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Nowak: Union 'afraid to score the second goal'

Photos, postgame audio and video highlights from the Union's 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders. Plus some bonus interviews from the Independence's rained-out home opener.

I figure everyone who was at PPL Park yesterday afternoon is still recovering from being drenched.

And if, like me, you went over to Widener afterwards, you got soaked even further.

As the rain came down harder and harder in Chester, we also got a few rounds of thunder and lightning. Every time there was a bolt of lightning, the Independence kickoff was delayed by 30 minutes.

Eventually, at around 7:45, the game was called off. I hope it was a coincidence that the announcement was made about five mintues after I got into the press box at Leslie Quick Stadium.

So I will let the players and coaches who actually had to be on the field amid the mess do the bulk of the talking today. In the audio player below, you can hear from a number of players and coaches from the Union, Sounders and Independence.

Here's my game story for the Sunday Inquirer. Do me (and yourself) a favor and go pick up a copy in addition to reading it online. With so much going on across the local sports landscape yesterday, there are plenty of good stories worth reading.

I'll also give you this block quote from Peter Nowak that I think will generate a bit of conversation.

I think at some point we've got to realize to not be afraid to score the second goal. It seems like we're trying to manage [the game], and also give those players enough freedom to explore their options, to go forward and have a good possession game as well. And in some capacity, maybe it's just back in their heads that we are still winning. But winning doesn't mean that we need to go in a shell and just defend, because it's not going to happen.

We tried to encourage them the whole week, and give them enough freedom in a game so that in certain situations, we can still keep the ball rolling and create some chances. I think we did a better job today than in other games, but in some cases we didn't see the openings that we were supposed to see. Then the whole thing slows down, and all of a sudden we don't have an idea of where to go.

It's repetition, repetition - practice, practice, practice. That's only what is going to get us better. It was difficult to play with the wind and also the rain, - we didn't expect to play a beautiful game. But still, simple passes from A to B need to be delivered, and we need to have an idea of where we're going with the ball. As much as we tried during the whole week to work on that, there's still a lot of work to do.

Finally, here are video highlights from the game. I'll be back tomorrow with my Take Two analysis.