afootballreport:

Welcome to Cascadia

Can two teams have a rivalry if they’ve never played before? Ask any of the more than 16,000 fans who attended Sunday’s Portland Thorns match against the Seattle Reign, the NWSL’s first foray into the deep-rooted Cascadia soccer rivalry, and the answer would likely be a resounding yes.

While the United States regularly assembles one of the world’s more talented women’s national teams, success on the international stage has not led to a prosperous domestic league. From the WUSA to the WPS, and the WPSL to the nascent NWSL, women’s soccer in the United States has always struggled to find long-term sustainability.

But if the show of support in the Thorns’ home debut is any indication, there’s good reason to wager on the NWSL’s vision for the future.

Here’s to the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign, for providing a good day for Cascadia, a good day for women’s soccer in the US, and a good day for the game overall. Oh, and here’s a full replay of the match available for all on YouTube. [Posted by Maxi]

And here I was thinking it was impossible to fall more in love with Portland Soccer having never been there… So. Freaking. Cool.