Lake Stevens boys soccer secures league title

Published 12:45 am Saturday, May 2, 2026

LAKE STEVENS — Mac Wilson knew he had a chance at a goal.

Lake Stevens boys soccer had been knocking on the door since the opening minute of their home matchup against Glacier Peak on Friday, but the visitors successfully kept them away from dangerous areas. However, when Wilson broke open down the right sideline off a throw-in and slipped behind a defender toward the 18-yard box in the 17th minute, the junior forward knew he had to capitalize.

Initially, Wilson planned to slide a shot inside the near post, but a backtracking Glacier Peak defender caught up to him. That’s when he spotted senior Colby Flanders cutting in through the middle of the box. With a simple but well-executed pass into the middle, Wilson teed up Flanders to give Lake Stevens a 1-0 lead.

The Vikings (9-2-3, 8-1-2 league) scored again five minutes later, and ultimately rolled to a 3-1 win against the Grizzlies (8-6-2, 6-4-1 league) to lock up their second consecutive Wesco 4A title. A Glacier Peak victory would have put the Grizzlies just one point behind Lake Stevens heading into the final game of the regular season, but the Vikings decided the race early.

“They were still in the running for (the) league title as well, so I think they wanted it just as badly as we did,” Flanders said. “But maybe we were a little stronger than they were.”

After starting out 2-1-2 in league play, including a 1-0 loss to Glacier Peak on April 3, Lake Stevens won six straight league matches to surge atop the standings. Despite losing senior Lucas Mooring, a 2025 All-Wesco First Team selection, to an ACL injury three weeks into the season — among other injuries and illnesses that riddled the roster — the Vikings played with a new level of intensity down the back stretch of the league schedule, with the senior class setting the tone.

“This was harder than last year,” Lake Stevens coach Wes VanHooser said. “… Our team went through a pretty low spot, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if we were going to come out of it. And then we kind of just, with 11 seniors and strong leadership mainly from (Flanders), we just kind of climbed our way back out.”

The Vikings started pressuring immediately on Friday. A pass up to sophomore Josh Judah Bram got blocked by Grizzlies goalkeeper Hayden Brown, and Flanders’ follow-up got deflected out of bounds by a defender for a Lake Stevens corner in the first minute.

However, with the way Glacier Peak defended to start out, the only way the Vikings could get the ball to the back of the net was when Judah Bram kicked the ball out of Brown’s grasp in the 10th minute, which did not count since Brown had already secured possession.

The Grizzlies put together a good opportunity to open the scoring when senior Tyler Larsen played the ball up to junior George Vankovsky running towards the right corner, but his cross just barely missed the outstretched leg of junior Ashton Resendiz cutting through the middle in the 15th minute.

Shortly after surviving that chance, Wilson connected with Flanders in the 17th minute to put Lake Stevens on top instead.

“We knew it was an important game, like what was on the line,” Wilson said. “We’ve been preparing for this all season. Every practice, we come with intensity, so we were ready for this.”

VanHooser subbed on fresh attackers midway through the half, and senior George Meadows Morrice rewarded that decision almost instantly when he slotted a shot in off the goalkeeper early in the 22nd minute to push it to 2-0.

Meadows Morrice, a Second Team All-Wesco pick last season, recently returned from an ankle injury, according to Flanders, and his absence played a role in the Vikings’ struggles earlier this year. Now that Lake Stevens has righted the ship, returning players like Meadows Morrice only add to the team’s firepower.

“We’re probably the most talented team in this league,” Wilson said. “We’ve got the most depth by far, and (Meadows Morrice) is a great player.”

Flanders nearly added his second goal of the game with 10 minutes left in the first half. After junior Ryan McKenna cleared a Glacier Peak through ball up towards midfield, the ball pinballed around between senior Isaac Machart and sophomore Isley Chu before it settled at Flanders’ feet. The midfielder dribbled into space on the left, but his shot was saved out of the back line for a corner.

That set up senior Jiovany Estrada to connect with senior Xander Blair at the near-post for an easy tap-in off the ensuing corner cross in the 31st minute to give Lake Stevens a commanding 3-0 lead.

“We specialize on those set piece plays, and just winning those balls out of the air,” Flanders said.

The Grizzlies cut it to 3-1 in the 34th minute, and they nearly had a chance to get within one in the 36th after Resendiz intercepted a pass in the Vikings’ half and sent it up to Larsen for a counterattack, but Blair tracked back to make a clean slide tackle and eliminate the danger.

Blair later exited the game following a collision that required his knee to be wrapped in an ice pack, but VanHooser does not anticipate it to be a serious injury. At least he hopes not, given how integral Blair is to the back line.

“In my opinion, Xander’s the best defender in the league,” VanHooser said. “He’s really held our team together defensively this year, just with his organization, leadership, his intensity. I think he brings something to the back line that I don’t think any other team in the league (has).”

With time ticking away in the second half, Glacier Peak made multiple pushes in the final 10 minutes in an effort to work the game back into a tie, but Lake Stevens goalkeeper Liam McIntyre stepped up when he needed to most, stopping Grizzlies sophomore Kai Jewett in the 72nd minute before making a diving, point-blank save on Resendiz followed by another stop on the attempted rebound inside the final two minutes.

After entering a battle where both teams had something bigger to play for and coming out the other side victorious, the Vikings hope they can channel that experience and energy into the upcoming playoff run. Following Tuesday’s season-finale against Mariner, Lake Stevens will enter the District 1/2 4A Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

The biggest focus for VanHooser and his side will be adjusting to their KingCo opponents’ style, which VanHooser described as “a little bit less physical, a little bit more technical” than Wesco.

“They move the ball really well, so we got to start prepping to be a little bit more defensive,” VanHooser said. “And try to score goals on set pieces and kind of still bring our Wesco brand of soccer to them.”