Patti Holmes | Creative Images of Louisville Courtesy The Louisville Lightning opened their season in front of a sellout crowd last week.

The Louisville Lightning may have lost its inaugural soccer match against the 1790 Cincinnati Express last Friday, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find even a hint of disappointment in General Manager David Horne.

“We’re thrilled. We loved it. We had a sellout crowd. We had an exciting game. We loved it,” Horne said.

Ted Nichols, who co-owns the Lightning with Wayne Estopinal, was equally thrilled about the evening. “It was everything we dreamed of.”

Horne, who is also an assistant coach and player on the newly-franchised professional indoor soccer team, credits Estopinal with making the dream come true.

“He is the driving force,” Horne said. “I can tell you that we (players) aren’t making six figures, but it’s not about the money. It’s about pursuing your passion and your dream.”

Horne said the evening wouldn’t have been such a near-perfect success without the assistance of numerous employees, sponsors, interns and volunteers.

“It’s been this amazing teamwork,” he said. “One of the most amazing things about what’s happened with this organization is all of these people who’ve come out to support us by working with and for us.”

Fans came out to show their support too, though not everyone made it into the facility.

“We had to turn people away at the door,” Nichols said. “I personally had to call 30 of my friends and say, ‘You’re not going to be able to get in.’ ”

Some 903 people packed into the recently-renovated Mockingbird Valley Sports Arena to watch head coach Scott Budnick’s team’s debut, which ended in a 6-5 loss.

Patti Holmes | Creative Images of Louisville Courtesy

Matt Weber was in the crowd.

“I think this will bring a lot of soccer exposure to Louisville,” Weber said. “Indoor (soccer) is ... very fast paced, very high energy. You never know when someone is going to score. That can grab the attention of anyone who typically wouldn’t be a soccer fan, though after watching this, why wouldn’t you be one?”

Just in case the athletes didn’t appeal to you, the Lightning offered plenty of entertainment opportunities – frequent giveaways, refreshments, adult libations, a luxury VIP section and a Kid Zone for the youngsters. The atmosphere was vaguely reminiscent of the Louisville Fire Arena Football games that used to be held in Freedom Hall. It included, of course, a DJ who kept the music pumping throughout the game, getting people to dance in their seats by throwing down everything from MC Hammer to Kanye to Taylor Swift to a couple of classic oldies.

Providing a consistently exciting atmosphere is “kind of the whole point,” Horne said. “The level of play on the field is definitely important. Your soccer enthusiasts, in particular, will obviously be very interested in that. But, ultimately, this is also about the overall level of fun.”  

Brittany Bellis has been a soccer fan since she began attending her boyfriend’s matches, and she’s quickly become a fan of the Louisville Lightning.

“I like that it was all ages – literally. I saw toddlers, I saw older people, young people. They did a good job of accommodating everyone,” she said. “It’s just kind of nice to be associated with a pro team in the city. Hopefully it will sustain itself better than any of the other (now-defunct pro teams) because it is such a strong community with an established base.”

Horne said he has no doubt that’s exactly what will happen – eventually.

“Longevity is certainly the goal. I don’t want us to act like we’ve achieved much yet, but the support from the city has given us confidence,” he said. “After what we’ve done to get to this point and after Friday night, how could you not be on board?”

Louisville Lightning vs. Detroit Waza
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20
Where: Mockingbird Valley Sports Arena
More info: ­louisvillelightning.com