Smaller Lights FC Crowd Watches Preseason Match Against MLS Colorado Rapids; Colorado’s Star Goaltender Tim Howard Injured During Warmups, Did Not Play; Game Ends, 2-2
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
I showed up about an hour before the Las Vegas Lights FC game at Cashman Field and was expecting more cars in the parking lot. The Lights were playing the second of two pre-season games against MLS teams. This time, it was Colorado Rapids and their popular American goalie, Tim Howard, in downtown for the exhibition match.
Howard is a well-known soccer player in this country. And the Lights had a nice crowd for its pre-season game two weeks ago when the Las Vegas 11 beat the MLS’ Toronto FC, 5-1, a win that Lights head coach Eric Wynalda enjoyed crowing about on social media.
That’s why I told the Lights parking lot guard, “Where’s all the cars today?”
The parking guy joked, “They’re home watching the AAF.”
We both shared a laugh and a smile over that crack. The thought of the new Alliance of American Football, a brand-new eight-team football minor league, keeping Lights fans home on a day of soccer in downtown Las Vegas gave us both a good chortle. (The Zappos llamas never miss a home game.)
It was a smallish crowd at 2 p.m. when the players for the Lights and Rapids were introduced and former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman received the “pink scarf” from the Lights for being Oscar. His wife, current Mayor Carolyn Goodman, is a big supporter of professional soccer in downtown. Oscar Goodman hopes the Lights of the minor league United Soccer League can graduate to soccer’s big leagues of Major League Soccer, with Cashman Field part of a multi-use neighborhood of retail, residential and commercial.
After the game that finished in a 2-2 draw, Lights PR man Harry Ruiz let me know the announced attendance was 5,619.
Jose Sahagun of the supporter group Luz y Fuerza (@luzyfuerzafc in Instagram) surmised that many Lights fans were likely gone for the three-day Presidents Day holiday weekend and not in town to come to the game. You can see rows of empty seats here.
Howard, who was the American national team goalie at previous World Cup competitions, was apparently hurt during warmups and did not play.
Some Lights fans were still doing the insulting “puto” chant when the Rapids goaltender stepped into a goal kick at the start of the game. But the stadium PA announcer tried to drown out the anti-gay puto chant by yelling, “Viva Lights,” during goal kicks by the Rapids.
The Lights are younger, faster and more disciplined than last year’s first-year club and played with a palpable sense of urgency during the two preseason games — a 5-1 win over Toronto FC Feb. 2 and the 2-2 tie with Colorado Rapids Saturday.
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