The Seattle Sounders' Leagues Cup journey is officially over following Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Chivas Guadalajara in their Phase One finale at Lumen Field.

While they didn't advance to the knockout rounds and there will be no repeat for the Rave Green, the tournament still provided some interesting developments, particularly from the young players who took advantage of their opportunities and made an impression. With the squad now turning their focus back to the MLS season, here are four youngsters who emerged from Leagues Cup with their stock on the rise.

Gallatin Sandnes

Of all the young Sounders who got a chance to make an impression, Sandnes might be the most intriguing.

With any young center back, particularly projecting him against MLS and Concacaf competition, there's a threshold question before you even get into the fine points: Does he physically look like he can play at this level? Sandnes definitely has the height to go with legitimate pace and athleticism, meaning we don't have to project to see that he already checks that box. The raw materials are all there.

He also made his first Sounders start a memorable one, scoring Seattle's lone goal 13 minutes into the match, finishing off a well-worked corner-kick routine started by Jesus Ferreira, then assisted with a header back across goal from Tino Lopez.

The moment carried some extra significance for Sandnes, a local product who spoke after the match about his upbringing in North Seattle near the University of Washington. Getting to score in his first start for his hometown club made for a fitting introduction to the first team.

Sandnes' emergence also adds to what is suddenly becoming an intriguing group of young center backs in Seattle. Lopez has already earned significant first-team minutes, Stuart Hawkins has impressed during his recent opportunities, and now Sandnes has shown why he's another prospect worth keeping an eye on.

There's still plenty to learn about him as he develops. But when the starting point is a center back with his combination of size, speed and athleticism, there's a lot to work with.

Stuart Hawkins

For the last couple of years, Hawkins has been more of a theoretical prospect. An idea, if you will.

The Sounders have long been high on the 19-year-old center back, and he's become a regular on the US youth international circuit, but first-team opportunities never seemed to arrive as the club waited for Hawkins to fill out physically. Now that he's added some bulk and injuries have forced Seattle to dip down the depth chart, Hawkins is finally getting an opportunity to show what all the hype was about.

So far, I'd argue he's making the most of it.

There have been some understandable learning moments with his positioning and 1v1 defending, but Hawkins has held his own about as well as one could reasonably expect from a teenage center back getting his first real run of first-team minutes. More importantly, the physical concerns that previously kept him off the field haven't prevented him from competing at this level.

But the most intriguing part of Hawkins' game has been his passing.

Hawkins has consistently shown the ability to break lines and hit ambitious passes from deep, giving him a potentially high-level weapon that separates him from the typical young center back. He helped create one of Seattle's few goals during their recent losing streak with a line-breaking pass at Austin FC, then produced an even more audacious moment against Chivas.

Stationed way out on the flank, Hawkins curled an outside-the-foot delivery around a defender and directly into the path of forward Osaze De Rosario in the penalty area. De Rosario couldn't finish the chance, but the service itself was a legitimate head-turner, the type of pass you rarely see attempted, much less executed, by a center back from that area of the field.

That ability gives Hawkins an identifiable standout trait as he continues developing the rest of his game. Plenty of young players can eventually become competent across the board, but the best prospects tend to have something they can do at an eventually elite level. Hawkins' distribution is increasingly looking like it could be that for him.

Sebastian Gomez

Seattle doesn't need Gomez to be Pedro De La Vega. But with De La Vega sidelined, they could certainly use someone capable of doing a few De La Vega-like things.

That's exactly why Gomez might have the clearest pathway to helping the Sounders right now out of everyone on this list. With Brian Schmetzer officially announcing on Friday that De La Vega's season is most likely over due to a serious quad injury, Gomez's prospective role becomes all the more clear.

With De La Vega's latest absence, Seattle are left without much in the way of a traditional winger skill set. Jesus Ferreira can operate from wide areas, but if he's playing with Albert Rusnák, he's at his best drifting inside and combining as more of a dual 10. He's not really the type of winger who is going to repeatedly isolate a defender, take him on 1v1, and create danger from the touchline.

Gomez, meanwhile, has shown signs that he can provide some of those elements.

The 19-year-old offered a glimpse of his skill set in Seattle's 3-0 win over Querétaro, crashing the back post to score his first senior goal before setting up Rusnák for the third. Beyond the goal contributions, he's shown a willingness to take on defenders from wide areas and, crucially, the ability to win some of those matchups.

It would be unreasonable to expect Gomez to replace De La Vega, who, for all his injury troubles, is clearly Seattle's most dynamic attacking player when healthy. But he doesn't need to replicate that overall quality or production to potentially help replace an element of his skill set.

At a time when the Sounders' attack has often looked stagnant and predictable, there's value in simply having someone willing to run at a defender and try to make something happen. Gomez plays with that type of audacity, and it makes him fun to watch in addition to potentially filling a legitimate need.

Charlie Gaffney

Gaffney didn't need a goal or an assist to make his presence felt against Chivas.

Making his first-team debut, the 23-year-old local product played with the type of energy you'd expect from a kid getting the opportunity of a lifetime. Gaffney tore around the field with seemingly nothing to lose, pressing and chasing down every available ball. At one point, he even blocked a Chivas goal kick and nearly turned the ricochet into a goal.

It was certainly not enough to make any sweeping conclusions about Gaffney as a player. But his performance was notable for what it represented. His enthusiasm was impossible to miss, and it took on added significance after Brian Schmetzer's post-match comments, when he said he specifically looked toward Seattle's veteran players and pointed to the effort and energy the youngsters brought to the field as the standard he expects from everyone.

For a Sounders team that has struggled badly for form and consistency in recent weeks, that message felt telling. Schmetzer was effectively challenging his established players to match the hunger being displayed by the kids trying to earn their place, and few embodied that mentality more visibly against Chivas than Gaffney.

That doesn't necessarily mean Gaffney is suddenly destined for first-team minutes. But it does suggest more opportunities for young players willing to force the issue, as we've already seen with a guy like Peter Kingston.

If Schmetzer is looking for players who can inject urgency and energy into a team that badly needs both, Gaffney has shown he understands the assignment.