I assumed arriving at last Friday's OL Reign watch party for the US Women’s National Team’s first match two hours early would be fine. Seattle surely wouldn’t pack Rough & Tumble Pub, Seattle’s year-old women’s sports bar, for an expected-blowout group stage match against Vietnam, right?

Oh, internalized misogyny, you lifelong foe. I was so wrong.

By the time I braved the dreaded east-west Friday afternoon commute to Ballard and arrived at the pub, there was a line out the door and down the block. The owner, Jen Barnes, poked her head out to tell the line that it was “getting tight in there, but we’re trying to fit more people in.” It was 4:20 pm.

I felt stupid. I was supposed to write about this game specifically at this bar. I’d even warned people in my preview post to expect a big crowd. So, I waited in line. 

The clock ticked toward game time. The line moved enough so I was inside the building. I stood on the stairwell, one party away from being seated, for about an hour. Just close enough to see what I was missing, just far enough for it to be out of reach.

Rough & Tumble has a big, open space with huge TVs, tables, booths, bar seating, and an outdoor balcony. People in USA or OL Reign jerseys filled every square inch. There were so many Birkenstocks. Probably every lesbian in the city was there, or waiting next to me in line. This would be the perfect viewing space!

My stomach growled. I’d been daydreaming about sampling Rough & Tumble’s Title IX Banh Mi or the “May & Walsh” Mac & Cheese, so I hadn’t eaten lunch. 

“We’re running some numbers and doing some calculations,” Barnes told the line. Our only hope was standing room only. The dream of mac and cheese named after women’s volleyball greats started fading. My fiancĂ©, Harry, who’d tagged along, left to go find an alternative. He wanted to sit down. Men are so picky that way. 

With 30 minutes until game time, people in line started muttering. “Do you think we should leave?” “Where will we go?” 

Harry texted me updates. All of the bars on Market Street were showing the game. King’s Hardware looked good, he said. Ballard Loft had the most “game day” atmosphere. 

The outdoor tables at Ballard Loft were filled with individuals saving tables for their groups. 

“Every single one I spoke to said they’d been sent as a scout by their group waiting at Rough & Tumble,” Harry wrote. He was doing more journalism than I was today. 

“Do you think you’re going to stay?” I asked a group of women in soccer jerseys behind me in line. 

“We don’t know what to do,” one said. 

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m afraid as soon as I leave they’re going to let us in.”

“Right?” another woman said. “It’s Murphy’s Law.” 

I asked Harry for another update. Ballard Loft was filling up “with Rough & Tumble casualties.” 

Not wanting to invoke “anything that can go wrong will go wrong” any further, I made my decision. I ditched Rough & Tumble. Goodbye, perfect Women’s World Cup viewing atmosphere. I told my line friends where I was headed and wished them luck. 

If we’d been able to score one of the outside tables, Ballard Loft would have been perfect. The inside, while still totally fine, was dark. The TVs all felt slightly too far away. One TV stubbornly played the Men's League Soccer game where Messi made his debut—which, like, cool, but also read the room? Another TV, for whatever reason, played fail video compilations. The two people working—a bartender and a cook—seemingly did not anticipate the hoard of soccer fans who descended on their bar. There was a 45-minute wait to even order food. Still, I couldn’t complain. The game was starting. The women I talked to in line showed up just before kick-off. 

The Game

The USWNT won 3-0 in their game against Vietnam. In general, despite the score, the game was just okay. As one-sided as the game was (the USWNT had 28 shots on goal while Vietnam had zero), the USWNT didn’t blow out Vietnam. Their goalie, Tráș§n Thị Kim Thanh, deserves an award for how many shots she blocked. 

As co-captain Alex Morgan expressed to Sports Illustrated, “Some of the plays that we had were a little forced or rushed.” She thinks the team needs to work on having more “patience” and making their movements “more synchronized.” 

There were some flubs, too, like Morgan’s penalty kick she basically passed to the keeper. And, I really hate to say it, but Megan Rapinoe looked
 bad. She came on in the second half and did a whole lot of nothing. She made messy passes, kicked long balls to no one, and shanked a few corner kicks. I didn’t recognize her. I’m hoping she’s only warming up and will still give us a good show the rest of the Cup. 

Negativity aside, this game was all about forward Sophia Smith. Smith, 22, really is that girl. She scored two goals and had an assist on the third goal in her World Cup debut. Smith is lightning fast. She has an uncanny sense of what runs to make and how to slip past the defense. I could watch her run circles around defenders all day.

Check out her first goal. Pay special attention to that backward pass Morgan dishes to Smith. 

Smith’s second goal wasn’t as sexy, but hey, a goal is a goal. 

Annnd here’s goal number three served up by Smith to Lindsay Horan:

I'm excited for the team to be actually tested. Our defense looked strong in Friday's game, but they didn't deal with any actual threats. Our midfield controlled the field and our forwards made dangerous runs. Look, maybe I'd be less critical if I watched this thing from Rough & Tumble. You decide: 

The USWNT has what it takes to be truly great in this tournament and I can't wait to see how it shakes out for them against their next opponent, the Netherlands, the team they beat in the 2019 World Cup final.

The USWNT and the Netherlands square off Wednesday at 6 pm. I plan to watch from Rough & Tumble. We'll see if I can get in this time. 

If I don't get a spot then I'm hightailing it to Portland where their local women's soccer bar took over a city square: