Sounders coach Sigi Schmid seemed much more enthusiastic about what he saw from his lineup tonight than he seemed after the win in Portland last week. Then, Schmid praised the overall unit for it’s victory, but didn’t seem to have seen anyone jump out to the degree that might have forced Schmid to accommodate him in his regular MLS lineup.

Tonight Schmid seemed more impressed, not just with the overall effort in the 2-0 win over LA, but with some individual parts — notably teenage rookie Miguel Montano, but perhaps others. The word “tremendous” was spoken twice.

Here’s some of what Schmid had to say about how tonight’s performances might affect future lineup decisions:

“Obviously a lot of guys made a pretty strong case for themselves tonight.”

And then later:

“The guys today put in a pretty good claim for getting on the field again.”

On Montano: “Tremendous. He was out of gas when he came out, but really the first goal was his goal. It was his effort all the way through, but Nate put it in and put it over the line. But the second goal was just a great cross to the back post to Nate and he whipped it in. But on top of that we also got a great defensive effort from him. He kept pressure on the Galaxy offensively and defensively and that’s what you want from your wide guys.”

On Jaqua: “Obviously he can make a difference. He’s a different type of forward than what we had. Our injuries this year have been right up the middle of the field: Nate and Kennedy in the back, Evans and Alonso in the middle of midfield, and that’s the heart and the nucleus of your team, that’s not where you want to have injuries. So obviously Nate being back, he’s putting a lot of heart and soul into it. He’s been tremendous.”

On his back four: “I thought they were solid. I thought Parke and Ianni kept it together in the middle of the field. Again, if you’re playing against a guy like Donovan it changes the equation a little bit. But I thought Tyson was good tonight, and I thought Zach Scott had a very good game at right back and was solid. But again the aggressiveness: They were pushed up, they kept the game small, and that makes it easier for us to play.”

On Terry Boss: I thought Terry did pretty well. There was one ball he should have punched that he tried to catch, and then he came off his line a little bit and made himself big and ended up making maybe a little bit of a fortunate save. But once you commit yourself you’ve got to go all the way. Outside of that, I thought he was good in terms of marshaling his defense, organizing them I thought he was solid for his first game. Obviously, he kicks the ball well, that helps us at times to get the ball out of the back.

And a few words from some other Sounders:

JAQUA on carrying this over to league play: “We’ve just got to come out with the same mentality we’ve come out with in the two Open Cup games where we really battle and fight for on another. If we can do that, we can turn this around.”

MONTANO on his game: “Very good. Very well. In reality, very well. The first play that I did, it went well. After that I caught more confidence. … I’m calm. I know (my first goal is) going to happen. Keep calm and eventually in one of these games it will come.”

BOSS on his performace: “I think the guys that played in front of me did an excellent job. I wasn’t, obviously, super busy. A couple decision on crosses probably could be cleaned up a little bit. It’s a tight field so things come in a little bit faster than on a normal field. And it’s just one of those things, getting game-time decisions and making better, quicker, faster decisions. But the guys fought really hard in front on me and I’m just so thankful for their effort. I think it’s just good for Seattle and us to keep moving in the U.S. Open Cup. … You can simulate as much as practice as you want, but nothing is the same as the game. It’s definitely nice. Every minute logged is a minute I’m better for at the end of the day. … I knew (Tuesday that I was starting) and I was happy. That’s why we play. We want to be on the field. Obviously I’m in a situation where Kasey’s the No. 1 and I’m learning so much from him. Everyday I’m better because of him.”