Crossfire Redmond, previously the Seattle Wolves and Washington Crossfire, is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

organization based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

, and was formerly in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

(PDL) through the 2016 season. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the campus of Redmond High School in nearby

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...

, where they played since 2011. The team's colors are red, black and white. Prior to 2010 the team was known as the Seattle Wolves, and had competed in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) and PDL under that name for several years. The Wolves and the Washington Crossfire youth soccer organization merged in November 2009. The larger Washington Crossfire youth organization, which was formed in 1968, has been instrumental in developing young soccer players in the Washington area for over 30 years, and is Washington state's only Nike Premier Club.

History

Following their establishment in 2002, the original Seattle Wolves burst into the Northwest football scene, quickly moving up four divisions of competitive play within the Greater Seattle Soccer League (GSSL). Since the team's beginning, the Wolves have captured 12 League Titles and 5 tournament championships. In the fall of 2006, the club grew out of its infancy as a local amateur team, and expanded to include multiple squads competing in the Starfire Premier Soccer League (SPSL) and several regional semi-professional leagues. In 2008, the Wolves undertook their first competitive season in the Pacific Coast Soccer League, one of the three national competitions considered to be at the fourth level of the

. They finished their first season in the PCSL in third place behind champions Victoria United. On January 26, 2009, the Wolves announced that they would be fielding a new senior team in the USL Premier Development League for the 2009 season, thereby becoming the second team to make a PCSL to PDL expansion, following

Vancouver Whitecaps Residency Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as ...

in 2008. They were one of four expansion teams in the NW Division of

2009 PDL season The 2009 USL Premier Development League season was the 15th season of the PDL. The regular season began on May 1, 2009, and ended on July 19, 2009. The PDL Championship Game was held on August 8, 2009, and was broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel in th ...

along with the

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 201 ...

, Portland Timbers U23s, and Kitsap Pumas. On January 31, 2009, the Wolves competed against the Seattle Sounders FC Super search squad at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. The Wolves prepared a special roster for the specific game, composed of current Wolves players, ex professional players, ex Seattle Sounders (USL) players, current and ex collegiate players, and current youth players. The televised game showed clips of the game the following day on NBC King 5 after the Super Bowl. In their first season in PDL competition the Wolves fielded a strong squad that included former Los Angeles Galaxy player

Ely Allen Ely Allen (born June 12, 1986 in Anchorage, Alaska) is an American soccer player. Career Youth Allen grew up in Kent, Washington, attended Kentridge High School. He played youth soccer for Emerald City Football Club in Seattle, Washington. ...

. They won their first ever competitive PDL game 4–1 over the

Yakima Reds Yakima Reds was an American soccer team based in Yakima, Washington, United States. Founded in 1995, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division of the We ...

on May 8, 2009, off the back of a brace by

Fernando Monge Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

, and continued their winning form throughout the early games, picking up victories over

Spokane Spiders Spokane Spiders were an American soccer team based in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division of th ...

and the

Portland Timbers U23's Capital FC is an American soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Although founded in 2008 as part of the development system for the Portland Timbers USSF D2 organization, beginning in 2011 they were part of the development system ...

. Despite strong opposition in the ultra-competitive Northwest Division the Wolves proved to be one of the best teams in the division; they enjoyed an excellent 5-game unbeaten streak in June, coming from behind to beat

2–1, enjoying solid victories over Yakima and the

Abbotsford Mariners Fraser Valley Mariners is a Canadian soccer team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Divis ...

, and scoring a controversial last minute penalty kick equalizer to tie 2–2 with

Tacoma Tide Sound FC is an American soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 2006, the team most recently played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. History 2006–2009: Playoffs The Tacoma team was introduced i ...

. In fact the only team Seattle couldn't beat were the Kitsap Pumas, who won both their regular season games on tight 2–1 and 2–0 scorelines, and ended up topping the division. The Wolves gained a crucial point with another last minute equalizer in a 3–3 tie with the

in early July, and finished the regular season with three more victories, including an impressive 3–0 result on the road against Cascade Surge. The Wolves eventually finished third in the division, qualifying for the playoffs at the first attempt; their opponent in the Divisional First round was

, who they beat 3–2 in an amazing game which saw Portland lead 1–0, and then 2–1, only for Seattle striker

Alex Chursky Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

to hit two goals in the last ten minutes and send the Wolves through to the divisional final. Unfortunately for the Wolves, Kitsap again stood in their way, and the men from Bremerton completed a hat trick of wins with a 2–0 victory, ending the Wolves' playoff run.

Casey Cunningham Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station * Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * ...

and

were the Wolves' top scorers, with 7 and 6 goals respectively, while Allen also contributed six assists. In November 2009, the team merged with the Washington Crossfire youth soccer organization, creating a new soccer team branded as the Washington Crossfire. Following the 2016 PDL season, the team sold its team rights to a group in Vancouver, Canada. Crossfire did not return for the 2017 PDL season while a new team,

TSS FC Rovers TSS FC Rovers are a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that play in League1 British Columbia. Established for the 2017 PDL season by general manager Will Cromack and head coach Colin Elmes, the ...

, began play in the Northwest Division. After two years of inactivity, Crossfire Premier announced it would be fielding a team in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) for the 2019 season. The team, re-named "Crossfire Redmond," was officially announced by the league on December 18, 2018. The team won its first league trophy when it won the NPSL Northwest Conference and reached a league playoff for the first time since 2012. Despite falling in the West Region Semifinals, the team's season result earned it a berth in the

2020 U.S. Open Cup The 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was planned to be the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. Atlanta United FC were the defending champions after defeating Minnesota United FC in the 2019 final. Th ...

Year-by-year

Honors

* John F. Kennedy Trophy Winners 2008 * NPSL Northeast Conference Champions 2019

Notable former players

''This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.'' *

Gibson Bardsley Gibson Bardsley (born July 23, 1989) is an American soccer player. Career Youth and College Bardsley was born in San Clemente, California and attended Mount Si High School, and played four years of college soccer at Western Washington Univers ...

Ethan Bartlow Ethan Bartlow (born February 2, 2000) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo FC, Houston Dynamo. Youth career Playi ...

Nikolas Besagno Nikolas Besagno (born November 15, 1988) is an American former soccer player who is currently the manager of Washington Crossfire of the USL Premier Development League. Career Professional One of the most touted young players in the country, Be ...

* Jordan Burt *

Jason Cascio Jason Cascio (born March 5, 1985) is a former American soccer player. Career Youth and College Cascio grew up in Chandler, Arizona and attended Hamilton High School, where he was a three time All State soccer player. In addition to playing so ...

Ben Dragavon Ben Dragavon (born December 31, 1983) is a former American soccer player who is currently an assistant coach for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League. Personal life Career Youth and College Dragavon graduated from Monroe H ...

Jamie Finch Jamie Alan Finch (born February 26, 1989) is an American soccer player. Early career High School & Youth Finch graduated from Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington in 2007. During his stint at Inglemoor, Finch was a two-year letterwinne ...

* Doug Herrick *

Adam Jahn Adam Jahn (born January 5, 1991) is an American former Association football, soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Career Early and collegiate The son of Tom and Barbara, Jahn attended Jesuit High School (Sacrame ...

Adam Nowland Adam Christopher Nowland (born 6 July 1981 in Preston) is an English retired footballer. Career Early career: Blackpool and Wimbledon Nowland started his career at Blackpool in 1998 where he made his professional debut at the age of 17. When ...

Noah Merl Noah Merl (born June 4, 1983 in Walnut Creek, California) is a psychotherapist for athletes and performers throughout the state of California. Noah is a former American professional soccer player, who played collegiate soccer at the University of ...

Tommy Meyer Thomas Meyer (born March 20, 1990) is an American soccer player. Career High school Meyer attended St. Louis University High School in St. Louis while also playing for Scott Gallagher Soccer Club. College and Amateur Meyer played college socce ...

Brayton Knapp Brayton Knapp (born November 11, 1986) is an American professional soccer player. Career Rochester Rhinos Knapp made his professional debut for the Rochester Rhinos on May 28, 2013, during the third-round of the US Open Cup when his club took o ...

* Brian Perk *

Cristian Roldan Cristian Roldan (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC and the United States national team. He was the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Ye ...

* Andy Rose *

Kelyn Rowe Kelyn Jaynes Rowe (born December 2, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Career College and amateur Rowe appeared as an attacking midfielder for the UCLA ...

Head coaches

Alex Weaver Alex Weaver is an English UEFA Pro Licence football manager. Career Weaver began coaching at 17 years old when he passed the English FA's Coaching Certificate (Now FA Level 2 in Football Coaching). Having played youth football at Stoke City, ...

(2008) * Seth Spidahl (2009–2011) *

(2012–2013) * Nik Besagno (2014) * Billy Wiskel (2015) *

Bernie James Bernie James (born November 25, 1958 in Coventry, England) is a former U.S. soccer player and current youth soccer coach. James spent twenty-four years as a professional, both beginning and ending his career with different versions of the Seatt ...

(2016, 2019–)

Stadiums

* Starfire Sports Complex; Tukwila, Washington (2008–2009) * Interbay Stadium; Seattle, Washington (2010) * Stadium at Lake Washington High School;

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in the county and the twelfth largest in the state. The city's downto ...

1 game (2011) * Stadium at Redmond High School;

(2011–2016, 2019–present)

Average attendance

* 2009: 376 * 2010: 158 * 2011: 66 * 2012: 102 * 2013: 128 * 2014: 113 * 2015: 131

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Site

Seattle Wolves

Seattle Wolves site

News Archives; Wolves to Battle Sounders FC Select XI as part of Sounders Super Search TV Show

News Archives; Sounders Super Search roster
Association football clubs established in 2002 USL League Two teams Pacific Coast Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Washington (state) W Redmond, Washington 2002 establishments in Washington (state)