Kelyn Rowe (left) found plenty of reason to celebrate after his opening goal. Photo by Kurt Howard.
Both teams packed a lot of punch, but in the end it was Pasco that pinned a 4-3 loss on Federal Way in the state Class 4A boys soccer final.
The two teams were never separated by more than one goal in the Saturday, May 26 action at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
"They're fast, and they're good," said Federal Way head coach Jason Baumgardt of the Bulldogs from Eastern Washington.
The Eagles finished with an 11-2-4 record, with the only losses being a 2-0 non-league loss to Inglemoor to open the season and then the loss to Pasco in the end.
"There is nothing to hang their heads about," Baumgardt said.
Pasco broke the scoring ice in the championship with 20:44 left in the first half on an unassisted shot by Eddie Mendoza into the back of the goal net on the right side.
But Federal Way came right back to tie it again with 16:24 left, as freshman Kelyn Rowe brought the ball up the field, slipped past the Pasco defenders and knocked it on in.
The Eagles then took a 2-1 lead on a goal with 1:26 to go in the half.
Rowe took an assist from Derek Paulino and knocked it across the goal mouth and in.
But what was starting to look like an eventual Federal Way win changed when Pasco's Alfredo Farias drilled the ball into the back of the net to tie it 2-2.
The Eagles answered with 24:29 left in the match, as Lalo Morales took the ball past the goalie and hit the center of the net.
Pasco tied it up one more time with 19:58 to go on a goal by Bryce Wilson into a wide open right side of the net.
The Bulldogs broke the tie and scored the eventual winning goal with 13:10 to go. Shayne Kelly eluded the goalie at the 10-yard line and slipped the ball on in for the score and a 4-3 lead.
The good news for Federal Way is that it will only lose four players to graduation, and that the underclassmen are hungry for a title.
"I think they'll have a lot of drive for next year," Baumgardt said.
Federal Way 4, Cascade 0
The Eagles coasted their way to a big semifinal win the night before.
"I just told them there is no tomorrow and they played like there is no tomorrow," said Baumgardt.
Christian Munoz opened the scoring with 20:05 left in the first half on a bounding shot.
Munoz scored the next goal on a right to left shot at the 11:18 mark. It was set up by a scissor kick attempt by teammate John Mono.
Murphy Campbell put the Eagles up, 3-0, by rolling in a goal with 34:42 remaining in the second half.
Players for this year's Eagles team were Vinton Lane, Eddie Gomez, Tommy Osborn, Rowe, Danny Stamnes, Omar Cruz, Jameson Louimar, Paulino, Munoz, Carter Brossard, Andrew Hair, Jacob Hellen, Kris Mani, Kevin Olsen, Tulley Craig, Randal Ventura, Campbell, Mono, Morales and Brad Lewis.