An overflow crowd of 4,893 and national TV audience sees the Sounders win the USL championship, 4-0, over the Atlanta Silverbacks behind two goals of early substitute Greg Howes. It's Seattle’s fourth championship since 1995 – more than any other existing club. Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar adds a goal and an assist on Howes’s opener on the stroke of halftime. Howes replaced injured Leighton O’Brien in the 18th minute.

Surpassing their inaugural season win total with still 17 games to go, the Spokane Velocity vanquish Richmond, 1-0, to stretch their unbeaten streak to 11 (8-0-3). Neco Brett's first goal from Shavon John-Brown's cross is the difference. Spokane (8-1-4) rises to the top of the League 1 table.

Donning their new Orca kit while recognizing their 1995 A-League champions, the Sounders get a Danny Musovski brace and a 69' winner from Pedro de la Vega to beat San Jose, 3-2. Musovski comes off the bench following a shoulder injury to Jordan Morris early in the game.

Bellingham's Northwest Soccer Park will be getting a major upgrade in time for summer, Whatcom Sports & Recreation announces. The soccer park will get two new artificial turf fields, lights and a scoreboard that are expected to be ready by mid-April. The state will provide $2 million for the project while the Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery is donating $700,000 and will receive naming rights for 20 years. Adding lights and the artificial turf fields means soccer and other sports can be played year-round and after dark, helping ease scheduling pressures that come with the popular sport, says Lance Calloway, executive director of Whatcom Sports and Recreation.

Samir Vejo strikes for a record six goals in Western Washington's 10-0 rout of Colorado Christian at Lakewood, Co. The Vikings crush the winless Cougars when Vejo, who scores twice in the first half, suddenly erupts for three more goals in a 19-minute span of the second. His penalty kick in the dying minutes makes it Western's biggest scoring margin in 18 years. Vejo is not done. Ten days later he scores four times vs. Northwest Nazarene. He finishes the season with 18 goals.

Shannon Higgins scores the lone goal and Lori Henry leads a swarming North Carolina defense as the Tar Heels win their fifth NCAA Division I championship in six years, 1-0, over Massachusetts at Amherst, Mass. Playing in sub-freezing temperatures and before 3,651 fans predominantly backing UMass, UNC gets its winner in the 53rd minute. Higgins fires from a sharp angle 12 yards away. The shot deflects off the keeper and across the line. Higgins, who also scored in the 4-0 semifinal win over Cal and the quarterfinals, is the tournament MVP. Henry, the ACC defensive player of the year, helps hold UMass without a second-half shot.