Jeff DiVeronica

@RocDevo

Some fans at Frontier Field may have felt nostalgic during the Western New York Flash’s 3-2 win over the Seattle Reign on Saturday night, as professional soccer returned to Rochester’s downtown baseball stadium for the first time since 2005.

A crowd of 4,314 fans watched the home team win its third straight and for a sixth time in seven matches to improve to 8-4 and pull within just two points for National Women’s Soccer League leader, the Portland Thorns (7-0-5).

But the match was a lot like some of those Rhinos classics when Rochester’s USL squad called Frontier its home from 1996 to 2005 before moving a couple blocks away to its own stadium. It featured plenty of action on the smaller-than-usual field, lots of chances and goals but there was something else that resembled the heyday of soccer at Frontier – a visibly upset opposing coach.

Seattle coach Laura Harvey had laundry list of complaints. It included the size of the field, which was configured in the outfield only because the NWSL wouldn’t allow it to be played over the dirt baseball infield. She also ripped the refereeing, saying one official used a replay to award the Flash the tying goal late in the first half, and was “shocked” at how long it took for an ambulance to get to her goalie, Haley Kopmeyer, when she injured her ankle late in the half.

“I was told the field was 110-by-61 (yards). That’s 100-by -58,” Harvey said, rattling off the length and the width. “I got lied to the whole week. I’m not making excuses. We knew what they were going to do but that’s not acceptable. This league is supposed to be professional. That’s not good enough.”

Talk about a flashback.

During the Rhinos’ decade of mostly dominance at Frontier, which included league titles in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and winning the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, plenty of visiting coaches left the pitch angry.

Abby Erceg, whose move up from central defense to midfield, has helped sparked the Flash, scored both goals late in the first half, then the go-ahead strike in several minutes of stoppage time due to Kopmeyer’s injury. The New Zealand native who’ll leave WNY after next Saturday’s match at Seattle to get ready for the Olympics also assisted on Lynn Williams’ NWSL-leading seventh goal in the 83rd minute.

She looped it over the top, the speedy Williams ran on it and showed plenty of patience before converting from a tough angle right of goal. Seattle made it a one-goal game in the 90th minute. It had taken a 1-0 lead on Nahomi Kawasumi’s 22nd-minute goal.

“(The small field) didn’t really suit either team. … It was a bit of an ugly game,” said Erceg, who credited her team for adjusting.

The Buffalo-based Flash have played home matches at Rochester’s nearby soccer stadium since 2011, but it was unavailable on Saturday due to a “Summerfest” concert there, featuring TLC. So that’s why the Flash moved it to Frontier Field, home of the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.

The field configuration for Rhinos’ matches was a little wider and longer, but because the NWSL didn’t want any of it the dirt infield the Flash had to shift it to the outfield with one goal in left field and the other in right field. Harvey said she received an e-mail from the NWSL at 1:30 p.m. Saturday saying the field wasn’t playable.

Flash general manager Rich Randall confirmed that he was at the stadium during the officials’ walk-through and there were six “minor issues,” that were addressed. One was adding sod to the corners so playing taking a corner kick could run up grass, not the outfield warning track.

At 5:30 p.m., Harvey said she arrived at the stadium and “nothing was changed.”

“Me and Laura had a chat with the referee (at 5:30 p.m.),” Flash coach Paul Riley said, “and I said (to her), ‘If you don’t want to play the game, just say and we won’t play the game.’ That was the last I heard. … Nobody likes to lose a game. I’m sure everyone’s disappointed. But everybody agreed to play the game.”

The size of the field certainly didn’t help the Flash, the NWSL’s highest scoring team, which has a ton of speed. The Reign had the league’s best defense prior to the match, having allowed just seven goals. They were out-shot 20-9 by the Flash.

“I thought the referee was poor. She lost the game,” Harvey said of the disputed tying goal by Erceg. “You can’t go off a replay to change a decision, whether it was right or wrong.”

The initial call appeared to negate because of a Flash foul in the box that toppled Kopmeyer. As she was being tended to by medical staff, officials gave Erceg and WNY the tying goal.

Told that Harvey’s emotions were running hot after the match, Riley wasn’t surprised.

“I think it was a tough adjustment for both teams but I don’t know if that’s the reason for the result,” Riley said. “Everybody agreed to play the game, so get on with it.”

Oh, it’ll be on next week when the Flash visit Seattle.

JDIVERON@Gannett.com

WNY Flash bringing soccer back to Frontier Field