2020 Tacoma Defiance season

The 2020 Tacoma Defiance season was the club's sixth year of existence, formerly as Seattle Sounders FC 2, and their sixth season in the USL Championship, the second tier of the United States Soccer Pyramid. It was their third season in Tacoma, Washington. The Defiance are majority owned by Seattle Sounders FC.

Tacoma Defiance

2020 season
Head coach	Wade Webber
Stadium	Cheney Stadium
USL Championship	Group A: 3rd
USL Playoffs	Did not qualify
Top goalscorer	League: Alec Díaz All: Alec Díaz
Highest home attendance	League: 2,178 (March 3 vs. RNO)
Lowest home attendance	League:
Average home league attendance	League: 2,178
Biggest win	POR 0–4 TAC (Aug. 3)
Biggest defeat	POR 3–0 TAC (Sept. 9)
Home colors Away colors
← 2019 2021 →

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of December 15, 2020.^[1]

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Trey Muse ([A]) 16 DF  USA Alex Roldan ([A]) 31 GK  USA Christian Herrera 32 FW  PUR Alec Díaz 33 DF  USA Sam Rogers 34 FW  USA Danny Robles 37 FW  USA Shandon Hopeau ([A]) 38 MF  USA Azriel Gonzalez 39 MF  USA Marlon Vargas 40 MF  USA Chris Hegardt ([B]) 42 MF  USA Alex Villanueva 43 MF  USA Sota Kitahara 45 MF  USA Ethan Dobbelaere ([A] on loan from Seattle Sounders FC) 48 DF  USA Joshua Hardin ([B]) 49 MF  USA Reed Baker-Whiting 52 DF  USA Eric Kinzner 61 GK  USA Jamie Lowell ([B]) 74 DF  USA Taylor Mueller 75 MF  USA Danny Leyva ([A]) 80 MF  USA Ray Serrano 81 DF  ENG Danny Reynolds 84 MF  USA Josh Atencio ([A]) 87 FW  USA Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez ([A] on loan from Seattle Sounders FC) 90 MF  USA Chino Pérez 92 DF  FRA Abdoulaye Cissoko 97 MF  USA Collin Fernandez 98 MF  ENG Antonee Burke-Gilroy 99 FW  USA Justin Dhillon ([A])

1. ^
   Signed to first team contract with Sounders FC.
2. ^
   Sounders FC Academy player.

Competitions

Preseason

Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Tacoma Defiance

February 6, 2020	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	4–0	Tacoma Defiance
(PDT)
Note: closed door 114 min match

LA Galaxy II v Tacoma Defiance

February 12, 2020	LA Galaxy II	–	Tacoma Defiance	Carson, California
(PDT)				Stadium: Dignity Health Sports Park

Friendlies

v

		–
(PDT)

USL regular season

Main article: 2020 USL Championship season

Standings — Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	Reno 1868 FC	16	11	3	2	43	21	+22	36	2.25	Advance to USL Championship Playoffs
2	Sacramento Republic FC	16	8	6	2	27	17	+10	30	1.88
3	Tacoma Defiance	16	4	2	10	25	32	−7	14	0.88
4	Portland Timbers 2	16	3	0	13	20	50	−30	9	0.56

Source: USL

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
16	4	2	10	25	32	−7	14	3	0	3	9	8	+1	1	2	7	16	24	−8

Last updated: October 3, 2020.
Source: USL Championship

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Stadium	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	H	H	H
Result	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	W	W	L

Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

Tacoma Defiance v Reno 1868 FC

March 6, 2020 USL 1	Tacoma Defiance	1–3	Reno 1868 FC	Tacoma, Washington
7:00  p.m. (PST)	Hegardt 26' Daley  38' Atencio  86'	Report	Skahan 56' François 74' Fuentes 87'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 2,178 Referee: Ismir Pekmic

Tacoma Defiance v San Diego Loyal SC

March 11, 2020 USL 2	Tacoma Defiance	1–2	San Diego Loyal SC	Tacoma, Washington
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Mueller  38' Dhillon 56'	Report	Atuahene 31', 85',  89' Stoneman  57' Kempin  90+2'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Luis Guardia
Note: Played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.[2]

Sacramento Republic FC v Tacoma Defiance

July 13, 2020 USL 3	Sacramento Republic FC	3–3	Tacoma Defiance	Sacramento, California
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Formella 8' (pen.), 37' Hillard-Arce 23' Villareal  84' Skundrich  90+1'	Report	Díaz 1' Daley 57' Serrano 81'	Stadium: Papa Murphy's Park Referee: Elijio Arreguin

Tacoma Defiance v Portland Timbers 2

July 18, 2020 USL 4	Tacoma Defiance	3–0	Portland Timbers 2	Tacoma, Washington
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Díaz 14' Kitahara  21' Burke-Gilroy  52' Robles 58' Reynolds  60' Pérez 64' Baker-Whiting  80'	Report	Ornstil  45' Velásquez  60' Krolicki  60' Clapier  74'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Referee: Adorae Monroy

Portland Timbers 2 v Tacoma Defiance

August 3, 2020 USL 5	Portland Timbers 2	0–4	Tacoma Defiance	Portland, Oregon
6:00  p.m. (PDT)	Dúran  30' Anguiano  45' Calixtro  73'	Report	Díaz 23', 47' Mueller 40',  53' Daley  70' Pérez 72' Ocampo-Chavez  90'	Stadium: Providence Park Referee: Isaiah Vlad

Reno 1868 FC v Tacoma Defiance

August 8, 2020 USL 6	Reno 1868 FC	2–1	Tacoma Defiance	Reno, Nevada
7:30  p.m. (PDT)	Kikanovic 20' Hertzog 32' (pen.),  32' Rivas  48' Ycaza  90'+3'	Report	Robles 24' Herrera  31' Cissoko  40'	Stadium: Greater Nevada Field Referee: Nicholas Marin

Sacramento Republic FC v Tacoma Defiance

August 15, 2020 USL 7	Sacramento Republic FC	3–1	Tacoma Defiance	Sacramento, California
8:00  p.m. (PDT)	Formella 14', 41' Iwasa 33' Belmar  54' McCrary  84'	Report	Hinds  42' Rogers 50'	Stadium: Papa Murphy's Park Referee: Ricardo Fierro

Las Vegas Lights FC v Tacoma Defiance

August 19, 2020 USL 8	Las Vegas Lights FC	3–1	Tacoma Defiance	Las Vegas, Nevada
7:30  p.m. (PDT)	Burgos 19' Dally 30' Sandoval 67'	Report	Cissoko  68' Gonzalez 84'	Stadium: Cashman Field Referee: Karen Callado
Note: This match was originally scheduled for 8/12 but was moved due to COVID cases on the Lights squad

Real Monarchs SLC v Tacoma Defiance

September 4, 2020 USL 10	Real Monarchs SLC	1–0	Tacoma Defiance	Herriman, Utah
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Arriaga 26' Davis  90'+6'	Report		Stadium: Zions Bank Stadium Referee: Brandon Stevis

Portland Timbers 2 v Tacoma Defiance

September 9, 2020 USL 9	Portland Timbers 2	3–0	Tacoma Defiance	Portland, Oregon
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Gonzalez 18', 24' Calixtro 21' (pen.) Ornstil  80'	Report	Fernandez  68'	Stadium: Providence Park Referee: Baboucarr Jallow
Note: A covered person within the Portland Timbers 2 organization has shown symptoms for COVID-19 so the match has been postponed.[3] Match rescheduled from 8/30 to 9/9.

Reno 1868 FC v Tacoma Defiance

September 17, 2020 USL 12	Reno 1868 FC	3–2	Tacoma Defiance	Reno, Nevada
6:30  p.m. (PDT)	Gleadle 5' Hertzog  19' Ycaza 52' Langsdorf 57'	Report	Kinzner  37' Serrano  40', 75' Kitahara  47' Cissoko 56' Hegardt  65' Gonzalez  90'	Stadium: Greater Nevada Field Referee: Joseph Salinas
Note: Due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Reno squad this match was moved from October 3. Due to a positive test in the Defiance squad the matched was moved from 9/16.

Sacramento Republic FC v Tacoma Defiance

September 20, 2020 USL 13	Sacramento Republic FC	3–3	Tacoma Defiance	Sacramento, California
7:30  p.m. (PDT)	Keinan  45'+4' Bijev 48' Skundrich  56' Belmar 60' (pen.) López 90' Sargis  90'+4'	Report	Pérez 3' Kitahara  15' Díaz 66',  80' Serrano 86'	Stadium: Papa Murphy's Park Referee: Nicholas Marin
Note: Due to a positive COVID-19 test in the Defiance organization the match was moved from 9/19.

Portland Timbers 2 v Tacoma Defiance

September 24, 2020 USL 11	Portland Timbers 2	3–1	Tacoma Defiance	Portland, Oregon
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	González Asensi 12', 75' (pen.) Hanson  35' Epps 49'	Report	Robles 47'	Stadium: Providence Park Referee: Baboucarr Jallow
Note: Match rescheduled from September 12 due to air quality issues in the Pacific Northwest.[4]

Tacoma Defiance v Portland Timbers 2

September 27, 2020 USL 14	Tacoma Defiance	2–1	Portland Timbers 2	Tacoma, Washington
1:30  p.m. (PDT)	Dobbelaere 28' Hegardt  76' Gonzalez 85'	Report	Anguiano  43' Velásquez  45+1' Hanson  62' Stanley  71' Gonzalez 87' (o.g.)	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Referee: Farhad Dadkho

Tacoma Defiance v Sacramento Republic FC

September 30, 2020 USL 15	Tacoma Defiance	1–0	Sacramento Republic FC	Tacoma, Washington
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Mueller  66' Díaz 71',  90+4'	Report	Chavez  42' Penagos  90'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Referee: Brandon Stevis

Tacoma Defiance v Reno 1868 FC

October 3, 2020 USL 16	Tacoma Defiance	1–2	Reno 1868 FC	Tacoma, Washington
7:00  p.m. (PDT)	Ocampo-Chavez 16' Robles  89'	Report	Richards 35' Langsdorf 62' Partida  89' Rivas  90'+1'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Referee: Farhad Dadkho
Note: Originally schedule as a match in Tacoma on 7/23 that match was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Reno squad and then move/switch with the away match with Reno.

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2020 U.S. Open Cup

Due to their ownership by a higher division professional club (Seattle Sounders FC), Tacoma is one of 15 teams expressly forbidden from entering the Cup competition.^[5]

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Numbers after plus-sign(+) denote appearances as a substitute.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Regular season		Playoffs
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	Trey Muse	2	0	2	0	0	0
16	DF	USA	Alex Roldan	1	0	1	0	0	0
31	DF	USA	Nick Hinds	7	0	6+1	0	0	0
32	FW	PUR	Alec Díaz	12	5	9+3	5	0	0
33	DF	USA	Sam Rogers	8	1	8	1	0	0
34	MF	USA	Danny Robles	13	3	11+2	3	0	0
37	FW	USA	Shandon Hopeau	2	0	2	0	0	0
38	MF	USA	Azriel Gonzalez	15	2	7+8	2	0	0
39	MF	USA	Marlon Vargas	14	0	9+5	0	0	0
40	MF	USA	Chris Hegardt	10	1	5+5	1	0	0
42	DF	USA	Alex Villanueva	8	0	5+3	0	0	0
43	MF	USA	Sota Kitahara	13	0	12+1	0	0	0
45	MF	USA	Ethan Dobbelaere	5	1	4+1	1	0	0
48	DF	USA	Joshua Hardin	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
49	MF	USA	Reed Baker-Whiting	7	0	3+4	0	0	0
52	DF	USA	Eric Kinzner	2	0	2	0	0	0
60	GK	USA	Conrad Lee	0	0	0	0	0	0
64	GK	USA	Christian Herrera	6	0	6	0	0	0
65	GK	USA	Eric Klenofsky	7	0	7	0	0	0
74	DF	USA	Taylor Mueller	14	1	14	1	0	0
75	MF	USA	Danny Leyva	1	0	1	0	0	0
80	MF	USA	Ray Serrano	12	3	5+7	3	0	0
81	DF	ENG	Danny Reynolds	11	0	6+5	0	0	0
84	MF	USA	Josh Atencio	2	0	2	0	0	0
87	MF	USA	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	12	1	6+6	1	0	0
89	MF	AUS	Jesse Daley	4	1	4	1	0	0
90	MF	USA	Jesús Pérez	13	3	4+9	3	0	0
92	DF	FRA	Abdoulaye Cissoko	11	1	8+3	1	0	0
97	MF	USA	Collin Fernandez	8	0	4+4	0	0	0
98	DF	ENG	Antonee Burke-Gilroy	13	0	11+2	0	0	0
99	FW	USA	Justin Dhillon	1	1	1	1	0	0

• Last updated: October 3, 2020
• Source:

Top scorers

Rank	Position	Number	Name	Regular season	Playoffs	Total
1	FW	32	Alec Díaz	5	0	5
4	FW	34	Danny Robles	3	0	3
	MF	80	Ray Serrano	3	0	3
	MF	90	Chino Pérez	3	0	3
5	MF	38	Azriel Gonzalez	2	0	2
6	DF	33	Sam Rogers	1	0	1
	MF	40	Chris Hegardt	1	0	1
	MF	45	Ethan Dobbelaere	1	0	1
	MF	74	Taylor Mueller	1	0	1
	MF	87	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	1	0	1
	MF	89	Jesse Daley	1	0	1
	DF	92	Abdoulaye Cissoko	1	0	1
	FW	99	Justin Dhillon	1	0	1

• Last updated: October 3, 2020
• Source:

Top assists

Rank	Position	Number	Name	Regular Season	Playoffs	Total
1	FW	34	Danny Robles	3	0	3
	DF	81	Danny Reynolds	3	0	3
3	FW	32	Alec Díaz	2	0	2
	MF	39	Marlon Vargas	2	0	2
	FW	87	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	2	0	2
	MF	98	Antonee Burke-Gilroy	2	0	2
7	FW	37	Shandon Hopeau	1	0	1
	MF	40	Chris Hegardt	1	0	1
	MF	90	Chino Pérez	1	0	1
	MF	98	Azriel Gonzalez	1	0	1

• Last updated: October 3, 2020
• Source:

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos	Player	Regular Season			Playoffs			Total
31	DF	Nick Hinds	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
32	FW	Alec Díaz	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
32	FW	Danny Robles	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
38	MF	Azriel Gonzalez	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
40	MF	Chris Hegardt	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
43	MF	Sota Kitahara	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
49	MF	Reed Baker-Whiting	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
52	DF	Eric Kinzner	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
64	GK	Christian Herrera	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
74	DF	Taylor Mueller	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
80	MF	Ray Serrano	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
81	DF	Danny Reynolds	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
84	MF	Josh Atencio	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
87	FW	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
89	DF	Jesse Daley	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
92	DF	Abdoulaye Cissoko	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
97	MF	Collin Fernandez	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
98	MF	Antonee Burke-Gilroy	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total			24	0	0	0	0	0	24	0	0

• Last updated: October 3, 2020
• Source:

Honors and awards

Team of the Week

Week	Position	Player	Ref
4	FW	Alec Díaz	[6]
	Bench	Danny Robles
7	FW	Alec Díaz	[7]
15	DF	Danny Reynolds	[8]

Transfers

For transfers in, dates listed are when Tacoma Defiance officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Defiance officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from Tacoma Defiance roster.

In

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
74	DF	Taylor Mueller	Charleston Battery	Free transfer	December 12, 2019	[9]
97	MF	Collin Fernandez	Saint Louis FC	Free transfer	January 14, 2020	[10]
51	DF	Danny Reynolds	UNC Wilmington	Seattle Sounders FC MLS SuperDraft 2nd round Pick (#35)	February 7, 2020	[11]
90	MF	Jesús Pérez	UIC	New York City FC MLS SuperDraft 1st round Pick (#22)	February 19, 2020	[12]
52	DF	Eric Kinzner	Sounders FC Academy		July 13, 2020	[13]
64	GK	Christian Herrera	Oakland Roots SC	On loan through until September 12	July 13, 2020	[13]
49	MF	Reed Baker-Whiting	Sounders FC Academy		July 23, 2020	[14]
87	FW	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	Seattle Sounders FC	loan through end of season	August 3, 2020	[15]
42	DF	Alex Villanueva	Sounders FC Academy		August 19, 2020	[16]
65	GK	Eric Klenofsky	Toronto FC II	On loan through end of season	September 2, 2020	[17]
45	MF	Ethan Dobbelaere	Seattle Sounders FC	On loan through end of season	September 3, 2020	[18]
31	GK	Christian Herrera	Oakland Roots SC	Signed after end of loan	December 15, 2020	[19]
88	MF	Carlos Anguiano	Portland Timbers 2	Free	December 15, 2020	[20]
	MF	Sota Kitahara	Sounders FC Academy		December 15, 2020	[21]

Out

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
71	DF	Aleks Berkolds	Reno 1868 FC	Option declined	November 21, 2019	[22]
88	DF	Matt Nance		Option declined	November 21, 2019	[22]
96	DF	Ever Rubio	Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC	Option declined	November 21, 2019	[22]
90	MF	Herbert Robinson García	Deportivo CAFESSA Jalisco	Option declined	November 21, 2019	[22]
73	DF	Modou Ndow	MFK Vyškov	End of loan	November 21, 2019	[22]
36	DF	Denso Ulysse	Inter Miami CF	Free transfer	November 21, 2019	[22]
78	MF	Ben Numbi	MFK Vyškov	End of loan	November 21, 2019	[22]
84	MF	Josh Atencio	Seattle Sounders FC	Signed Homegrown contract	June 15, 2020	[23]
37	FW	Shandon Hopeau	Seattle Sounders FC	Signed Homegrown contract	June 30, 2020	[24]
89	MF	Jesse Daley	Brisbane Roar FC	Requested release	August 12, 2020	[25]
64	GK	Christian Herrera	Oakland Roots SC	Recalled from loan	September 3, 2020	[26]