A 1-1 tie would make many teams upset, especially if a 1-0 lead got away in the second half.

But not Highline High School head coach Tim Crawley, whose team finished in a 1-1 knot against the Kennedy Catholic Lancers this past Friday.

"Going in we were hoping we could at least tie," said Crawley after the action on the Starfire pitch in Tukwila. "Kennedy has more talent, but we tied them, which is good."

Crawley was especially happy considering the fact his team was missing some key players.

"We had three ineligible for grades and hopefully we'll have them back in the next couple weeks," Crawley said.

The Pirates bolted out to the early lead and held off a fiece Kennedy barrage in the second half except for the one tying goal.

Junior forward Joseph Ramirez moved up close to the goal and drilled the ball over the Lancers' goalie and under the crossbar into the back of the net.

The score came with 18 minutes, 15 seconds left on the first half clock, and the lead held until 23:50 to go in the second half.

Junior forward Colin Cossette -- who had been threatening all night -- knocked the ball in to forge the tie that held until the end.

It was Kennedy that took seven close shots down the stretch, including the last one by Cossette in the closing seconds.

Cossette drove up close and launched a shot that was caught by Highline goalie Liam Dennehy.

Dennehy, a sophomore, came in for the second half, taking over for starting senior goalie Brayan Giron.

Giron also got in his work against the Lancers, including diving for and stopping a hard shot by JFK junior midfielder Danny Riedeman with 20 seconds left in the first half.

But this one wound up with a tie despite the JFK dominance.

"It was a good game," said a relieved Crawley.

Both teams return to action Tuesday, March 19.

Highline goes home to Highline Memorial Stadium for 7:30 p.m. action against the Tyee Totems and Kennedy travels to Foster.

Evergreen, which lost to Hazen by a 2-0 score Friday, is at home at Highline Memorial playing Lindbergh at 5:30 p.m.

Friday's schedule has Foster at Tyee at 5:30 p.m., Lindbergh at Kennedy and Highline at Hazen at 6 p.m. and Renton at Evergreen at 7:30 p.m.