The Sounders victory also snapped a two game winless streak to English clubs after a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland in 2005 and a 1-1 draw against Cardiff City last season. The Seattle offense continued its recent strong play by scoring two more goals and raising their three-game total to eight.

Preston North End, one of the founding members of the English League, is on a preseason tour of the America and caught the Sounders off-guard with strong play in the first half.

Preston struck first in the 23rd minute on an impressive individual effort from Agyemang. The Ghana international received the ball at the top of the box and, after his quick double step-over lost defender Taylor Graham, Agyemang drove a shot into the side netting to give Preston North End the 1-0 advantage.

In an evenly played first half, the Sounders offense struggled to break down a strong Preston defense.

Midfielder Josh Gardner provided the Sounders best effort in the 36th minute when he blasted a shot to the near post from 20 yards out that Preston goalkeeper Chris Neal punched away for a corner kick.

Seattle came charging out of the gates to start the second half.

The Sounders broke through to tie the game in the 50th minute when Hugo Alcaraz-Cueller knocked in a goal after a bizarre sequence that saw the Sounders hit the crossbar twice. Gardner streaked down the left sideline to start the sequence and swung in a cross that Greg Howes headed not once, but twice, consecutively against the Preston crossbar. Roger Levesque then tapped the ball to Alcaraz-Cueller, who cracked a shot past a few diving Preston defenders to even the game at 1-1.

Seattle grabbed the lead shortly after in the 56th minute on Josh Gardner’s first goal as a Sounder. Cutting in from his left midfield position, Gardner received a pass from Levesque and hit a shot that deflected off a Preston defender and into the Preston goal. The assist was Levesque’s second of the night and fifth in the last three games.

Preston North End turned up the pressure looking for the equalizer.

Midfielder Simon Whaley nearly did just that in the 76th minute with a 30 yard cracker, but second-half substitute Ben Dragavon leaped sideways to tip the ball over the bar.

Both sides sent out a flurry of substitutes in the second half as Seattle held on for the exhibition win.

The next regular season game for the Seattle Sounders is Saturday, July 27th at the Vancouver Whitecaps in a nationally televised game on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 8pm.

Scoring Summary Agyemang 16, Alcaraz-Cueller (Levesque) 50, Gardner (Levesque) 56

Lineups

SEA: Chris Eylander (Ben Dragavon 45), Zach Scott (Nate Boyden 84), Noah Merl (Adam West 45), Taylor Graham, Kevin Sakuda (Jake Besagno), Kenji Treschuk, Josh Gardner (Santa Maria Rivera 59), Leighton O’Brien, Hugo Alcaraz-Cueller (Gabe Sturm 84), Greg Howes (Nathan Knox 59), Roger Levesque (Craig Tomlinson 73)

PNE: Chris Neal, Billy Jones, Matty Hill (Graham Alexander 85), Jason Jarrett (Nowland 73), Sean St. Ledger, Liam Chilvers, Simon Whaley, Chris Sedgwick (Danny Pugh 77), Pat Agyemang (Joe Anyinsah 73), Brett Ormerod, Lewis Neal

Shots – SEA:7 PNE:9

Saves – SEA:3 PNE:3

Fouls – SEA:7 PNE:14

Offsides – SEA:3 PNE:1

Corners – SEA:2 PNE:4

Cautions – Treschuk 34, Jarrett 39

Ejections –

Attendance – 3,390