But the fact he was out there at all doing some jogging and exercises has to be seen as a very good sign, given that he just had a MRI yesterday and with the Sounders’ luck generally with hamstrings. No update as of yet, but a good sign nonetheless.

Christian Roldan’s comments focused mostly on maintaining the momentum of the recent unbeaten streak, while noting the rough time the Sounders have had playing San Jose, especially on the road. “All it takes is one goal to really get them going,” he said. Thus it’s important that the Sounders get the first goal and not play from behind.

Kelvin Leerdam said he got through his 80+ minutes okay, though his hamstring is still not 100%. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he gets the game off tomorrow with McCrary coming back from his suspension. But at least Coach Brian Schemetzer has options now in defense and attack.