Heading into Sunday’s match in San Jose against the Earthquakes, one wouldn’t find Jackson Ragen’s partner at center back on the Seattle Sounders roster. Antino Lopez was a member of Seattle’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance and called up on a short-term loan while the Sounders deal with defensive injuries.
But after the game? One can find him on the team sheet now.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer announced that General Manager & Chief Soccer Officer Craig Waibel was drawing up a contract to make Lopez’s move to the First Team a permanent one after an impressive shutout in a gritty 1-0 win.
“The kid deserved it,” Schmetzer said of Lopez. “I’m also going to petition to sign [fellow Tacoma Defiance loanee] Peter Kingston because that kid has done enough…The team is in a good way. You’ve got a happy, tired bunch of guys. They’re gassed in there. They’re tired, but that’s a happy crew.”
The Sounders rotated heavily after Thursday’s Concacaf Champions Cup win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, giving Lopez and Kingston their first career MLS starts while Homegrown Cody Baker earned only his second start since 2024. And it was only fitting that former reserve team journeyman and now legitimate MLS winger Paul Rothrock scored the game’s only goal.
“I want to shout out our two Defiance players because I used to be one of those guys,” said Rothrock. “Antino Lopez, Peter Kingston—they had monster games, both of them…I don’t think people realize quite how hard it is to stay patient in the Second Team system. It beats you down, and this guy’s been doing it for three years. I can’t say enough good things, I’m so proud of him.
“He’s got a bright future, and he might have earned a deal tonight,” added Rothrock postgame, foreshadowing the pending move. “Congrats to him."
Lopez is in his third year with Defiance after the Sounders selected him with the 52nd overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft out of Duke. The 23-year-old Las Vegas native was previously a member of the Sounders Academy and signed to Defiance alongside fellow 2024 draft pick-turned-First Teamer Kalani Kossa-Rienzi.
Lopez got his shot on Sunday as the Sounders cope with injuries to center backs Yeimar (hamstring), Ryan Sailor (knee), Kim Kee-hee (calf) and Stuart Hawkins (quad). Even spot starter Alex Roldan began the evening on the bench after starting at center back in Seattle’s win over the Whitecaps a few days ago, which opened the door for Lopez to get the nod.
“As a first start, I was nervous,” Lopez said candidly. “The butterflies were going, maybe sometimes a little in my own head.”
If he was, in fact, nervous on Sunday, Lopez didn’t play like it. He helped keep the Sounders’ third consecutive clean sheet in all competitions over the past nine days, including making a heroic, goal-line clearance in the 74th minute to deny a certain equalizer after Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas had partially blocked a shot from Preston Judd that was trickling toward goal.
“It wasn’t just me that saved the team,” said Lopez. “We all worked together, and that’s what wins the game in my opinion…It was a big game for us, and to be able to do something like that to help this team was all I wanted to do the whole game.”
The Sounders now shift their attention back to CCC for a crucial second leg of their Round of 16 series with the ‘Caps on Wednesday (8 p.m. PT; FS2, TUDN). They they take a commanding 3-0 lead to ONE Spokane Stadium in Spokane, Wash., before returning to MLS action next Sunday at Minnesota United (1:30 p.m. PT; Apple TV).
"I’m here to help the team,” said Lopez, “and prove that I can play with them and help to push them win more games.”
