With Seattle’s Lumen Field undergoing renovations ahead of this summer’s FIFA Men’s World Cup, the Sounders and Reign needed to find a temporary solution for home matches. The organizations ultimately decided on a tiny, intimate venue on the state’s opposite side in Spokane rather than searching farther for something bigger.
For Sounders General Manager & Chief Soccer Officer Craig Waibel, the decision was an easy one.
“We are Washington’s teams,” said Waibel. “We’re no one else’s teams…We want our people to know how much we care about them.
“The one request and the one thing that we knew we were going to get and the one thing we always want more of is fan support,” he continued. “We just love to bring our game to more people. We don’t get to do this very often.”
The Sounders treated their Eastern Washington fans to a show on Wednesday night at ONE Spokane Stadium, defeating rival Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in Leg 2 of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 and advancing to the quarterfinals via a 5-1 aggregate score line. It was an opportunity to reward Sounders fans who exist beyond the immediate Seattle area.
“The Eastern side of this state is a good soccer community,” said Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “Obviously [the stadium] is a little smaller, but it was loud. I appreciated all the Sounders fans that were in the building…This is a great venue, and people in Spokane were treated tonight with a good performance, a good game.”
Winger Paul Rothrock scored the match-winner in the 83rd minute in what was a special sort of homecoming for him as well. He grew up in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, but his father is from Spokane, and his grandmother still lives in the area.
“The atmosphere was great,” said Rothrock. “I had a number of family here…I was happy we won for them too.”
Wednesday’s showcase was just the beginning for Seattle soccer in Spokane. The Reign will host three matches at ONE Spokane Stadium beginning on March 25 against the Kansas City Current. The Reign then welcome Racing Louisville on March 28 and close with Denver Summit on April 4.
“We are really genuinely excited to be here,” said Reign General Manager Lesle Gallimore. “We just want to collaborate with other soccer people in the state. It’s one family, one game. With the World Cup coming this summer and the national team playing in Lumen, I’m excited to show the global and professional game to new fans.”
Schmetzer mentioned he would speak to Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey and give her the rundown on the field and experience. After Wednesday’s wonderful showing, he called on supporters to bring that same energy for the Reign next week.
“The fans are going to see some top soccer,” said Schmetzer. “They saw some top men’s soccer tonight, and they should come and support the Reign because the Reign are a good team with a bunch of good, young players. I’m hopeful that the people come out and support them as well.”
