The End of a Season

No, not the holiday season.  It's just getting going!

This season. The one that began on March 8th, on a cold rainy day in late winter. 

Making it to this season opening match had been my goal in the process of recovering from back surgery just five weeks before. 

The day before the match we took my annual scarf photo and I declared myself good to go!

We watched the March to the Match from the stadium that day, the only one we missed marching in. 

It was a lot more pleasant on this day in May, as we "dined" on the upper terrace.  This year we moved up to the third level, so no more sitting in the cold rain of early spring and fall or the heat of summer. 

 The stadium glows as we leave the match and move off into the city.

June brought sunny warmth.  Oh, yes, there is always Starbucks.  Some fans pre-func with beer.  We do coffee. 

 Love that score!  There were lots of wins to celebrate this season.  
There's nothing quite like the roar of the crowd of 40,000 when we finally score a goal.  

Before every match we gathered in Occidental Park for the March to the Match.  In July we were all in shorts and jerseys.

 I love the pageantry of it all, the clapping and chanting as the players march onto the field, the singing of the national anthem, the tifo displays, the sky rockets bursting in air - all of it!

 With the long summer days, the setting sun put on a show too. 

 Yep, we beat those Timbers!  A super sweet victory!

We had company in August.  Isaac and Irene joined us up in our high perch.

 It started to rain during the match, but we all had our rain jackets and after we met up with Jill, we walked back into the city.

In September we traveled to Philadelphia to watch the Sounders win the U.S. Open Cup!  There we are at the rail in the back left corner of this borrowed photo. ↓

We were all still going strong in October for the Cascadia match up with the Vancouver White Caps. 

In mid-October we left on our trip to Italy and the Mediterranean. We missed two matches, including the one where the Sounders won the Supporters Shield, awarded to the top team at the end of the regular season.  But we were following along with live updates from the computer room on our ship!

Then it was on to the playoffs. 

 Now it was dark and cold again, as we beat Dallas to move on the the Western Conference Championship.

 And so it was with great excitement, and some anxiety, that we left early for the match on a freezing cold, but clear, evening on the last day of November.  We hoped for a victory, and one more match in our home stadium, but if it was to be the last one for the season, we wanted to make the most of it. 

We enjoyed our pre-func coffee a midst the holiday cheer of Westlake Center. 

 We marched to the match under twinkling lights as the sun set. 

 Once more we enjoyed the views of the city from the stadium.

 The pageantry continued. 

 And we watched as our boys played to the final whistle, with more goals to cheer, but ultimately, not enough to break the tie of the two game aggregate.  We will not be in that MLS final next week, which could have been in our house. 

 

It was with some sadness that we walked off into the night, but also with the glow of having been treated to a most amazing experience. From the cold of early March to the cold of late November, it was one hell-of-a season!  Thank you, Sounders!

And there's always next year!