RENTON – Antino Lopez’s first career start for the Seattle Sounders and the contract that came soon after were a culmination of a journey that’s already been nearly 10 years in the making, but they’re also just a beginning.
“I’ve lived on my own since I was 14,” Lopez explained after training on Friday. “So I’ve really learned how to take care of myself.”
Lopez, who is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, described how at the age of 14 he left home to go to boarding school at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Faribault, Minn. As strange as it may seem, that move eventually led to Lopez crossing paths with the Sounders for the first time and ultimately earning a place on the First Team. While playing for Shattuck-Saint Mary’s soccer team, he played against the Sounders Academy and beat them. The following day, the Sounders reached out to see if he’d be interested in playing for them instead.
Lopez went on to move across the country to play in Seattle’s academy for a year before going to Duke University where he played collegiately for four years. Although he’d only played for the Sounders for a year, he and the team stayed in contact while he was in school.
Every summer Lopez was at Duke, he would return to the Sounders and train with both the first team and Tacoma Defiance.
Coming out of college Lopez, entered the MLS SuperDraft, and was selected in the second round by the Sounders before joining Tacoma Defiance in 2024. It’s a path to the first team that many outside of the Pacific Northwest might see as a diversion from the “correct” path, but it's one that has been well-trod in the Sounders organization. Lopez joins Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock as those who have gone from the academy to college, into the draft and on to Defiance before earning their place with the Sounders. That’s to say nothing of the other players who have used Defiance as a proving ground on their way to an MLS contract with Seattle.
“It’s been amazing,” Lopez about being part of the Sounders organization. “I’m surrounded by amazing players.”
That shared experience, as well as a shared belief among the players and throughout the organization in Lopez and the other players making their way through Seattle’s development system to contribute when they’re called upon. He proved that belief right with his standout performance against the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend, and he was rewarded with a surprise announcement from Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer in the locker room that he’d earned a first-team contract.
With Seattle’s centerback group still stretched thin by injuries and plenty of games on the horizon, Lopez will have opportunities to continue to prove himself. If he continues to put in performances like he did against the Earthquakes, he’ll keep earning opportunities even as players come back from injury.
Injury update
- After Schmetzer said earlier in the week during an appearance on KJR that Jordan Morris will be involved in this weekend’s game. Morris was a full participant in training on Friday.
- There's been no official announcement, but Hassani Dotson's prognosis doesn't appear to be quite as good as he was more limited in training. Dotson has missed the last three games after going into concussion protocol.
