Record crowd watches Sounders rout Timbers
SEATTLE - A franchise-record crowd of 66,452 showed up to watch the Seattle Sounders' 3-0 victory over rival Portland Timbers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday, according to The Seattle Times.
It was the second largest crowd in Major League Soccer history for a stand-alon game, and came in front of league commissioner Don Garber.
"I'm not even here on official duty tonight," he told The Times. "I'm here just to experience it. I knew this would be a historic event."
The victory gave the Sounders the lead in the race for the Cascadia Cup.
"In my imagination of heaven, this is it: packed house, beating Portland by three, fans going crazy - it can't get better than that," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said after the game.
The Timbers (7-16-9) would have clinched the Cascadia Cup with a victory, but they can still win it with a victory in Vancouver on Oct. 21. Portland did fall to 0-12-4 on the road.
Meanwhile, the Sounders (14-7-10) moved to third place in the Western Conference.