The Seattle Stars struck first in their rematch of the 2018 Evergreen Premier League final against Washington Premier, but WA Premier scored five unanswered goals and will make a return trip to the title game thanks to their 5-1 win.
Jason Rodriguez started things off on the right foot for the Stars scoring the game’s opening goal in the 16th minute, but the tide turned 23 minutes later and it was all Washington Premier after that. Bubacar Touray scored the equalizer in the 39th minute and put WA Premier up 2-1 in the 43rd minute with his second goal of the game. Stars goalkeeper Nicolas Madej kept the game close through the first 45 minutes with a penalty kick save but they still trailed 2-1 at the end of the first half.
The Stars kept it close for the first 20 minutes of the second half but the defending champs exploded for three goals in 13 minutes starting with Eddie Na’s first in the 65th minute. Nine minutes later, Alex Whiting made it a three goal lead in the 74th minute and Na picked up his second goal four minutes later to make it 5-1 in the 78th minute. Keeper Carlos Rodriguez and the WA Premier defense kept the feisty Stars at bay for the final 12 minutes and advanced to their second EPLWA final with a 5-1 victory.
Mike Arguello and Rodriguez split time in goal for WA Premier and allowed just the one early goal. Seattle kept WA Premier’s leading scorer, Brandon Madsen, without a goal, but he did chip in with two assists.
Seattle finished the game with just nine players after receiving four yellow cards and two late reds in the run of play. They wrapped up their season after a 7-2-1 regular season and a second place finish in the Cascade Conference.
Washington Premier goals: Bubacar Touray (’39 & ’43), Eddie Na (’65 & ’78), Alex Whiting (’74)
Seattle Stars goal: Jason Rodriguez (’16)
Evergreen Premier League 