Perennial Vikings scoring star Geoff McKeown makes his professional debut with the NASL Washington Darts. The 0-0 draw with Atlanta is the first of three substitute appearances for McKeown.

Behind a record four-goal performance by Doug McKenna, Seattle Pacific crushes British Columbia Institute of Technology, 8-3, at Interbay to temporarily take over first place in the Western Washington Soccer Conference. The Falcons, who also get two goals from Ken Covell, receive an NCAA tournament berth two days later, after finishing the regular season 6-2-4 one year after going winless.

Thirteen new fields at Redmond's Marymoor Park are dedicated with a ceremonial kickoff featuring King County Commissioner John Spellman. Some 3,000 attend, including hundreds of players who begin games immediately. Lake Washington Junior Soccer Association volunteers had labored to make the surface playable. Until recently it had been an uneven cow pasture. LWJSA has grown from 55 boys to over 1,600 in five years.

Still at loggerheads after regulation, West Seattle and Shorecrest share the Metro League championship following a 2-2 draw at Memorial Stadium. West Seattle leads 2-1 at halftime on a header from league scoring leader Ron Knodel. Defending champ Shorecrest ties it with 26 minutes left on a Brad Callan penalty kick. While the referee says international rules allow for 15 minutes of extra time, Metro officials rule the game over after regulation.

Mount Pleasant Legion lays claim to the 28th annual Seattle Five-a-Side at West Seattle. The Vancouver side, the first Canadian winners in three years, gets two goals from Steve Morely in a 4-2 win over Heidelberg in the final. Roger Goldingay accounts for both Brewers goals. Sons of Norway Vikings extended Mount Pleasant to overtime in the semifinals before losing on a tiebreaker.

In a remarkable effort to showcase young local talent, the U.S. Olympic Team plays a doubleheader before 3,000 at Memorial Stadium. A more seasoned state league selection defeats the Olympian reserves, 2-1, in the opening game. John Goldingay and Tim Allen score. In the featured second game, a selection of young Triumph Continental players falls, 3-1, to the Olympians. Triumph's Larry Oliver scores from yards past Shep Messing. Ward Forrest, Mac Taylor and Gordy Moser are guest substitutes for the U.S.

For the first time in 19 years Oregon's representative wins the Northwest championship at Delta Park. Portland's SC Germania nips Sons of Norway Vikings, 3-2, in overtime on Steve Petaki's winner in the first extra period. Hans Lundquist and Andy Anderson twice put the Vikings in front, only to have Eddie Schott equalize. Germania keeper Dieter Hundt is credited with 25 saves. Not since 1952 (Clan McClay) has the Oregon representative held the title.

Ward Forrest's goal with 19 minutes to go draws Olsen's United level, 1-1, with Newport Striders in the U19 state cup final before 1,800 at Memorial Stadium. Three weeks later Washington State Junior Soccer Association s Olsen's the winner, rather than co-champion, upon learning Newport used an ineligible player. U13 Newport Zebras forward Steve Pastornicky earns tourney MVP honors. U14 Cheney Studs' Mike Graham is top the goalie. U13 Newport Huskies join Olsen's as repeat champions.

Washington State Junior Soccer Association participation continue to surge. WSJSA vice-president Karl Grosch reports the number of registered teams increased in the fall from 610 to 900 since 1969-70, with the total players rising by 50 percent, 10,645 to 15,790. Later in the year, it's noted that Arlington, population 2,400, features five boys teams and one for girls.

Heidelberg Brewers take the Pacific Coast Coal Cup knockout final, 4-2, over Sons of Norway Vikings at Lower Woodland. It's the Brewers' third win over the vaunted Vikings in three months, across three competitions. John and Roger Goldingay each score in first half, while Heinz Ritter makes a goal line clearance. Bob Hough adds a third before Les Fabri finally pulls the Viks a goal back. Peter Carr's scorching drive makes it 4-1.

A record crowd of nearly 10,000 watches star-studded West Ham United draw, 2-2, with West Germany's Rot Weiss Essen at Memorial Stadium. The attendance of 9,710 surpasses a 1926 mark of 8,000 for a state league match and West Ham's 1969 visit which pulled 7,764. The proceeds, less the guarantee of $10,500, will be directed for the Washington State Junior Soccer Association. The Hammers feature 1966 English World Cup heroes Geoff Hurst, who scores the game's opener, and Bobby Moore. Rolland Pietsch ties it by intermission for Rot Weiss Essen. Clyde Best restores the lead yet Willie Lippens equalizes.

A strange twist of events combine to clinch the state league second half for Triumph Continental. Rallying from a 3-1 halftime deficit, the Continentals get two goals from Hans Hoerschelman and one from Brian Franklin to pass Rainier Brewing, 5-3. It takes Triumph (8-1-0) to an insurmountable 16 points with one round remaining. Meanwhile, Heidelberg is ruled a forfeit loser to Boeing. Eight Brewers players arrive for the game, and two are sent off with Boeing up, 1-nil. Referee Bill Patterson rules it a forfeit with only six players remaining.

Sons of Norway Vikings claim the state league crown and Eddie Craggs trophy by defeating Triumph Continental, 3-1, before 1,000 at West Seattle. The first-half winners get two goals from outbound star Bob Hough and another from Mikko Niemela. Bruce Walyor scores for Triumph. Hough, one of the area's top layers for four seasons, is set to join San Francisco Scots the following week. Tacoma wins the Chidgey Cup for the second division, beating American-European Federation, 3-1. Hough is among the massive Boeing layoffs.

Tacoma's Cheney Studs Hustlers, an under-16 boys' team, leave for their three-week, six-game tour of England. A local powerhouse and current state champion with a 65-match win streak, the Hustlers go 0-3-3 in competitive but also take part in many cultural activities and classes.

Once the doormat of the conference, Seattle Pacific thrusts itself into the title race by shocking defending champion Western Washington, 4-1, on a muddy pitch in Bellingham. Freshman Ken Covell sparks the attack with a brace. Since going winless in the first 14 games under second-year coach Cliff McCrath, the Falcons have won four and tied once. It's just the Vikings' fifth WWSC loss in four seasons.

A cold, steady rain makes for a slick Memorial Stadium surface, but Seattle Heidelberg manages to find a goal in its National Challenge Cup first leg victory over San Pedro Yugoslavs. Following a scoreless, physical first half, Mike Kuczi is fouled in the box. San Pedro players and substitutes rush the field in protest to referee Ron Frick. Once Frick restores order, Kuczi coolly clips his penalty kick off the left post and into the net. Bob Wilds is equal to the Yugoslavs' late pressure in the 1-0 win before 3,100.

SeaTac SC, revived a year after away, drops its second game to Vienna's Sandt FC, 3-2, at Tacoma's Baker Stadium. It's the fifth win in six games for the Austrians during their western U.S. tour. Mike Kuczi and Peter Carr score for SeaTac, which also fell, 2-0, Aug. 13 at West Seattle.

In the first visit by a touring club from Asia, Hong Kong's fit and polished Sing Tao pulls away from the State League All-Stars, 7-1, before 2,000 at Bellevue's Newport High School. Woo Kwok Hun starts and finishes the scoring, and Chueng Chi Wai's second-half hat trick enables the visitors to run away from a 2-1 halftime. The Tigers finish their West Coast tour at 5-0-1.

Throw-ins from Bill Carr lead to three Western Washington goals as the Vikings vanquish Washington, 5-1, at Battersby Field. Joe Peterson heads in two of Carr's long throws, and Glenn Hindin also scores twice and assists Manfred Kuerstan's breakaway. After a 6-1-0 start the Huskies are 0-3-1.

State champion Olsen's United of Bellevue succumbs to Nanaimo's Mount Benson Legionnaires in the Pacific Coast U19 championship final at Kent Meridian High School. Derek Goldingay gets Olsen's level by halftime but the B.C. boys score through Ray Clarke and Gordy Gibbins in the second half before 750 fans. On May 16 in Portland, U13 Newport Huskies are runners-up to Juventus of Redwood City, 3-2, in overtime of the West Coast Invitational.

Doc Grundy's brace gives the Olympia Brewing Vikings (formerly Sons of Norway) a 3-1 victory over Heidelberg and an insurmountable lead in the state league's first half at Lower Woodland. Reider Olsen sets-up Grundy for both second half goals. Oly eventually finishes with 22 points (11-1-0), three points ahead of Triumph Continental (9-2-1).

Otey Cannon fires all six goals in Chico State's 6-1 demolition of Seattle Pacific in an NCAA first-round tournament game at Chico, Ca. Ken Covell scores his record 12th goal for the Falcons, who then are credited with a forfeit in the regional consolation match the next day, when UC Davis withdraws. SPC had been unbeaten (6-0-2) in its last eight games.

Physicality triumphed over finesse as Seattle’s Heidelberg beat San Jose Grenadiers, 4-2, in advancing to the National Challenge Cup’s West finals at Memorial Stadium. A stout defense stymied the visitors’ diminutive frontrunners. Les Fabri puts the Brewers up in the 10th minute, and he doubles the lead minutes later. Colin Lindores brings the Grenadiers a goal back, but Mike Kuczi’s penalty following a foul on John Goldingay makes it 3-1 at halftime. Coco DeVettori scores in the second half.

A forfeit hands Western Washington its third consecutive Western Washington Soccer Conference championship on the final day of the season. British Columbia Institute of Technology fails to appear at Battersby Field, effectively snapping a three-way tie atop the league standings, with the Vikings (8-2-2) finishing two points ahead of Seattle University and Seattle Pacific. Western's 0-0 draw Seattle U a week earlier was the Chieftains' final game, opening the door for WWU to three-peat.

Seattle Heidelberg seems to wilt in the warm southern California sun as San Pedro Yugoslavs win the second of the National Challenge Cup West regional final, 2-0, at Rancho Cienega Stadium in Los Angeles. The Long Beach-based side advances to the national semifinals on aggregate, 2-1. Rade Tutuldgdzija scores in the first period, and Karlo Martisek converts a combination move for the decisive second after the interval. Brewers manager Alex Lennox files a protest, citing use of an ineligible player, but it is denied and San Pedro proceeds to reach the final, where it loses to New York's Hota SC, 6-4, in extra time.