Eugene Lee scored two clutch goals to help the Silver Lake Arsenal boys U-15 soccer team achieve its goal of winning the Washington State Youth Soccer Association’s President’s Cup on Dec. 3 at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila.
In the championship game, Lee, from Mill Creek, scored the winning goal in the 74th minute of a 1-0 victory over the Eagles, a team from the North Shore Youth Soccer Association.
In the semifinals, Lee scored in the 78th minute of a 1-0 victory over the Cougars, a team from the Kitsap Youth Soccer Association.
“They’ve done something special they’ll have for the rest of their lives,” Arsenal coach Tom Miller said of his players. “I’m glad they were able to achieve that goal.”
The Arsenal, which won the District 1 championship to earn a berth in the tournament, qualified for the President’s Cup in each of the two previous years but failed to make it out of the preliminary round.
“Our goal from day one was to get back to state and win,” Miller said of his team. “I knew they were capable and they reached out and took it.”
This year, the Arsenal made it out of the opening round without winning a game.
Jacob Clark, of Everett, scored two goals in Silver Lake’s opener, a 2-2 tie with the same District 2 champion Eagles the Arsenal would face for the state title.
Silver Lake next played to a 0-0 tie with Blasters 91, the District 3 champion from the Eastside Youth Soccer Association.
The Arsenal and the Eagles advanced to the semifinals based on the number of goals they allowed in the two games.
The Arsenal is part of the Silver Lake Soccer Club and represented the North County Youth Soccer Association at the President’s Cup.
Joining Lee and Clark on the Silver Lake team were Joseph Burell of Everett; Tyler Desmarais of Everett; Ryan Erickson of Mill Creek; Travis Gunderson of Mill Creek; William Healas of Everett; Benjamin Johnson of Snohomish; Cody Miller of Everett; Chris Peterson of Everett; Maxx Pinorini of Everett; Karl Rasmussen of Everett; Conner Roberts of Everett; Derek Salud of Everett; Greggory Siemering of Mill Creek; and Brian Viayra of Everett.
Randy Pinorini served as the team’s assistant coach.
Lake Stevens Eclipse moves up to Premier 1: The Lake Stevens Eclipse boys U-15 soccer team qualified to play next year at the state’s top tier, the eight-team Premier 1 division, based on its record in the 2006 season that ended Sunday.
The Eclipse, which is part of the Lake Stevens Soccer Club, compiled an 8-4-2 record in the Premier 2 division and was 30-4-4 overall, including winning the Emerald City Diadora, Puma Pacific Coast Challenge and Lake Stevens Bash tournaments.
Team members included Alexander Cashman, Jacob Smith, Kyle Viguie, Alexander Muld, Paul Gumke, Nicholas Bylin, Nicholas Schroeder, Ross Roepke, Eduardo Mendoza, John Gleason, Brian Holguin, John Crenshaw, Matthew Johns, Zachary Wagoner, Taylor Gaston, Ryan Schroeder, Eric Baker, and Nolan Cummins.
Kevin Wyeth was the head coach. He was assisted by Butch Gleason and Dave Thomas.
Cross country
Everett man wins division at nationals: Bill Iffrig of Everett won the Master Men’s division for runners ages 70 to 74 at the United States Track and Field Cross Country National Championships held Dec. 9 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Iffrig, 72, completed the 10-kilometer course in 44 minutes, 48 seconds, almost 31/2 minutes faster than the next runner, Iffrig’s Snohomish Track Club teammate David Pitkethly, 70, of Bellevue, who finished in 48:07.
A third Snohomish Track Club runner, 72-year-old Ben Grevstad, of Lake Forrest Park, finished fourth in 50:40, helping the club win the Master Men’s 70-plus team title.
The Snohomish Track Club team’s combined time of 2:23.35 was 14 minutes faster than the second-place squad. Under USATF rules, teams made up of competitors age 60 and older had to have three runners to compete for the team title.
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