RENO, Nev. – The San Jose Earthquakes may have been the winners on the field, but Reno 1868 FC’s inaugural contest on Saturday made the USL expansion club a winner as well as more than 6,200 fans packed into Greater Nevada Field to see the club begin its preparations for its first season.

“The crowd was great. I didn’t know there was such a passion for soccer up here in Reno, You could hear them loud and clear on the field,” Earthquakes Homegrown forward Tommy Thompson told the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Jim Krajewski. “Credit to Reno, they did a great job.”

Thompson, who himself has seen action on loan in the USL with Sacramento Republic FC in the past three seasons, scored the only goal of the game with a highlight-reel back-heeled finish that landed him on the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 on Saturday night. The loss aside, though, 1868 FC Head Coach Ian Russell was pleased with what he saw from his squad.

“There were a bunch of payers that did well who are going to have a good season,” Russell told Krajewski. “I knew this was a good soccer community and you could see it.”