Bethany Balcer comes off the bench to scoring the deciding goal in added time, giving OL Reign a 1-0 win over Utah in third match of the NWSL Challenge Cup in Herriman, Utah. It's the first goal scored by the Reign after being blanked by Sky Blue (0-0) and Houston (0-2). Balcer enters in the 67th minute and in the first minute of added time she connects with a Nicole Momiki cross. Michelle Betos makes five saves for the shutout.

Allowing a pair of goals within six minutes stun the Sounders, who fall to Columbus, 3-0, in the MLS Cup Final at Mapfre Stadium. Lucas Zelarayán scores twice and Derrick Etienne adds another as Seattle, five days removed from an emotional semifinal victory, sustains its worst loss in 21 matches. The Crew opens the scoring in the 25th minute through Zelarayán. They quickly double the lead in the 31st minute when Etienne curls a shot home. The Sounders' eight-match postseason win streak ends. After scoring 11 times in their last four outings, they are held scoreless for the first time in nine games. Seattle joins D.C. United as the only clubs to reach four MLS Cup finals in five years.

The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) decides to end the 2019-2020 regular season effective immediately. The decision follows the direction seen in other professional sports across North America, along with directives and restrictions from local governments in MASL communities. For Tacoma, it comes with four games remaining on the schedule. Following Gov. Inslee's mandate of no gatherings of 250 or more people, the Stars had moved their March 13 home game to the Tacoma Soccer Center. On June 30, MASL names Monterrey (20-2) and Florida (18-3) divisional champions.

Beverly Yanez, one of the most popular and longstanding members of Reign FC, announces her retirement. Yanez, 31, played 129 matches, scoring 25 goals, since joining the club in 2014. She also played two years in WPS and three-plus seasons in Japan and Australia.

Cultures United is founded in south King County as a semiprofessional organization founded to develop underprivileged young players at no cost. Founded by Colombian immigrant Sebastian Diaz, Cultures United recruits players from the diverse area surrounding Kent, Auburn and Federal Way and is a deliberately welcoming club rooted in social justice and inclusion. It seeks to provide a pathway to athletic advancement while simultaneously empowering players to give back to the youth of their community.

Jesse Daley, a midfield fixture for Tacoma Defiance for three seasons, is given his release, enabling him to return home to Australia. Daley made 50 appearances for Tacoma since 2018. He joins Brisbane Roar, the club of his youth, two months later.

A late gush of goals gives Seattle a 3-0 win at Portland as regular season play resumes for the Sounders nearly four weeks after their exit from the MLS is Back Round of 16. Raul Ruidiaz figures in all the goals, scoring twice in the final 18 minutes. Kelvin Leerdam adds the third nail in the Timbers, who were coming off a tournament title in Orlando. To minimize health risks, the Sounders traveled via chartered flight to Portland in the afternoon and leave immediately after the match. Prior to kickoff, both teams kneel to recognize the global uprising sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minnesota police officer in May.

Tacoma City Council members approve a non-binding letter of intent for plans to build a $60 million professional women's soccer stadium in Tacoma's Heidelberg Park. In the letter, the Tacoma Soccer Club of Tacoma (TSCOT), made up of Sounders FC and the Tacoma Rainiers, propose that the City of Tacoma contribute $15 million in funding to the project, with $10 million paid up front and the rest paid over two years. The letter also proposes that Metro Parks of Tacoma contribute $7.5 million in funding. By late April, with the city and Metro Parks facing a potential $40 million budget shortfall, the project stalls, at least temporarily.

Coming from two goals down in the final 15 minutes, the Sounders reach their fourth MLS Cup final in five seasons by beating Minnesota United, 3-2, in the Western Conference final at Lumen Field. Gustav Svensson flicks a Nicolas Lodeiro corner kick from near post to far corner in the third minute of stoppage time, capping the rally. After the visitors forged a 2-nil lead, Will Bruin is substituted and almost immediately ignites the rally in the 75th minute. Raul Ruidiaz equalizes in the 89th. Svensson, also a substitute, was playing for the first time since testing positive for COVID after returning from international duty for Sweden.

Edmonds native Theresa (Wagner) Romagnolo is hired to take over the St. Mary’s women's program. Romangolo, who played at Washington, replaces Travis Clarke who was with the team from 2015-2019. In her first season as head coach of the Gaels, Romagnolo lead the team to a 4-4-3 overall record. In 2021 the Gaels go 10-4-4, their most wins since 2011.

It's an onslaught from the outset as the Sounders show no mercy in routing San Jose, 7-1, at Lumen Field. It's a record goal total for any competition and equals the margin of the 2014 Open Cup semifinal win over Chicago. Jordan Morris scores after four minutes. After 15 minutes it's 3-nil, and by halftime it's 5-0. Both Raul Ruidiaz and Joevin Jones bag a brace in pushing Seattle to the top of the West (5-2-3) to complete the second phase of the truncated regular season. Six more games will be added through November 8. Officials carefully monitor air quality before and during the match due to pervasive smoke from nearby wildfires.

Seattle-based Ekaterina Koroleva referees the NWSL Challenge Cup final between Houston and Chicago in Sandy, Utah. Koroleva, 33, has been serving on the frontlines of the COVID pandemic as a physician assistant in the emergency room of the Regional Medical Center in San Jose. She worked grueling 12-hour shifts for the first three months of the pandemic.

Sofia Huerta stakes OL Reign to an early lead and Leah Pruitt adds second-half insurance in a season-ending 2-0 closed-door, home win over the Utah Royals at Cheney Stadium. Shirley Cruz assists on both goals. The Reign finishes the NWSL Fall Series 1-2-1 and 2-3-4 altogether. They played the final four games without regulars Megan Rapinoe (opted out) Jodie Taylor (sold to Lyon), Lauren Barnes, Nicole Momiki, Rebecca Quinn, Jess Fishlock and Darian Jenkins. The latter five were loaned to clubs overseas. Utah relocates to Kansas City seven weeks later, following the club's sale.

OL Reign holds Sky Blue to a scoreless draw in the NWSL Challenge Cup opener for both sides in Herriman, Utah. Jasmyne Spencer's breakaway attempt in the 85th minute is thwarted by Sky Blue keeper Kailen Sheridan. Reign is playing without Megan Rapinoe, who opted out of the tournament. The NWSL is the first U.S. professional team sport to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Former Reign coach Laura Harvey, 39, is named U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team coach. Harvey had spent the past two seasons as Utah Royals head coach. She is about begin the U.S. Soccer Pro License Course and is the second female candidate. On Jan. 9, former Washington State coach Matt Potter is named U23 WNT coach following eight seasons at Oklahoma.

About a hundred socially-distanced Sounders fans wearing masks to protect against the spread of COVID-19 gather outside Starfire Sports as the team departs for Florida and the MLS is Back tournament. Some pledge support and others make a last-ditch plea to not participate. Emerald City Supporters organize the sendoff, which features banners that read "We Stand With You," "Plz Don't Die," and "Sports Aren't Worth Lives."

Washington Youth Soccer postpones all games in the Regional Club League and state cup tournaments. The Greater Seattle Soccer League joins other adult leagues throughout the state in suspending play due to the growing COVID-19 outbreak. The GSSL halts games through April 3 and later makes it indefinite. Recreational Adult Team Soccer (RATS) had canceled its season the previous day.

Danny Waltman’s 15-save performance in goal earns the Tacoma Stars goalkeeper the MASL All-Star Game MVP award in Kansas City. The 39-year-old Waltman, who played for the Missouri Comets until moving back home in 2015, helps the West win, 9-4. He has played indoor since 2004. The Stars' Mike Ramos contributes two assists.

The National Women’s Soccer League announces a return to action for all nine clubs with the NWSL Challenge Cup. The 25-game tournament will kick off on June 27 at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, with the tournament semifinals and Final presented by Budweiser played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. No spectators will be in attendance and the teams will live and train in a quarantined environment. Five days prior to the tournament, Orlando withdraws after six players and four staff members test positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announces radical changes to its 2020-21 sports calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic. Girls soccer, among the sports typically played in fall, is now scheduled for spring 2021 in the WIAA’s new Season 3. A seven-week regular season will start March 8, followed by one postseason week. Traditional spring sports such as boys soccer will start later than usual, in Season 4. A seven-week regular season will begin May 3 with postseason events happening the final weekend in June 2021.

The International Football Association Board makes a temporary amendment to the Laws of the Game based on a FIFA proposal seeking to protect player welfare. A temporary amendment to Law 3 will allow for a maximum of five substitutes to be made per team. However, to avoid disruption to the game, each team will only have three opportunities to make substitutions . Substitutions may also be made at halftime. The change applies to competitions which have either started or are intended to start, but are scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2020.

MLS announces its schedule for the initial phase of the regular season's continuation, beginning with an initial phase of six matches starting in late August. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis, Seattle home matches will be played without fans. Play is regionalized and all flights are via charter, with visiting teams arriving and departing on matchday. Three more games will be announced in September. Playoffs will expand from 14 to 18 teams and the MLS Cup final is pushed back five weeks to Dec. 12.

Tacoma Defiance plays its second match of the season behind closed doors at Cheney Stadium to comply with Governor Jay Inslee's mandate earlier that day to halt all gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. San Diego Loyal defeats Tacoma, 2-1, with a few determined fans watching from beyond the fences. Also, the Sounders postpone their March 21 home match with Dallas. The Governor ordered the measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Earlier in the day, Washington's Coronavirus-related deaths reached 29.

Nicole Van Dyke is hired as Washington’s third head coach in program history after spending the past five seasons leading Pennsylvania of the Ivy League. Van Dyke guided the Quakers to one Ivy League championship and a record of 41-24-15. Prior to Penn, she was rooted on the West Coast, beginning as a player at Cal State Bakersfield and her first head coaching position, at 23, with Cal State Stanislaus. From 2011-14 Van Dyke served on the Stanford staff, her final season as associate head coach. The Cardinal won their first NCAA title in 2011 and reached the semifinals two of the next three seasons. Van Dyke succeeds Lesle Gallimore, who coached the Huskies for 26 seasons and 15 NCAA tournament berths.

Following a 125-day suspension in play, the Sounders resume play following the COVID-19 outbreak. Seattle draws, 0-0, with San Jose at the MLS is Back tournament near Orlando. The break is longer than the offseason between 2019 MLS Cup and 2020 league opener (112 days).

Gov. Jay Inslee announces a set of protocols allowing for resumption of outdoor recreation, including youth soccer. Full training sessions and league games may be played provided the respective county's COVID-19 metrics are followed. All drills and small-sided games should have as little physical contact as possible. Tackling, shielding, etc. should not be included in small-sided games or drills. No high-fives, handshakes, or hugs are permitted. Players, coaches, and any spectators should wear a mask before, during, and after practice.

Five clubs from throughout Washington find a new home in the Girls Academy league, set to begins in fall 2020. Following the shuttering of the USDA in April, the new member-led GA included Reign Academy, ISC Gunners, Spokane Sounders, Washington Timbers and Eastern Washington Surf among its 59 members. Former Washington Huskies coach Lesle Gallimore is chosen as the first GA Commissioner in June 2020.

CD Olimpia of Honduras finds a late road equalizer and goes on to eliminate Sounders FC from the Concacaf Champions League on penalties, 2-2 (4-2), in a Round of 16 match at CenturyLink Field. Carlos Pineda scores from distance in the 86th minute. Seattle, fighting back from an early 1-nil deficit, takes the lead through Cristian Roldan and new DP signing João Paulo. The two sides had also tied the first leg, 2-2, a week earlier in San Pedro Sula.

Seattle Pacific University is selected as the host institution for the 2022 Division II Fall Championships Festival that will determine six national team title winners, including men's and women's soccer at Interbay Stadium. The events will take place during the final week of November and first week of December in 2022. SPU first hosted predetermined NCAA Division II championships in 1974 and '75.

Just as the Sounders are about to depart for Houston aboard a charter flight, Major League Soccer suspends play for a minimum of 30 days due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Seattle's third match is scheduled for March 14 against the Dynamo. The move comes 14 hours after the NBA halted play and four hours after Spain's La Liga canceled its next two match days. By day's end, the NCAA cancels all winter and spring championships, including the Division I basketball tournaments. England's Premier League and Germany's Bundesliga suspend play the following day.

In an effort to help local communities as they struggle with the adverse impacts brought on by the spread of the novel coronavirus, Seattle Sounders FC launch a relief fund, with an initial investment of $500,000 from Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and his family. The fund targets neighborhoods impacted by the club’s lack of matches, including SoDo, Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District. By year-end the fund raises and donates over $1.1 million for 134 small businesses, 785 individuals and five nonprofits located in neighborhoods surrounding Lumen Field.

Former Reign coach Laura Harvey, 39, is named U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team coach. Harvey had spent the past two seasons as Utah Royals head coach. She is about begin the U.S. Soccer Pro License Course and is the second female candidate. On Jan. 9, former Washington State coach Matt Potter is named U23 WNT coach following eight seasons at Oklahoma.

Playing in its first competitive action in over four months, Tacoma Defiance (0-2-1, 1 point) comes from behind to earn a 3-3 draw at Sacramento Republic FC. Ray Serrano gets the late equalizer. Alec Diaz scores in the match's first minute and Jesse Daley, with Tacoma down 3-1, sparks the comeback with a goal in the 57th minute. Serrano ties it in the 81st. It is Tacoma's first match since USL suspended play March 12 due to COVID-19.

The National Women's Soccer League announces that the scheduled April 18 start to the 2020 regular season will be delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There is also an extension of the training moratorium for all clubs through at least April 5. OL Reign had been slated to open April 18 at Washington, with a home opener of May 3 vs. Chicago at Tacoma's Cheney Stadium.

Sounders co-captain Nicolas Lodeiro and forwards Jordan Morris and Raul Ruidiaz are voted to Major League Soccer’s Best XI team. It is the first time Seattle has three first-team members in a single season. In 2014, defender Chad Marshall and forward Obafemi Martins both were Best XI. Lodeiro finished the regular season with seven goals and 10 assists. Six assists were for game-winning scores. Morris scored 10 goals and a career-best eight assists. Ruidiaz finished with a team-leading 12 goals and four assists, appearing in just 17 matches due to absences with Peru's national team.

Behind Alec Diaz's brace, Tacoma Defiance scores its second shutout win over Portland in 16 days, 4-0, at Providence Park. Diaz, the 18-year-old who also scored in 3-0 home win vs. the Timbers 2 on July 18, converts in each half. Captain Taylor Mueller and Chino Pérez add goals in Tacoma's first road win of 2020. Christian Herrera makes four saves.

The Sounders add a new Designated Player, signing Brazilian midfielder João Paulo, 28. João Paulo spent the past three seasons with Rio de Janeiro's Botafogo. He joins Nicolás Lodeiro and Raúl Ruidíaz as Seattle's current DPs and is the club's 15th DP since 2009.

A temporary field hospital begins to take shape at Shoreline's A/B soccer fields. The 200-bed emergency facility is designed for use by people unable to isolate and recover from COVID-19 in their own homes. Two weeks later, an emergency, 250-bed field hospital is erected in CenturyLink Field Event Center to handle a potential overflow of non-COVID-19 patients from area medical centers that could soon be overwhelmed amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo, widely regarded as the top player at her position in the history of the women's game, is not elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first appearance on the ballot. Solo, whose career ended in 2016, received votes on 57.3% of ballots for the class of 2020. The minimum requirement for selection is 66.7%.

After a search of nearly three months, Reign FC announces that Fared Benstiti, 53, is the new head coach, succeeding Vlatko Andonovski. Benstiti is a native of Lyon, France, and he both played for Olympique Lyonnais and coached the OL women's team for nine years. OL Groupe became majority owner of the Reign in 2019. Since beginning his coaching career in 2001, Benstiti has won domestic championships with clubs in France, Russia and China, and he took both OL and Paris Saint-Germain to UEFA Champions League finals.

A late, retaken Raul Ruidiaz penalty enables Seattle a 1-1 home draw with Columbus in what proves to be the final Sounders match prior to MLS suspending the season due to the global pandemic. Ruidiaz converts his second attempt in the 79th minute after Crew keeper Eloy Room, after saving the initial spot kick, is judged to have come off his line early by referee Jair Marrufo. The announced attendance of 33,080 is 8,000 lower than Seattle's first home match as many fans stay home and many of those attending are wearing masks or scarves covering their mouth and nose. Washington State Department of Health confirms earlier in the day 136 COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths, most in King County.

Mike Ramos scores two goals, assists on two others, figuring in three of five unanswered goals in Tacoma’s 7-6 win over previously undefeated Monterrey at accesso ShoWare Center. Barely 30 seconds after the Flash go up 5-2 with three straight second-quarter scores, the comeback begins with a Raphael Cox goal before intermission. Vince McCluskey and Alex Megson brings matters level by the end of the third period before Nick Perera and Ramos put the Stars on top to stay. Monterrey (13-1) entered the match 8 games ahead of Tacoma (5-7) in the Western Division standings.

Former All-America forward and U.S. international Tina Frimpong Ellertson joins the University of Washington women's program as an assistant coach. Frimpong Ellertson is the UW career leader in goals and total points, earning Pac-12 Player of the Year honors in 2003 and 2004.

Jordan Morris is inserted after halftime and proves to be the difference as the Sounders open defense of MLS Cup with a 2-1 win over Chicago at CenturyLink Field. With Seattle trailing, Morris needs 17 minutes to equalize on a Cristian Roldan cross. In stoppage time, Morris gets the winner by nodding home a João Paulo corner kick. The crowd of 40,126 sees the trophy paraded into the stadium prior to the unfurling of the championship banner won less than four months earlier.

Sounders FC holds its first full team training session at Starfire Sports following four weeks of voluntary individual workouts and small group training sessions. Two days earlier, the league announced the regular season restart for July 8, with a tournament to be held behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Play has been suspended since March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reign FC rebrands as OL Reign FC, signifying the NWSL club's new majority owner, France's OL Groupe. It's the third iteration of the Reign, known as Seattle Reign from 2013-2018. The rebranding also features a new color scheme – red, white and blue – and a badge featuring a lion, again consistent with OL Groupe's Olympique Lyonnais men's and women's teams.

OL Reign opens preseason training in Missoula, on the University of Montana campus, in preparations for the NWSL Challenge Cup. Per state health guidelines, no county in Washington State permits gatherings of more than five individuals, prompting the Reign to identify an alternative location. They will remain in Missoula until three days prior to their first match in Utah.

Morgan Weaver of University Place and Washington State is picked No. 2 overall by Portland in the NWSL Draft. Weaver scored 42 goals in four seasons, leading the Cougars to their first NCAA College Cup in 2019. The All-America forward becomes the highest selection of any Washington player by any U.S. women's league. Kirkland's Sam Hiatt, Stanford defender, goes to Reign FC in the fourth round.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both NCAA Division II and Division III soccer championships are canceled along with all other men's and women's fall sports. Division I makes the same determination on August 13. NCAA President Mark Emmert says the NCAA would prioritize staging championships in winter and spring sports because those were canceled when COVID-19 first spiked across the United States in March.

Sounders Women and Sounders U23 co-owner and CEO Lane Smith announces that both programs will rebrand as Sound Football Club. The Sounders Women play in the Women's Premier Soccer League and the men's U23s are members of USL League Two. Both entities had operated under the Sounders FC brand association, but the MLS club informed Smith the agreement would be terminated after the 2019 season. Sound FC, a premier club chartered to represent the South Snohomish County and Northshore Youth Soccer associations, formed in 2019 from a merger between Greater Seattle Surf, FC Alliance and Northwest Nationals.

Returning to Cheney Stadium for the first time in seven weeks, Tacoma Defiance clinches a season series win over Portland, 2-1. Ethan Dobbelaere starts matters in motion, scoring his first goal of the season in the 28th minute. Azriel Gonzalez increases the lead in the 85th minute, 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute. The fixture marks Tacoma's first match at home since July 18. Defiance win three of four meetings with T2.

OL Reign acquires the NWSL rights to U.S. international midfielder Rose Lavelle, currently under contract to England's Manchester City. Lavelle, 25, had spent three seasons with the Washington Spirit. Her rights are obtained in exchange for the Reign’s 2022 natural first round draft pick, $100,000 in allocation money, and additional allocation money conditioned upon Lavelle’s future playing status in the NWSL. She earned the Bronze Ball at the 2019 World Cup after scoring three goals, including one in the championship final. While still a collegian, Lavelle played the 2015 summer with the Seattle Sounders Women.

The NCAA Division I Council approves a package of proposals to move the 2020 fall championships, including men's and women's soccer, to the spring of 2021. Following a thorough review, the recommendation is to fill the brackets at 75 percent of their normal capacities.