Gonzaga opens its first varsity men’s soccer season by defeating Brigham Young, 4-2, in Spokane. The Bulldogs, coached by Alex Barr, are the state's first program to east of the Cascades since 1973 and go 11-2-1 while playing exclusively club programs. The Zags had fielded a club program since 1972. Olympia’s Evergreen State College also fields its first varsity team in 1980, going 10-11-0 under Willie Lippmann.

After five seasons of anchoring the Sounders' defense, Mike England retires to take over managing the Wales National Team. Capped 46 times for Wales, England will take the reins for eight years.

Seattle plays its inaugural NASL regular season indoor game at Portland, falling 6-4. Clive Charles scores the first two Portland goals. David Nish scores the Sounders’ first goal at 42 seconds of the second quarter and adds another in the fourth period.

Just when Seattle Pacific seemed destined for its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II finals, longtime nemesis Chico State pulls off an unlikely comeback in the Far West final at Memorial Stadium. The Wildcats rally from two goals behind and finally eliminate the Falcons in the 129th minute, in the third overtime, 3-2. After outscoring their last six opponents by a combined 26-2, SPU had jumped in front on goal from Brad Elmenhurst and Bruce Raney. It's the fourth time Chico State has bounced the Falcons from the playoffs.

NASL players vote Seattle’s Roger Davies as Most Valuable Player following his sensational totals of 25 goals, 11 assists and 8 game-winners. Davies did it on a pair of ailing feet. Immediately after the season he underwent surgery for swollen bursa sac. He out-polls Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, both of the Cosmos, for MVP. Jack Brand is the league reporters’ choice for North American Player of the Year. The Canadian led the NASL in GAA (0.91) and posts a league-record 15 shutouts while playing every minute. Alan Hinton is Coach of the Year.

Seattle University announces all varsity sports will be begin operating as NAIA members beginning in the fall, dropping from NCAA Division I and the West Coast Conference. Initially, SU President Rev. William Sullivan had announced April 3 that the Chieftains would go Division III. Sullivan had questioned pouring “hundreds of thousands of dollars into a programing which 140 students are participating.”

Mark Peterson, 20, comes off bench in first appearance for USMNT, a win (2:0) over Luxembourg in Dudelange. It’s the second of five matches during a European tour prior to World Cup qualifying. Peterson, who scored 18 goals in all competitions as a Sounders rookie, is only the third Washington native to play for the national team. Sounders reserve Greg Makowski and Seattle native Tony Crudo are also chosen for the national team.

Jeff Stock fires home the game-winner with 14 seconds left in overtime as the Sounders win their 11th consecutive outright win (two short of NASL record), 3-2 at San Diego. They are 13-1 overall, with the sole loss in a tiebreaker. It’s the first professional goal for Stock, a rookie from Tacoma. Stock: It was fantastic. I didn’t know what to do after I kicked it. Peterson 39’, Bridge 3’ and Stock (all 21 and under) score three goals.

A crowd of 12,355 watches the first indoor game played in Puget Sound. It's a preseason friendly in the Kingdome, a jamboree with Portland and San Jose. A radio station gives away 7,700 of the tickets. Admission $4 and $2 for kids. It costs $200,000 to make the Dome suitable, including the turf field encircled by fiberglass walls and plexiglass.

The largest crowd of the season to date, 34,356, roars its approval as the Sounders blitz Toronto Blizzard, 5-0, for the 13th straight home win. Former Sounder favorite Tony Chursky is shelled by 4 goals in 7 minutes, all from set plays (penalty, two corner kicks, free kick) before Bruce Rioch's left-footed bomb. The Sounders win their 13th straight at home.

The Cosmos defeat Sounders before record regular season crowd of 49,606 in the Kingdome. Fans increasingly push Seattle for equalizer that never comes, despite 27-17 advantage in shots. Postgame, Seattle learns Ian Bridge is lost for the remainder of season with torn ligaments in his knee. Cosmos start three 19-year-olds, including Tacoma's Jeff Durgan and Roberto Cabanas, who scores only goal when Jack Brand can’t hold a Giorgio Chinaglia shot. At game’s end, Sounders circle the field to applauding fans with the Western Division trophy.

Roger Davies ties Seattle club record with four goals (despite missing a penalty kick) in 5-1 win over Rochester. It completes a month during which Davies scores in each of six games and 11 altogether. Davies also assists on a goal by Derek Smethurst. He missed a penalty kick, however. With 14 goals he has already broken the Seattle record of 13, set by Smethurst in 1979.

Seattle registers its first indoor win, 9-5 over San Jose behind four goals from Reine Almqvist in the Kingdome. Almqvist, the Swedish international whose outdoor season was cut short by quadriceps injury, scores at 4:21, then a pair 43 seconds apart of the second period before making it 6-3 early in third. Jeff Bourne adds a brace, and both Alan Hudson and Steve Buttle contribute three assists. George Best has two for the Quakes.

Fred Hamel and Robbie Zipp, both of Seattle are named to the Parade Magazine High School All-America team. Hamel attends Blanchet High School and Zipp goes to O’Dea.

Sweetfoot-Carrera United, playing in the first-ever national girls' U19 tournament, finish third in San Jose after defeating the Rochester Rockets, 3-2, in overtime in the consolation final. After the Tacoma juggernaut won its fifth straight state title, it dominated the West Regional, blitzing Oregon (5-0), Arizona (6-0) and Pleasanton of Northern California (3-1). Sue Ray scored twice in the regional final. In the semifinals, Sweetfoot-Carerra fell to eventual champs Dallas Sting, 3-2. Dan Swain's team were 23-2-2 for the year and finish 204-14-11 all-time.

Somehow, the Sounders pound Los Angeles yet find themselves eliminated from the playoffs via a mini-game shootout. Seattle, which had lost 3-0 at LA two nights earlier, dazzles the Aztecs during the first 15 minutes, earning 8 corner kicks, but then goals poured forth from Roy Greaves, Steve Buttle and Mark Peterson, all within 8 minutes. Peterson later makes it 4-0. Following an intermission, the team teams come back to settle the series over 30 minutes. Roger Davies brings Seattle level following an early Gary Etherington score, but at 1-1 it proceeds to a shootout, won by LA, 2-1.

South Lakes Soccer Association clear and level land just east of Lake Geneva (park just south of Highway 18), with heavy work handled by battalion of Navy Corps of Engineers – all without a permit to create soccer fields on the vacant, King County-owned 5-acre lot. A stop work order is issued but no charges are filed. Says a county representative: “The soccer people had good intentions. They felt they were benefiting the park by putting in the field. Sure, it would’ve gone slower if they worked hand in hand with us. But it would’ve been done properly.”

Frank Gallo succeeds Mike O’Malley as University of Washington head coach. Gallo is teaching classes and completing a master's degree at UW. He had served as assistant last season and was Puget Sound head coach from 1977-78. O’Malley left May 1 after two seasons to be assistant coach for the MISL Cleveland Force. The Huskies go 17-4-0 under Gallo but do not receive an NCAA berth.

Seattle's Roger Davies scores his 25th regular season goal after chesting down John Ryan cross and beating Bruce Grobbelaar from 15 yards, and Jack Brand makes 8 saves, including flying stop of Gerry Gray in first half, to secure his NASL-record 15th shutout. The 1-0 win over Vancouver comes despite absence of Alan Hudson and Bruce Rioch.

The Sounders win an NASL-record 25th game at Chicago, 3-1, behind rookie Mark Peterson's hat trick. It gives Peterson seven goals in the last six games. Jack Brand battles rainy conditions and potent Sting attack (28 shots). Seattle also ties the league record for road wins (11) despite playing without Roger Davies, Tommy Hutchison and Ian Bridge.

Two Washington players are chosen among the NASL top eight in the NASL draft. Robbie Zipp, 17, of O'Dea, is taken seventh by Detroit. Zipp has played for both the U17 and U15 national teams. Selected No. 8 by Portland is Chris Hellenkamp, 19, a sophomore at Seattle Pacific. Seattle was interested in both but chose 20th. The Sounders draft Craig Nicholson (Garfield High School 2nd round), and both Jim McKay and Mike Hiatt of SPU.

Off the mark with force, the Sounders oust defending champion Vancouver in first round of playoffs, 3-1, at home. They get goals from David Nish, Mark Peterson and a Tommy Hutchison shot that deflects in during the first 37 minutes. Jack Brand makes 10 saves. Three nights earlier, Peterson’s overtime goal won the first leg, 2-1, at Empire Stadium.

Skagit Valley College need penalty kicks to do it, but the Cardinals become the first NWAACC team to win three consecutive championships. After tying Everett, 2-2, Skagit Valley prevails in a tiebreaker shootout. Dave Helms and Gene Lashell score for the Cardinals and Russ Peterson and Abdul Halim for Everett.

Bellevue's Bernie James moves to Edmonton and starts on defense for the Drillers in their first NASL playoff game in six seasons, 2-0 win over Houston. James, 21, spent the previous two seasons with the Sounders reserves. Elsewhere, Washington residents Tony Crudo (California) and Danny Vaughn (Memphis) are also regular starters.

The Sounders turn back Portland on Christmas Eve, 10-5, erupting for four unanswered third-quarter goals. Mark Peterson, whose goal made it 5-3 to begin the flurry, has a hat trick in Seattle’s third win in four.

Mike Quinn’s second-half score proved the difference as Blanchet returned to the prep throne by beating Shorewood, 1-0, in the WIAA boys’ final at Memorial Stadium. Quinn’s goal, his 18th of the year, came with under 15 minutes left. Bob Hewett notched the shutout. It’s the Braves third championship in seven years, including the unofficial title won in 1974. They won their first WIAA crown in 1978.

Tacoma's Mark Peterson scores his first professional goal just 124 minutes into his career. It comes from a Steve Buttle corner in the 19th minute vs. California and enables Seattle to win, 1-0. Ian Bridge saves a Craig Allen equalizing attempt off the line in first half.

A physical first 10 minutes turns bizarre when Sounders coach Alan Hinton is sent off, then followed by LA coach Rinus Michels. Hinton gets the hook from referee Robert Evans in 9th minute for abusive language. Hinton first tries taking a seat in stands, then relocates to the press box. Michels storms on the field in the 43rd minute when Evans awards a penalty kick while an LA player is down on field, injured. Mihalj Keri is also red-carded on the play. John Ryan converts the penalty, his second in 2 minutes, 16 seconds, to put the Sounders ahead, 2-1. David Nish and Roger Davies score late to make it 4-1.

Second-half goals from Bruce Raney and Mike Smith and shutout goalkeeping from Mark Thompson enable Seattle Pacific to achieve its first season sweep of Washington, 2-0, and win the Sounders Cup, symbolic of college supremacy in Seattle. The Falcons also go undefeated (7-0-1) to win their first NCSC championship in six years.

Athletes in Action explores bringing an ASL franchise back to Tacoma. AIA, a worldwide Campus Crusade for Christ organization, would put the team back in the new $28M mini-dome, to open in 1983, but are considering interim sites such as Stadium Bowl, Lincoln Bowl and Baker Stadium. The ASL Tides lasted just the 1976 season at Cheney Stadium. After meeting with Tacoma Mayor Mike Parker, AIA team director Rich Hay says, “We would like to be the first team to put in a farm system, with not just one but a whole series of teams, so that we could hone and develop our own players.”

Pacific Coast International Sharks of Seattle wins the inaugural National Women's Challenge Cup via penalty kicks while their sister squad, the Pizza Pete Blue Angels of Bellevue claims the Over-30 crown in Miami Beach. Kathy McMahon, who scored the semifinal winner, put PCI ahead but Camps Springs (Md.) equalizes in the final minute. After a scoreless 30 minutes of extra time, Joan Dunlap (playing while five months pregnant) strokes the decisive penalty kick to win (1-1, 3-2). Linda Adams had a hat trick in the semi and the clinching goal in the Blue Angels' 2-0 win over Dallas Texans. Mike Ryan coaches both teams.