This is the showcase Reign have long deserved

MikeRussellFoto / Sounder at HeartEver since top-flight women’s professional soccer came to the Puget Sound, there have been dreams of what a Seattle-Portland rivalry could potentially become.

One particular memory from 2014 sticks out. The Reign had just dismantled the Thorns 5-0 in front of nearly 6,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, then the biggest crowd to ever watch a professional women’s soccer match in Washington. The Reign players and coaches were all beaming about the performance and the atmosphere, but there was also a tinge of disappointment that so much of it was supplied by the 200 or so visiting supporters.

“I think it’s definitely a snapshot of what it could be and hopefully what…