Last night’s Dallas game during a heat advisory went sort of as expected. Midweek games are sometimes not as lively, and the hot midday games can bog down a Cascadia rivalry. This was an evening game, but it was still kind of gross. Dallas guys ought to be used to that, and they’re a good team again this year, so this one was a trap lying in wait. Subbing Velde in changed everything. We managed to come back from a deficit twice, and tied in stoppage time, despite at least 3 lightning strikes late in the game. There’s supposed to be mandated delay of 30 minutes when there is a lightning strike within 8 miles of a game. This sure seemed close enough, so you have to wonder whether anyone was actually monitoring it, or the refs just decided to risk it since the game was almost over. Are there extenuating rules for delaying during stoppage? Would they have just called it? Fortunately for us, the tying goal happened about a minute or two after a strike, too quick for the powers that be to make a decision. Ithougth we were going to win this one for a while. We should have won it, but this is still a good result.
Photo courtesy of r/timbers user nomo_fomo. It’s a little more dramatic looking than it was in person. If you’re wondering how they captured it: “As soon as I heard thunder nearby, I started recording in slo-mo on my phone hoping to capture a moment like this. This photo is a screengrab from the video I shot. I made no edits to the frame itself.”
