There's been no formal announcement from the Seattle Sounders, but goalkeeper Josh Ford has been loaned to the USL Pro's OC Blues. At least, that's the hard-to-avoid fact based on Ford registering a shutout and an assist in the Blues' 1-0 win over the OKC Energy on Saturday. As if that wasn't enough, the Blues also announced the loan over the weekend.

UPDATE: Here's a video of said assist.

Add it all up and it seems pretty official.

It also makes a lot of sense. Ford has shown a lot of promise since the Sounders picked him in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, but various injuries have made it virtually impossible for him to get anything resembling regular playing time. Over parts of four seasons, Ford has never made a MLS appearance and only even has a handful of reserve games under his belt. He's currently the No. 3 goalkeeper on the Sounders, meaning that his mostly relegating to whatever minutes he can get in training sessions.

The loan to the Blues is obviously designed to get Ford some minutes at a time in his career when he needs them badly. There's no question that Ford has the physical tools to be a very good MLS goalkeeper. Now he just needs to show that he can stay healthy and perform when given the chance.