One ticket gets fans double dose of Seattle-Portland soccer rivalry

Turns out, a little explainer is necessary when it comes to the Seattle-Portland rivalry.

No, the roses hanging from the OL Reign locker room ceiling aren’t part of a “The Bachelorette” promo. No, any bundles of wood spotted aren’t for a late-night party on Alki Beach.

And no, Saturday isn’t just a regular match day — it’s the second Cascadia doubleheader where the Sounders will host the Portland Timbers in an MLS matinee at Lumen Field and the Reign will follow with an NWSL nightcap against the Portland Thorns FC.

For the uninitiated, chopping wood and stomping on roses are how fans get into the act of beating Portland, also known as “Rose City.”

“Keeping our traditions alive is really important,” said Reign defender Lu Barnes, who’s logged 2,604 minutes against Portland since entering the league and club in 2013. “When new players come in and they see this (roses) and are like ‘What? This is different.’ They can feel the environment we’ve created around these games, which is important, and we hope that they carry it on after we leave.”

Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer wondered aloud if his team still felt the rivalry after a 4-1 loss in Portland in April. His coaching staff used a video session Friday as a refresher course of history that began in 1975 when Portland established its first men’s team — a year after Seattle, of course.

“You have to explain it a little bit, but after the first five, 10 minutes of the game it’s pretty darn obvious,” said Sounders midfielder Kelyn Rowe, who’s from Federal Way and played youth soccer in the Pacific Northwest. “I remember people coming in and playing Oregon teams when we were youths and being like, ‘Nah, Washington is better than Oregon.’ It just comes out of you because you had to drive two hours to play a game in a different state but we had better water and you had it in your mind like, ‘Who are these guys?’ We already sit on top of the castle in geography.”  

Saturday is intended to celebrate the derby with one ticket providing entry to both matches. The inaugural version was in 2021 where a then-NWSL record 27,248 witnessed the Reign defeat the Thorns. The crowd ballooned to 45,737 for the Sounders’ loss to the Timbers to wrap the event that also featured music and food trucks.

The Reign were visitors at the time, playing home matches at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. The club is in its second season with Lumen as its home turf, drawing a record 9,219 fans for the opener in April.  

“We’re finally settled,” Barnes said. “Last year we did well. How we continue to do that is doubleheaders. Representation is really important … having their support is really important. It’s been a Sounders town for a really long time, being able to collab like this [makes] it become a soccer city, which is really hopeful for women’s sports.”

On the field, it’s the Reign (5-3-1) that are taking the lead. The women haven’t lost to Portland since 2019. The Thorns do enter as the defending league champions while the Reign won the NWSL Shield last season for the best overall record.

The Sounders (8-6-2) haven’t defeated their rival at Lumen since June 2017. The last meeting was a meltdown where the Sounders conceded four goals in the final 20 minutes of the match.

In fact, the Sounders might need the win Saturday more than the Reign. The men have lost three of their past four matches at Lumen this season. The Timbers are winless in their past three matches and 1-5-2 on the road.

“Reality says they’ve had our number, so I’m glad one Seattle franchise is doing the business,” Schmetzer said. “I hope our guys respond in a big way after a disappointing result on Wednesday [a 1-0 loss to San Jose at Lumen].”

The Reign have an opportunity to move into first in the NWSL table with a win, but so do the Thorns. Portland leads the league in goals (23) and assists (17).

“After the disappointing game against Gotham, we went back and spoke about our foundation as a team of being defensively hard to beat,” Reign coach Laura Harvey said of turning around a 4-1 home loss to NJ/NY to back-to-back wins, conceding one goal. “That’s just the blueprint of what this team is about. It won’t change for who we’re playing against.”

The opponent being Portland simply makes it more fun to execute.

“Make it awful for Portland, that’s what we want,” Barnes said.