Ken Coplin scores the deciding goal as the Tacoma Wings capture the national indoor championship with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Comets in Arlington, Texas. Coplin's score comes after Dennis Hurlbert tallies the first Wings goal. Tacoma's Mike Getchell is voted the tournament MVP and Hurlbert takes the scoring title. Mark Berry joins them on the all-tournament team. John Wedge's Wings won their portion of the bracket, then proceed to the final with wins over Minnesota (5-1) and Chicago (7-3).

Tacoma's Gretchen Gegg makes her first appearance for the U.S. National Team, getting a shutout, 3-0, against Canada in Blaine. Mn. Gegg, 21, had played wit the Cozars and transfer to North Carolina to play in the fall.

Tacoma wins a record ninth overtime game, a 6-5 victory over Los Angeles, to extend its winning streak to seven games at home. It's the third Stars-Lazers meeting in 10 days, and all are one-goal decisions. Joe Waters scores the OT winner. Rookie Peter Hattrup, in his first game for the Stars, ties the score on a breakaway 5:06 into the second quarter on his first MISL shot.

John Klein scores two goals, including the game-winner in the final 30 seconds of overtime, to lead the Seattle's FC Mitre Eagles to a 5-4 overtime triumph against Busch of hometown St. Louis in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal. Club Espana eliminates Mean Green of Dallas, 3-0, in the other semifinal. Klein cracks a 25-yard blast in the 120th minute the caroms off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. First-half goals by captain Eddie Kruger and Peter Klein, John's brother, give the Eagles a 2-1 lead at intermission. Busch's Steve Trittschuh ties it in the 87th minute. Mitre moves back in front, 4-2, through Andy Churlin and John Klein in the first 15 minutes of overtime. St. Louis rallies to pull even at 4-4 in the 113th minute.

Central Washington's first venture into varsity men's play comes in Spokane, with a 1-0 loss at Gonzaga. The first goals, from David Smith and Joe Riedeman, come in the next match Sept. 16, a 3-2 loss to Whitman. The Wildcats' first official win is Oct. 17 vs. Seattle University, 1-0, on a Riedeman goal. Central goes on to finish 3-6-3 (2-3-2 versus intercollegiate competition).

Cascade, behind a Chris Henderson winner, caps a perfect season by rallying for a 2-1 victory over Kennedy in the Class AAA championship game at Memorial Stadium. Henderson puts the Bruins ahead in the 58th minute off a corner kick from Clint Carnell. The Lancers' Mike Dennis scores first, off a Jayson Leveich throw-in in the 15th minute. Carnell ties it just two minute before halftime when his penalty kick caroms off the post and in. Cascade finishes 20-0-0.

Mike Dowler stops 20 of Wichita's 43 shots in his third start since returning from a serious knee injury as the Tacoma Stars clinch home-field advantage throughout the upcoming MISL playoffs with a 6-4 road win over the Wings. The Stars never trail and get goals from Gary Heale, Steve Zungul, David Norman, Preki, Ricky Davis and Greg Blasingame. Tacoma finishes the regular season 35-17 a night later after winning in St. Louis, 4-3. It is more than double the number of wins (17) in 1984-85. Baltimore has the next-best record at 34-18.

A collapse of epic proportions marks the decisive seventh game of the MISL Finals in the Tacoma Dome. The Stars blow a late 3-1 lead and end up falling to Dallas, 4-3, in overtime before a league record crowd of 21,728. Gary Heale's second goal makes it 3-1 late in the third quarter, but the Sidekicks get a pair of sixth-attack goals in the final two minutes of regulation. They clinch the crown when Mark Karpun taps in Tatu's 35-foot shot 9:23 into overtime. Tacoma outscores Dallas 37-28 in the series.

Preki scores on a power play to put Tacoma ahead to stay and touches off a spree of seven unanswered Stars goals in a 10-4 victory over Dallas to open the MISL Finals. Preki also adds four assists, and his eight total points fall just one shy of teammate Steve Zungul's league single-game record. Zungul scored his 99th career playoff goal. Preki pulls the trigger just 34 seconds into the power play for a 3-2 halftime lead. He blows it open in the third period with the third of his four goals, plus two assists.

Jeff Storrs secures a record 14th shutout in Seattle Pacific's 1-0 win at Chapman in Orange, Calif. Storrs, who also has four consecutive shutouts, surpasses Sergio Soriano's mark of 13 in 1978. Danny Machado converts a rebound of his own shot off the post in the 63rd minute. The defending NCAA Division II champion Falcons are virtually assured of a 16th postseason appearance in 17 years.

Lori Henry and Michelle Akers contribute goals in the 6-0 U.S. pummeling of Australia during the Chunghua Cup in Taipei, Taiwan. Henry and Akers join Shannon Higgins in the starting lineup. In all, five Washingtonians, which include Sandi Gordon and Amy Allmann, see action during the tournament as the U.S. goes 3-2-0. All but Gordon are 22 or under and still attending college. Akers finishes the trip with three goals and Henry two.

Cliff McCrath is voted 1986 Seattle Sports Star of the Year at the Seattle Sheraton’s Grand Ballroom, becoming the first soccer figure to earn the award in its 53-year history. McCrath, up for the award for the fourth time, is coming off the first ever back-to-back NCAA Division II championships at Seattle Pacific. His win is the first in 10 years by a representative coming from other than the Seahawks, Sonics or Washington Huskies football team. Over 1,000 attendees vote and presenting the award are Gov. Booth Gardner, Seattle Post-Intelligencer publisher Virgil Fassio and P-I sports editor Bill Knight.

Mary Rink scores the first and sets up Bellarmine's second goal to spark the Lions to a 5-1 pounding of Evergreen in the girls' state AAA final at Renton. It's the most lopsided title game to date. Rink needs only five minutes to put Bellarmine on the board and in the 30th minute she centers to Susie Manalang to double the lead. Wendy Steiner makes it 3-nil by halftime. Tanya Russ and Kris Lazar counter Evergreen's Nicole Walbaum in the second half. Each of the previous six state AAA finals had been decided by one goal or a shootout.

It's the end of an era for the Woodinville Specters as they fall, 3-1, to Ohio's East-West SC in the consolation match of the McGuire Cup finals in St. Louis. Coach Jim Schultz has been with the team since the boys were 12. This was their first venture outside the state. Mill Creek's Clint Carnell is with the U.S. U19 national team. Leading scorer Jeremy Smith of Woodinville, Kenmore's Paul Holocher and Phil Bartlow of Everett Cascade have all committed to play at Santa Clara. Woodinville had fallen to eventual champion Union (N.J.) Lancers, 5-1, in the semifinals.

Brent Goulet’s first international hat trick propels the United States past Trinidad & Tobago, 4-1, in the opening game in the final stage of Concacaf Olympic qualifying at St. Louis. Goulet’s opener is a header in the 39th minute. After T&T ties it, the Americans respond with three scores in the next 20 minutes, including two by Goulet off Hugo Perez assists. The first is a cross and header, and the final goal is a breakaway.

Hunting for records, Craig Beeson wastes little time in reaching his objective. Seventy-five seconds into Washington's 8-0 win over Seattle University, Beeson scores to become the Huskies' career and season scoring king. His 53 career goals surpass Dan Vaughn (1974-77) and with 19 goals on the season he breaks Ken Garrett's 1973 mark. The record-setting shot comes from 18 yards into the far right corner.

Washington's Supreme Court rules that Washington State University has unconstitutionally discriminated against women's athletic programs. The 8-1 decision affirms most of a Whitman County Superior Court decision in January 1983. Justice James Dolliver, writing for the Supreme Court majority, says football should be allowed only a partial exemption. Effectively, it leads to the addition of additional varsity women's programs and support, including increased scholarship and the formation of varsity soccer at WSU, Washington and Eastern Washington. Women athletes and coaches at Washington State filed a class action lawsuit in 1983.

A day after scoring five times in the semifinal, Seattle's FC Mitre Eagles cannot find the net, even during the title-determining shootout, as Club Espana of Washington, D.C., lifts the U.S. Open Cup at St. Louis Soccer Park. In a rematch of the 1985 Amateur Cup final, Club Espana prevails after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time, 0-0 (3-0). Both teams finish with 10 men Mitre Eagles' Steve Englebrick and Espana's Abdulwhab Al-Khaldi following a tussle in the 54th minute. Andy Churlin produces the game's best scoring chance, bending a shot from 25 yards off the left post in the 87th minute. Espana keeper Stephen Pfeil saves the Eagles' first two penalty attempts and the third hits the post. All three D.C. penalties go past Craig Christopherson, including the clincher by Daniel Bentancor. Espana transitions into the Washington Diplomats, and wins the 1988 ASL title.

Tacoma’s own Brent Goulet is named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year at the end of a globetrotting year. Goulet, 23, makes Washington the first state to have both a male and female winner. Sharon McMurtry won in 1985. While Goulet did not represent the senior national team, he flourished for the U.S. in Olympic qualifying, scoring four times. He was voted MVP of the Western Soccer Alliance despite playing only a portion of the season for FC Portland and later scored twice as a guest player for FC Seattle during a postseason tour of the United Kingdom. In early November, following multiple tryouts in West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scotland and England, he became the first U.S. citizen granted a work permit to play professionally in Great Britain, and he signed for a reported $35,000 with Bournemouth of the Second Division.

On top virtually from the start, Mount Rainier posts a convincing 3-0 victory over O'Dea in the boys' AA championship game at Memorial Stadium. State scoring leader Robin Malmanger scores the first of his two first-half goals in the 9th minute. He finishes the season with 32. Bill Colello adds the Rams' other goal off a Malmanger assist. MR coach Dave Peterson, whose team plays short for the final 21 minutes, celebrated his 100th career win in the quarterfinals. The Rams survived a shootout with North Thurston in the semifinals.

Behind the heroics of Preki and Mike Dowler, the Tacoma Stars dethrone five-time defending indoor soccer champion San Diego with an 8-5 thumping in front of 16,074 rollicking Tacoma Dome fans. After trailing the series 3-2, the Stars punch out the Sockers in Game 7 of the West semifinals by taking command early, eventually going up 6-1. Preki's hat trick begins less than two minutes in and is completed in the third period with scores less than three minutes apart. Dowler makes 29 saves. The crowd counts down the final 10 seconds, then went into five minutes of pandemonium fueled by repeated back flips off the glass by Tacoma defender Gregg Blasingame.

Michelle Akers and Amy Allmann lead unseeded Central Florida to its first NCAA semifinal advancement in five years with a 3-0 quarterfinal victory at North Carolina State. Allman posts her second straight shutout, and Akers scores the Knights’ second first-half goal. Three of her 13 goals come in the postseason, including the opening score in the 2-1 semifinal loss at frigid (wind chill -25 degrees) at Massachusetts.

Craig Beeson gets his second career four-goal game in Washington's 7-0 drubbing of Puget Sound. It's Beeson's second hat trick of the year and the Huskies, who also get a Tom Bialek brace, go to 8-0-1. Beeson's first four-goal performance was in 1985. He finishes 1987 with six multi-goal games.

Seattle's Kyle Whittemore scores both goals in San Diego State’s 2-1 road upset of St. Louis in an NCAA first round match. The brace takes Whittemore, a junior, to the top of the Aztecs’ career list 58 goals. He converts a penalty in the shootout win over No. 5 SMU the next week, and although he is slowed by a hamstring strain, SDSU eventually reaches the championship game before falling, 2-0, at Clemson.

Brent Goulet scores the U.S. opener but then is forced off through injury in a 4-2 Olympic qualifying victory at El Salvador. Goulet takes a feed from Hugo Perez, then beats a defender and the keeper in the fifth minute. He's kneed in the thigh later in the first half and eventually substituted. The win takes the U.S. (3-0-0) to the top of its group.

Danny Machado and Chris McDonald spearhead a record goal onslaught by Seattle Pacific in a 15-0 thrashing of Seattle University at Memorial Stadium. Machado's five assists is a new record, and he also scores three goals. McDonald, a 6-foot-5 center back, becomes the first SPU defender to achieve a hat trick. The 5th-ranked Falcons are now unbeaten in 10 games.

Seattle Pacific's two-year reign as NCAA Division II men's champion is ended at the quarterfinal stage by top-ranked Cal State Northridge, 1-0, before a CSUN stadium-record crowd of 3,841. The Falcons silence 30-goal scorer Joey Kirk, but Juan Florez slices between defenders and evades onrushing SPU keeper Jeff Storrs for the game's only goal in the 27th minute. It snaps a 13-game unbeaten run, eight-game win streak and four national finals in a row. Seattle Pacific had beaten Northridge in the playoffs en route to its past two championships.

Jennifer Tubbs nicks the winner with eight minutes to go, and South Snohomish County Zodiax advance to the USYSA U16 girls' final with a 1-0 victory over Southeast Cincinnati Cardinals at Fife High School. Following a corner kick, Cosett Huffman shoots, and Tubbs redirects it into the net.

Shannon Higgins hits the opening goal and Amy Allmann earns the shutout as the West defeats the South, 2-0, to win the Olympic Festival gold medal in Durham, N.C. Second-half goals by Michelle Akers and Kathy Ridgewell gave the West a 2-0 victory over the North in the first round. Lori Henry also starts for the West, and Maple Valley's Dori Kovanen is in the squad. The West is coached by FC Seattle Cozars coach Berhane Andeberhan. Joan Dunlap of Seattle plays for the South.

The Tacoma-based Cozars, four-time national finalist, are brought into FC Seattle’s organization. Founded and initially coached by Governor Booth Gardner, the Cozars are coached by Berhane Andeberhan and feature several members of the U.S. National Team. They effectively merge with the club’s existing team comprised of top players from the FCS City League. On May 17, FC Seattle hosts a Western Soccer Alliance women’s tournament which the Cozars win. Shannon Higgins scores twice in a 3-1 win over San Jose.

First-half goals by Craig Beeson and Jeff Stock pace FC Seattle to a 2-0 win over Norwich City of the English first division in an exhibition at Memorial Stadium. A month removed from finishing fifth in the top flight, starting six regulars and playing on foreign artificial turf, the Canaries are out-shot 21-10, with Jeff Koch making just three saves. It's one of three home results for Seattle versus European opposition. The Storm draws with Scotland's Hearts, 1-1, and defeat Denmark's Her Folge, 2-1.

After dispatching the defending national champion, the Woodinville Specters gain passage to the McGuire Cup finals with a 3-2 win over the Las Vegas Nationals in the USYSA Region IV U19 boys' title match at Albuquerque. The Specters had unseated Southern California's Fram-Culver, 2-1, in the West semifinal. In all, they won six times in three days, in temperatures reaching the 90s. In the girls' U16 final, South Snohomish County Zodiax edge Cal North's Pleasanton Pursuit, 1-0. They swept through the regional by outscoring their opposition by a 17-2 margin.

Pacific Lutheran effectively usurps Western Washington atop NAIA women with a 1-0 upset in Bellingham. Sonya Brandt's goal with 15 minutes remaining proves the difference while Gail Stenzel saves 13 Vikings shots for her sixth straight shutout. WWU keeper Trina Angehrn bats down Emilie Portell's cross, but Brandt is there to put away the loose ball. The following week, PLU replaces Western at No. 1 in the national rankings.

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.

Jeff Stock’s goal 12 minutes into sudden-death overtime lifts FC Seattle over FC Portland, 1-0, before 2,427 at Memorial Stadium. The Storm, winless on the road, climb back into playoff contention with their fourth straight home win. Stock, a former Sounder playing his first season with FC Seattle, heads home Don Farler’s long throw. While Seattle out-shot its rivals by 19-8, Todd Strobeck made five saves and Peter Fewing’s early overtime shot was cleared off the goal line.

Football Club Seattle concludes its tour of Great Britain with a 3-1 loss to Portsmouth before 4,600 at Fratton Park. The Storm finishes its first overseas excursion 0-4-1. Ian Baird heads in a corner kick in the 32nd minute and Pompey double the lead through former Duke All-American John Kerr. In the second half, Seattle pulls back a goal on Brent Goulet's strike, but Paul Birch seals the win with 14 minutes to go.

A prime time performance from goalkeeper Linda Efraimsen enables the Sachem (N.Y.) Tomahawks to defeat the South Snohomish County Zodiax, 3-1, in the USYSA Masotto Cup final at Fife High School. Efraimsen, playing with a broken finger, stops everything but Michelle Thornsbury's second-half penalty kick. Her best save comes off Brigitte Hood with a dive to her left. By then, the Zodiax trail 3-nil. Maria Paradiso, Kelly Maher and Jackie Gebhart put the visitors in front. The U16 Zodiax are the first Washington girls' team to reach a national youth final. In the U19 Athena Cup, Dallas Sting dethrone New York's Massapequa Falcons, 1-0.

Behind Janelle King's early brace, Mountlake Terrace drubs Lakeside, 6-1, in the AA championship game at Renton. King, who had been hobbled by a tender Achilles, strikes twice in the first 14 minutes. Tami Welch also scores two goals for the Hawks, whose only three losses were by forfeit during the teachers' strike. Ending the season on a 12-game win streak, MT outscores postseason opponents by a 16-1 count.

Wendy Lee of Puget Sound answers Pacific Lutheran's equalizer within a minute, and the Loggers leave Olympia with another NAIA District 1 title, 2-1. Stephanie Somes puts UPS in front in the 58th minute, but Laura Dutt pulls PLU even with five minutes to go. The Lutes have little time to celebrate. Lee latches on to a cross that slices across the box and deposits it in an open net.

Despite dominating in possession, FC Seattle Cozars are unable to unlock the winning combination to the U.S. Women's Amateur Cup. The Cozars are edged by Michelob Ladies of Dallas, 1-1 (5-4), in the final at St. Louis. It's their fourth straight national runner-up finish and second in three years to Michelob. The Ladies go in front after 48 minutes on Wendy Greenberg's header. FC Seattle ties it in the 65th. Sandi Gordon completes a long run down the left wing by crossing to Denise Merdich for the goal. After a scoreless extra time, April Heinrichs and the Ladies convert all five of their penalties and keeper Kim Clack saves one of the Cozars' attempts. Seattle had won it's semifinal, 1-0, over the Fairfax (Va.) Wildfire behind Michelle Akers's first-half goal and Amy Allmann's shutout.

A past U.S. Soccer vice president and national referee, Bellevue's Tom Webb, 50, is inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs. Besides officiating in the NASL and colleges, Webb served as president of both the state adult and youth associations. He was also one of the early organizers of youth play on the Eastside. From 1977-82 Webb was VP for USSF, and he served as chair of the federation's national referee committee.

Brent Goulet is chosen fifth overall by the Minnesota Strikers in the MISL draft. Goulet scored 108 goals in his career at Warner Pacific. Glenn Lurie of Seattle Pacific is taken 11th by Tacoma. Lurie, who had three goals and two assists at the Budweiser Classic college all-star event, is packaged with three Stars draft picks and traded to Cleveland for all-stars Peter Ward and Bernie James.

Tom Bialek's hat trick paves the way for Washington to clinch the NCSC title with a convincing 4-0 defeat of Portland at Husky Stadium. It's the second title in three years for the Huskies (10-0-1 in league play) and seventh overall. Bialek now has 12 goals. Greg Shugarts gets the other UW goal, and Jeff Koch earns his seventh shutout.

Federal Way's Thomas Jefferson cruises past Curtis, 4-0, to extend its unbeaten streak to a national record 90 games (86-0-4). The Raiders go in front of Sanderson High in Raleigh, N.C., who were undefeated in 89 outings. The Jefferson run dates to 1982 and a season-ending loss to Federal Way.

Three third-period goals from Steve Zungul give Tacoma a 4-2 win over Wichita in the fifth and deciding game of their MISL opening round playoff series. Zungul, who totals 10 goals and 17 points in the series, puts the Stars in front, 4-1, with Preki assisting on each. Preki had missed Games 3 and 4, both Wings wins, with a thigh contusion.

With two goals in the first half-hour, FC Seattle Storm climaxes a late-season run by clinching a Western Soccer Alliance playoff berth by beating the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-0, at Memorial Stadium. The Storm's third straight victory levels the regular-season record at 5-5, and by virtue of a tiebreaker they will host the Quakes in the semifinal. Peter Fewing converts two thefts into a goal and an assist. Fewing strips the ball off a San Jose defender and scores in the seventh minute. Mike Enneking's fifth goal of the year makes it 2-nil, and then Fewing, with nine minutes left, breaks up a pass, breaks down the left wing and feeds Craig Beeson for a 25-yard blast.

Federal Way's Amy Allmann, 21, debuts in goal and Kent's Shannon Higgins, 19, scores her first USWNT goal in 3-0 win over Norway in Blaine, Mn.

The U.S. Soccer Federation proposes 18 potential sites, including Seattle's Husky Stadium, in its bid to stage the 1994 World Cup. A maximum of only 12 stadiums will be used. Brazil, Chile and Morocco are also expected to submit bids to FIFA, which will then conduct on-sight inspections and private hearings on each before announcing its decision in June 1988.

FC Seattle Storm's 10-match home unbeaten streak versus league opposition is obliterated by San Jose in the Western Soccer Alliance playoff, 3-0, at Memorial Stadium. The Earthquakes, who had lost twice during that run, including a 3-nil loss May 17, go in front after just 4:10 through Dave Palic. Seattle manages only two shots on target, and George Pastor and Jadir combine for second-half goals eight minutes apart for the visitors. San Jose moves on and falls to San Diego, 3-1, in the WSA final.

Seattle Mitre Eagles win both the Open Cup and Amateur Cup regional finals in Denver. John Klein scores three times, including overtime winner vs. San Francisco Greek Americans, 2-1, in regional final. In all, Seattle plays five games in two days. The Eagles defeat Denver Kickers, 1-0, in the Amateur final but commit to playing the Open Cup at nationals. FC Seattle Cozars claim their fifth straight women’s regional title, 4-3, over the San Jose Bobcats.

Brent Goulet makes his first start for Bournemouth and goes 63 minutes in a 2-0 home Second Division loss to Manchester City. Goulet has been climbing into contention for the role since signing, first scoring in a pair of appearances for the reserves, then after recovering from an injury he made his first team debut Nov. 21 versus Huddersfield.

Steve Zungul erupts for six goals, one shy of his MISL record, and adds an assist as the Tacoma Stars complete a 4-game road trip with a 9-7 win over at Kansas City in front of 12,520 at Kemper Arena. The Stars (17-4) pad their Western Division lead to 6 1/2 games over second-place San Diego and Wichita. Zungul, hobbled by groin and hip injuries all season, swells his season totals to 19 goals and 37 points. He had set the old Stars record of five goals last season. Zungul, 32, hits the six-goal mark for the third time in his career. Ironically, the explosion comes just five days after he hinted at retiring at the end of the year because of the nagging injuries.

Seven members of the FC Seattle Cozars see action for the U.S. National Team in a 1-0 loss to European champion Norway at the North American Cup in Blaine, Minn. Sandi Gordon, Lori Henry, Michelle Akers, Denise Boyer-Merdich and Kathy Ridgewell all start, while Amy Allmann and Shannon Higgins are second-half substitutes. Boyer-Merdich scored in a 4-2 win over Canada four days earlier, and Higgins scored in her USWNT debut, a July 5 1-0 friendly win over Norway. Allmann and Gordon also earn their first caps during the tournament. Bellevue’s Kerri Tashiro and Federal Way’s Keri Coplin play for the U19 national team, joining Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy, during the tournament.

Seattle Pacific takes another step toward an unprecedented third straight NCAA soccer title by beating Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2-1, in a first round game before 800 at Memorial Stadium. Bobby McLaughlin's goal in the 28th minute proves to be the winner. Danny Machado, scoring in his fifth straight game, opens the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Central Washington begins women’s intercollegiate play just two weeks after players report to campus by hosting Whitman in Ellensburg. The Missionaries win, 4-1, and Jenny Kremer scores the Wildcats’ first varsity goal. The program’s historic first win comes Oct. 9 against Seattle University, 2-0.

Tacoma's Chris Hellenkamp joins his Louisville Thunder in raising the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA) championship trophy after defeating the Canton Invaders in the fifth and deciding game of their final series in Canton. Hellenkamp, who played two seasons at Seattle Pacific, finishes with two goals and four assists in the series scoring three times in the semifinal series vs. Chicago. An original member of the Thunder, he was among the AISA top 10 scoring leaders, with 26 goals and 36 assists in the regular season. Louisville folds weeks later.

Ten days after falling tragically in the MISL Finals, the Tacoma Stars begin reshaping their roster by acquiring a pair of local favorites from Cleveland. Bellevue native Bernie James and former Sounders league MVP Peter Ward come west. James is the MISL's all-time blocks leader. Ward is coming off 26 goals. It brings Tacoma's total of rostered all-stars to nine.

Six days before the season opener Alan Hinton conducts a 30-minute team meeting in an effort to calm a volatile atmosphere a day after stars Preki and Steve Zungul storm out of practice. Both players were incensed that fellow Yugoslav Cico had been released. Preki, who initially demanded a trade, relents and says he will make a decision in the coming weeks. Zungul shares that the squad is rife with "misunderstandings and disagreements." Cico's release, claims Hinton, is salary cap related.

Ruth Frobe and Laura Dutt connect for a pair of first-half goals to help Pacific Lutheran ease to its first NAIA postseason victory, 5-0, over Willamette in Olympia. Senior co-captain Frobe serves a corner kick to Dutt, a freshman, in the 8th minute to get things started. It's the same combination in the 40th minute to make it 4-nil. Frobe finishes her career (1984-87) with a record 43 assists. It's also Gail Stenzel's 16th shutout.

Goals from Mike Gosselin, Chris Dube and Brad Owens fuel Kentwood's 3-2 shocker over Thomas Jefferson in the first round of the state AAA tournament at Federal Way Stadium. Four-time defending state champion Jefferson has won 69 straight games and is unbeaten in 94 (90-0-4). The Conquerors, coming off their first loss of the season, 5-1, to Kennedy in the NPSL title game, build a 2-0 halftime lead on goals by Dube and Gosselin. After TJ's Lawrence Buckley cuts the margin to 2-1, Owens scored the eventual game-winner in the 62nd minute.