There was an outside chance that the Spokane Shadow could have caught PacNW for the #2 seed with a great weekend, but then PacNW went out and outscored their opponents including the Shadow 12-1 and locked down the #2 seed in the Rainier Conference. Tyler Bjork scored four times over the weekend and claimed the Golden Boot with 12 goals this season while Bellingham United took care of business with a 2-0 win to claim the Cascade Conference’s title.
Read more about the last week of the EPLWA’s regular season…
Oly-Pen Force 2, Spokane Shadow 2
Traffic wreaked havoc on the Spokane Shadow with a delayed start and just nine players at first kick, but former Puerto Rico FC and Spokane NPSL Men’s First Team player Mike Ramos opened the scoring with a goal in the 30th minute and tallied the game tying goal in the 83rd to give the Shadow a 2-2 draw with Oly-Pen at Gordon Field. The Force did all of their damage in a two minute period starting with Mitch Balmer’s goal in the 36th and Joe Sammartino’s go ahead goal in the 38th. Oly-Pen finished the season at 4-4-2 with 14 points and the Shadow finished two points behind them at 3-4-3.
Oly-Pen Force goals: Mitch Balmer (’36), Joe Sammartino (’38)
Spokane Shadow goals: Mike Ramos (’30 & ’83)
Washington Premier 6, Vancouver Victory 0
Micah Wenzel and Brandon Madsen each scored twice in Washington Premier’s 6-0 win over the Vancouver Victory. Wenzel started the scoring in the 24th and scored again in the 81st. Madsen scored both of his goals in a three minute run, in the 49th and the 52nd. Alex Whiting and Alejandro Velasco added goals and WA Premier clinched the home game advantage through the playoffs with their 8-2-0 record. The Victory finished the season without a victory dropping to 0-9-1.
Washington Premier goals: Micah Wenzel (’24 & ’81), Brandon Madsen (’49 & ’52), Alex Whiting (’43), Alejandro Velasco (’77)
Vancouver Victory goals: None
PacNW SC 5, Oly Town Artesians 0
Tyler Bjork took the Golden Boot lead with three goals in the first half of PacNW’s dominating 5-0 performance over the Oly Town Artesians. Bjork scored his goals in the 17th, a whipping header in the 25th and scored on an open goal after going around the keeper after a turnover in the 38th. Jasper Malamud added two more goals in the 82nd and the 89th. PacNW allowed just one shot on goal in the game and they clinched the Rainier Conference’s #2 seed with the win.
PacNW SC goals: Tyler Bjork (’17, ’25, & ’38), Jasper Malamud (’82 & ’89)
Oly Town Artesians goals: None
Bellingham 2, Yakima United 0
Bellingham needed a win to clinch the Cascade Conference’s title but Yakima United made them sweat it out. Finally, in the 77th minute, Georg Cholewa scored what proved to be the game winning goal and Richard Henderson scored an insurance goal in the 90th. Hector Gutierrez and Brandon Wolter split time in goal to keep Yakima scoreless. The Hammers improved to 7-1-2 this season and will host PacNW in the semifinals next weekend.
Bellingham United goals: Georg Cholewa (’77), Richard Henderson (’90)
Yakima United goals: None
PacNW SC 7, Spokane Shadow 1
PacNW raced out to a 3-0 lead over the first seven minutes with goals by Burke Fahling, Tyler Bjork’s fourth goal of the weekend and 12 of the season in the 4th minute, and a 7th minute goal by Mumbi Kwesele and never looked back. Jourdan Furukawa scored twice with goals in the 51st and 55th and Fahling added another in the 90th. PacNW outscored their opponents 12-1 over the weekend and improved to 7-2-1 this season.
PacNW SC goals: Burke Fahling (‘2 & ’90), Jourdan Furukawa (’51 & ’55), Tyler Bjork (‘4), Mumbi Kwesele (‘7), Jasper Malamud (’33)
Spokane Shadow goals: Michael Benito (’24)
Seattle Stars 3, Tri-Cities Alliance 2
Andrei Marina scored in stoppage time of the second half to give the Seattle Stars a 3-2 win over the Tri-Cities Alliance on Sunday afternoon at French Field. Marina started the scoring in the 22nd to give Seattle a 1-0 lead and Marcus Machado gave them a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute. Jason Rodriguez cut it to a one goal lead just before the half came to a close with the Stars up 2-1. Seattle’s lead held up unil Uriel Mendoa tied the game at 2-2 in the 89th minute and it looked like the Alliance would draw their fifth game of the season. But Marina struck just minutes later to give Seattle their seventh win of the season, moving them to 7-2-1. They will travel to Washington Premier on Saturday as the Cascade Conference’s #2 seed.
Seattle Stars goals: Andrei Marina (’22 & ’90+), Marcus Machado (’32)
Tri-Cities Alliance goals: Jason Rodriguez (’43), Uriel Mendoa (’89)
Evergreen Premier League 