 | |||
| Nicknames | The Burn, XF | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 (as Seattle Wolves) | ||
| Ground | Redmond High School Redmond, Washington | ||
| Capacity | 2,000 | ||
| Owners | Steve Hopps; Lance Mclntosh | ||
| Manager | Bernie James | ||
| League | NPSL | ||
| 2019 | Northwest Conference:1st | ||
| Website | www | ||
Crossfire Redmond, previously theSeattle Wolves andWashington Crossfire, is an Americansoccer organization based inSeattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in theNational Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of theAmerican Soccer Pyramid, and was formerly in thePremier Development League (PDL) through the 2016 season.
The team plays its home games in the stadium on the campus ofRedmond High School in nearbyRedmond, Washington, 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 thePacific 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.[1] 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. It also fields boys' and girls' teams under theElite Clubs National League, and previously theU.S. Soccer Development Academy, as Crossfire Premier.[2]
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 thePacific Coast Soccer League, one of the three national competitions considered to be at the fourth level of theAmerican Soccer Pyramid. They finished their first season in the PCSL in third place behind championsVictoria United.
On January 26, 2009, the Wolves announced that they would be fielding a new senior team in theUSL Premier Development League for the 2009 season, thereby becoming the second team to make a PCSL to PDL expansion, followingVancouver Whitecaps Residency in 2008. They were one of four expansion teams in the NW Division of2009 PDL season along with theVictoria Highlanders, Portland Timbers U23s, and Kitsap Pumas.
On January 31, 2009, the Wolves competed against the Seattle Sounders FC Super search squad atStarfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. The Wolves prepared a special roster for the specific game, composed of current Wolves players, ex professional players, exSeattle Sounders (USL) players, current and ex collegiate players, and current youth players. The televised game showed clips of the game the following day onNBC King 5 after the Super Bowl.
In their first season in PDL competition the Wolves fielded a strong squad that included formerLos Angeles Galaxy playerEly Allen. They won their first ever competitive PDL game 4–1 over theYakima Reds on May 8, 2009, off the back of a brace byFernando Monge, and continued their winning form throughout the early games, picking up victories overSpokane Spiders and thePortland Timbers U23's. 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 beatVancouver Whitecaps Residency 2–1, enjoying solid victories over Yakima and theAbbotsford Mariners, and scoring a controversial last minute penalty kick equalizer to tie 2–2 withTacoma Tide. In fact the only team Seattle couldn't beat were theKitsap 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 theVictoria Highlanders in early July, and finished the regular season with three more victories, including an impressive 3–0 result on the road againstCascade Surge. The Wolves eventually finished third in the division, qualifying for the playoffs at the first attempt; their opponent in the Divisional First round wasPortland Timbers U23's, who they beat 3–2 in an amazing game which saw Portland lead 1–0, and then 2–1, only for Seattle strikerAlex Chursky 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 andEly Allen 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.[3]
Following the 2016 PDL season, the team sold its team rights to a group in Vancouver, Canada.[4] Crossfire did not return for the 2017 PDL season while a new team,TSS FC Rovers, began play in the Northwest Division. After two years of inactivity, Crossfire Premier announced it would be fielding a team in theNational Premier Soccer League (NPSL) for the 2019 season.[5] The team, re-named "Crossfire Redmond," was officially announced by the league on December 18, 2018.[6][7]
The team won its first league trophy when it won theNPSL 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 the2020 U.S. Open Cup.[8][9]
| Year | League | Regular season | Playoffs | Open Cup | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | PCSL | 3rd | did not qualify | ||
| 2009 | USL PDL | 3rd, Northwest | Divisional Finals | Ineligible | |
| 2010 | 5th, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2011 | 7th, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2012 | 4th, Northwest | Conference Quarter-Finals | did not qualify | ||
| 2013 | 6th, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2014 | 6th, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2015 | 6th, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2016 | 3rd, Northwest | did not qualify | did not qualify | ||
| 2017 | On Hiatus | ||||
| 2018 | |||||
| 2019 | NPSL | 1st, Northwest | Regional semifinals | Ineligible | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic[10] | ||||
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.
Ely AllenGibson BardsleyEthan BartlowNikolas BesagnoJordan BurtJason CascioBen DragavonJamie Finch
Doug HerrickAdam Jahn
Adam NowlandNoah MerlTommy MeyerBrayton KnappBrian PerkCristian RoldanAndy RoseKelyn RoweAlex Weaver (2008)Seth Spidahl (2009–2011)Adam Nowland (2012–2013)Nik Besagno (2014)Billy Wiskel (2015)Bernie James (2016, 2019–)
