Snohomish United keeps playoff hopes alive in home finale

SNOHOMISH — Snohomish United was on high alert.

Hosting the Tacoma Stars in their regular-season home finale at Stocker Fields on Wednesday, United entered halftime up 2-1 after allowing the Stars to score within the final five minutes before the break.

Fighting for a playoff spot in USL League Two, United could not afford a loss — and therefore could not afford a Tacoma equalizer — so re-establishing control of the game in the second half would be crucial.

“The next goal after 2-1 was the most important goal,” United midfielder Christian Soto said. “Whether we can bury a team or keep them in it.”

United came out pressing to open the half, and it quickly paid off. Forward Eric Lagos situated himself between the Tacoma center backs, waiting for the right time to break towards goal. Defender William Case sent the ball up into the box, where Lagos dove to meet it with his head and send it past the Tacoma keeper to give United a 3-1 lead just a few minutes in.

“Will played in a great ball,” Lagos said. “And I just ran into it and had eyes for goal.”

From there, forward Aaron Leon scored twice more to complete a hat trick, and United walked away with a 5-1 win, moving into second-place in the nine-team Northwest Division against the last-place Stars.

The top two teams in the Northwest Division qualify for the USL League Two playoffs. Undefeated Ballard FC (9-0-3, 30 points) has already clinched the division title, but now United (7-4-2, 23 points) sits just ahead of Lane United FC (6-3-4, 22 points) in the second spot. With one regular-season match left, United is already in playoff mode.

“Every game is a playoff game,” United head coach Hamza Haddadi told the team after the game. “We lose, we’re done.”

Playing in its inaugural season, Snohomish United is looking to make its mark right away in USL League Two, which is a semi-professional league that’s considered the fourth tier of the United States men’s soccer system behind MLS, the USL Championship and USL League One. According to the league’s website, USL League Two provides “top pre-professional players the opportunity to train and compete at the highest level while maintaining their collegiate eligibility.”

The Northwest Division represents one of 19 divisions across USL League Two, spanning the entire country. The season takes place from early May to mid-July, and the playoffs stretch all the way to the League Two Final in early August.

The league is a popular option for collegiate players looking for summer competition, and for Snohomish United, they aim to keep it as local as possible. The vast majority of the roster is from the area and/or plays collegiately at schools like the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University or Seattle University. Additionally, United scouts players in and around the Snohomish Youth programs, and holds local tryouts to scope out talent.

Another common link is the Crossfire Premier Soccer Club, where Haddadi is a coach. A large portion of the roster played for the club as well, including a handful who just won the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) Boys U18/19 National Championship in Redmond on July 1.

Leon, midfielder Clarens Dollin and defenders Kevin Hernandez and Zackary Meier were all part of the championship team, and therefore missed the past two-and-a-half weeks of United’s season. With every player on different timelines for their other club/college commitments, Haddadi and his coaching staff are used to a cycling rotation of available players.

“We’re fortunate enough where a lot of guys have played together at some point in their soccer careers,” Haddadi said. “We have a pretty direct playing style, so I feel like they all know what we need to do coming in, and today it showed.”

United defender Carter Gay, who sat out on Wednesday but is nearing the end of recovery for a sprained ankle, is a former Crossfire player who graduated from Cascade High School in 2024. He spent this past season at Seattle Pacific, but transferred to the University of Washington for the upcoming season.

For Gay, playing in front of his home fans and training with fellow Division I athletes creates the perfect environment for his game to grow this summer.

“This is like the highest summer league you can play being a college player,” Gay said. “So if you can, you want to play USL2, 100 percent. There’s other leagues you can play in, but nothing is as good as USL2 for a college player in the summer.”

The team is not limited to active college players. Soto is two years removed from playing at the University of Washington, where he was named First-Team All-Pac-12 as a sophomore and junior, and Second-Team as a senior in 2023.

On the other end of the spectrum are players like Leon, who is entering his senior year at Eastmont High School and is not yet committed to a college program.

“There’s a lot of hidden talent here,” Leon said. “No matter the age, as long as you’re good enough, you can come compete.”

Added Soto: “It’s also fun to watch young guys like this guy (Leon) ball out.”

Meanwhile, Lagos represents a rare exception as one of the few non-local players. The St. Paul, Minn. native played at Yale from 2019-2023, earning Second-Team All-Ivy League in his final season. He moved to the area for his job in the tech industry, and he likes to stay involved with the game as much as he can.

“I think Seattle has a great soccer scene,” Lagos said. “There’s a lot of great men’s leagues at all levels, so yeah, I just love playing soccer out here. It’s great.”

With all these players working together to pull out a decisive victory, United sent the home crowd off on a high note. In addition to the lines of bleachers stretching down the entire sideline, fans at Stocker Fields could watch the game from behind the goal at picnic tables next to a food and concessions stand as well as in a biergarten sectioned off for fans over 21.

The home slate may be complete for Snohomish United, but they face a big test in the regular season finale against Ballard FC on Saturday, where they hope to hand them their first loss of the season in order to hold on to their second-place spot.

Haddadi said the team needs to focus on “doing the little things right.” Meanwhile, Gay is expecting to return to the lineup, and he believes United has what it takes to pull off the win after the two sides drew 1-1 in their last matchup on June 11.

“When Ballard came here, we were 100 percent better,” Gay said. “We know we’re better, and we struggled the past few weeks (going 3-4-2 after a 4-0-0 start), which has been hard. But for us, it’s a rivalry game, and for them, they know it is too. So I think going into that game, we’re not scared.

“We want to show the league and the country that we’re better than the No. 3 team.”