1986

SPU topples No. 1-ranked Cal State Northridge, 2-1, on the road, snapping the Matadors’ 14-game unbeaten streak. Jeff Storrs makes eight saves and Mark Faller gets the 81st minute quarterfinal winner.

Tacoma wins a record eighth game in a row, 7-6 over Wichita, behind two goals apiece from Steve Zungul and Godfrey Ingram. Stars avenge their opening-night defeat, the only blemish in their first nine games.

John Polzin’s goal with 15 minutes left lifts Western Washington a shocking 1-0 home win over Washington. John Reilly posts the shutout. “This is probably the biggest win in the history of our varsity program.” Bruce Campbell. The Vikings had not beaten the Huskies since their formative club days, in 1974.

Steve Zungul scores the overtime winner, 6-5 over San Diego, before 18,441. The Stars will start 1987 with a 12-2 record.

Jefferson’s Jimmy Weber connects on a header 8:48 into overtime for the Raiders’ fourth straight Class AAA state championship at Memorial Stadium. The 3-2 win over Mead is Jefferson’s 78th game without a loss. TJ lost 30-goal scorer Ray Hoff to an injury in the 11th minute.

Tacoma native Brent Goulet scores the 107th goal of his career, believed to be a collegiate record, in Warner Pacific College’s 3-0 win over Pacific (Ore.). Goulet surpasses the 106 of Erskine’s Sam McGinty, set in 1970.

Tacoma clinches its first round series in four games (3-1), by beating the Wichita Wings for the third straight game, 3-2 before 17,094.

Jimmy Gabriel announces he’s resigning as FC Seattle coach and returning to Britain following Storm’s season-ending, 1-0 win over Edmonton Renton Stadium. Seattle (6-6-2) finishes second to Hollywood in the Western Soccer Alliance. Shortly after returning to England, Gabriel joins AFC Bournemouth as assistant manager to former Sounder Harry Redknapp.

Tacoma’s Brent Goulet, a junior at Warner Pacific, starts in his U.S. National Team debut vs. Canada (0:0) in Miami.

A fireworks rocket shot into Memorial Stadium sparks an early morning (1:40 am) fire that causes $100,000 damage to the playing turf. Consequently, FC Seattle is forced to move its remaining four home games to Renton Stadium.

Betty Ellis, a grandmother and first female to officiate a U.S. professional game in 1980, coaches Tahoma girls to state AA title, 2-0 over Edmonds after upsetting undefeated Mountlake Terrace, 5-1, in the semifinal. Stephanie Johnson scores both Tahoma goals in the final. Federal Way wins girls AAA title over Issaquah, on penalties (0-0 4-3).

Big Kick III, the NCAA Division I championship game in the Tacoma Dome, is won by Duke, 1-0 over Akron. It’s the first NCAA championship for the Blue Devils in any sport. Duke features Everett’s Jason Weighter and Hermann Trophy winner John Kerr. Only 4,652 (8,000 had been projected) attend, and coaches of both teams criticize the artificial turf.

A record crowd of 19,746 in the Tacoma Dome sees the Stars eliminated in the MISL semifinals in four games (3-1) by eventual champion San Diego, 8-5.

Mexico's World Cup begins, and Puget Sound area residents are able to watch 42 of 52 games via Group W Cable’s Channel 29, a public access channel. All audio is in Spanish.

Steve Zungul, MISL career leader and five-time scoring leader, is acquired by Tacoma from San Diego. He debuts Feb. 7 and scores his first goal against the Sockers, his former team, Feb. 9.

After reaching the women’s national final for the third year in row, Tacoma’s Cozars fall to Virginia’s Wild Fires, 3-1, in overtime in St. Louis. Lisa Boyer put Cozars ahead in the 28th minute. Five members of the Cozars are chosen for the U.S. National Team’s trip to the Mundialito in Jesolo, Italy: Gretchen Gegg, Lori Henry, Joan Dunlop, Cindy Gordon and Michelle Akers.

Steve Zungul scores five goals and has three assists for Tacoma in playoff-clinching, 9-2 victory at Los Angeles.

FC Seattle hosts former Sounder Nicky Reid and first division Manchester City before 1,561 at Memorial Stadium. City gets a 1-0 win by scoring with 31 seconds remaining. Man City manager Jimmy Grizzell notes Seattle’s sometimes overly physical play. A total of 46 fouls are whistled. The game counts in the Western Soccer Alliance standings, as does the following Storm game vs. Dundee.

U.S. Youth Soccer West regionals begin at Redmond’s Sixty Acres with Gov. Booth Gardner serving as honorary tournament director. Over 1,100 hotel rooms are booked on the Eastside. Over 200 volunteers are enlisted to work event operations. Some $100,000 in costs are covered through vendor exhibit fees and concessions.

After a stretch in which the Tacoma Stars (11-16) lose 12 of 14 games, they fire coach Bob McNab for a second time, and hire former Sounders coach Alan Hinton. Although Hinton and Stars president John Best have had troubles working together previously, those teams also won. In Vancouver, the Whitecaps had a 24-6 record and their attendance more than doubled from the previous year to 26,000. When Best joined the Sounders as general manager in 1982, the club was 4-9 and Hinton wound up guiding them to the Soccer Bowl.

FC Seattle Storm hosts Canada’s World Cup-bound national team at Shoreline Stadium five weeks before Mexico ’86. A gathering of 660 fans see Canada prevail, 3-2, on Randy Samuel’s 67th minute winner. Dale Mitchell and Randy Ragan made it 2-0 before Seattle’s Peter Hattrup and Kevin Iverson countered. Jimmy Gabriel played all 18 of his available players.

Highline’s Pepsi Stompers claim an eighth state cup title in 10 years, winning a second consecutive girls U19 championship while Federal Way’s Cheetahs earn a fourth championship in six seasons, this time the girls U15. The Cheetahs have already begun fundraising $50,000 toward becoming the first U.S. youth team to visit China, June 27-July 14. They will play three games and also participate in clinics and cultural exchanges.

Seattle’s Joan Dunlap Seivold scores in her U.S. National Team debut vs. Canada (2:0) at Blaine, Minn. Dunlop Seivold was named to the team by Anson Dorrance, her collegiate coach at North Carolina, where she had been a 1984 second team All-American. It was Dorrance’s first game as USWNT coach and the first meeting with Canada. Three other Washingtonians play: Sharon McMurtry, Lori Henry and Cindy Gordon.

Cliff McCrath, Seattle Pacific coach, is presented the NSCAA Honor Award in St. Louis. McCrath is coming off a third NCAA championship at SPU, and he has also served as NCAA Rules Committee Secretary-Editor.

Two members of the Tacoma Stars, Bob Lenarduzzi and David Norman, start for Canada in its World Cup opener, a 1-0 loss to France in Leon, Mexico.

Defending Division I champion UCLA, unbeaten in 24 games, visits defending Div. II champ Seattle Pacific for an exhibition. The Bruins win, 2-1, before 3,100 at Memorial Stadium after the Falcons’ Scott Cairns is sent off. Shaun DelGrande deflects in Paul Caligiuri’s blast in the 44th minute.

Goals by Chris McDonald and Mark Faller in first three minutes help SPU roll to 4-1 victory over Oakland before 4,100 at Memorial Stadium, making Falcons the first Div. II champion to repeat. Scott Cairns and Glenn Lurie play in their fourth straight NCAA championship game.

Kevin Wilson scores four times and Linda Pederson has three assists as the Athlete’s Foot amputee team from Seattle wins at Portland, 5-3.