SUMNER--This time there was no coming back.

One day after overcoming a 2-0 deficit to beat Okanogan, 4-3, in the Class 1A Washington state boys soccer semifinals, the Seattle Christian boys soccer team fell behind the Chelan Mountain Goats, 3-1, by halftime of the championship and wound up losing by that score.

Saturday's loss to Chelan in the final left the Warriors in second place, but Friday's win over Okanogan that earned a top two finish was the one to remember.

"It was an unreal game, an unbelievable game," said Seattle Christian head coach David Peters after his team beat the Bulldogs on the Sunset Chev Stadium turf in Sumner. "Wow. The kids have a lot of heart. They work together, and they know how to play this game. They never give in."

Okanogan wasted no time taking the early lead on the Warriors.
Justin Rivas did the scoring honors on both goals that added up to the 2-0 lead.

The first came with 6:10 elapsed in the first half as he dribbled his way past Warriors keeper Conner Fremmerlid and drilled the ball into the left back corner of the empty net.

Fabian Rodriguez earned the assist on that goal, but Rivas' next goal was unassisted and came with 2:50 elapsed in the second half.

This time he took a free kick and found the right back corner.

Seattle Christian's comeback began in earnest shortly thereafter, as Trent Siedenburg took a deflected Keaton Kerr assist and knocked it in from five yards out with 9:43 elapsed.

Grant Fremmerlid then tied it less than two minutes later, taking a long throw in by Austin Baucom and heading it into the left side of the net.

Joshua Gehrke gave the Warriors a temporary 3-2 lead by booting in a penalty kick with 67:57 elapsed on the official game clock.

The tension continued as Okanogan came right back and scored at the 69:42 mark when Rodriguez knocked in a Jason Perez cross from the left.
What turned out to be the winning goal for the Warriors was notched with 73:15 elapsed.

The score came on an own goal from the Bulldogs as a defender misplayed the ball and rolled it slowly back into the left corner.

The 4-3 lead then withstood a tense 6:45 remaining time to send Seattle Christian on to the championship.

"They're always trying to give me a heart attack," Peters said. "That's how they always play."

The efforts did not pay off in a win against Chelan in the final, however.

Chelan's Mountain Goats got out of the gate quickly, with Eleazer Galvan lofting in a 35-yard free kick to open the scoring with only 1:51 elapsed.

Seattle Christian answered with a goal at 23:06, also on a free kick. Gehrke scored for the Warriors with a shot of the 25-yard variety.
But the Goats garnered a goal 48 seconds later to go ahead for good. Erik Garcia shot the ball in from just outside the 18-yard box.

Chelan gained an insurance goal with only three seconds to play before halftime. It was also an unassisted goal by Garcia, only this time he blasted the ball from the far left side into the upper right corner.
The 3-1 lead then held through the 40-minute second half.

Seattle Christian finished the regular season with a 15-1 record before plunging into the playoffs and finishing with a 19-2 overall mark.
The Mountain Goats wound up 20-3 including their first-ever state championship.

It was the fourth second place finish for SCS to go with four state titles out of 19 postseason appearances.

"We've got some good leadership on this team," pointed out Peters. "It makes our jobs as coaches that much easier."

Peters was assisted by Mark Fremmerlid, while the players were Conner Fremmerlid, Joshua Nguyen, Cody Gunhus, Benjamin Piehler, Keegan Jordan, Trent Siedenburg, Grant Fremmerlid, Keaton Kerr, Joshua Henry, Luke Edvalds, Nathan Da Dalto, Cooper Strout, Joshua Gehrke, Austin Baucom, Payton Gunhus, Zachary Stevenson and Andrew Gesell.