At 4:21 a.m. Pacific Time, FIFA executive vice president Harry Cavan announces from Zurich that the 1994 World Cup will be coming to the U.S. Morocco and Brazil finish second and third in the balloting. A gathering of soccer community leaders and players gather with local media at Seattle Pacific University, where coach Cliff McCrath predicts soccer will take “center stage” in the nation by 2000. Husky Stadium is among 18 stadia in 16 cities under consideration to host matches.

Tacoma Stars seek $500,000 from new investors by June 30 or they will either fold or suspend operations. The Stars lost $1 million the past season and nearly $9 million since starting in 1983.

Former Sounders star and FC Seattle coach Bruce Rioch brings recently-promoted Middlesbrough of the English first division to Memorial Stadium to play the Storm as part of a four-match U.S. tour. Seattle wins, 2-1, on goals four minutes apart by Chance Fry and Eddie Henderson.

Thomas Jefferson reclaims AAA boys title, beating defending champ Cascade on penalties after drawing, 3-3. The Bruins score three times in the final 13 minutes to lead, 3-2, before the Raiders tie in the final minute. "In the history of high school state championships, this game has to be put down in every book," said Jefferson coach Jim Judson.

England rallies from a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat defending champion El Salvador, 4-3, in the indoor final of the Amputee Soccer International World Cup at the Woodinville Soccer Center. In the outdoor final at Shoreline Stadium, El Salvador defeated Seattle, 3-0. Teams from four nations compete in the third annual event. The English national team features three former pros.

Peppering Portland with a league-record 33 shots, FC Seattle rallies to win in overtime, 3-2, before its largest crowd in four years – 6,427. Peter Hattrup’s goal in the 13th minute of extra time seals it and clinches a playoff berth.

King County Parks rejects the Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association’s request to construct another 12 fields on county-owned land in Redmond’s undeveloped Sixty Acres Park. LWYSA already has 19 fields for 13,000 youth players.

Mountlake Terrace becomes the state’s first repeat WIAA girls champion at any level, beating Olympia, 6-0, at Renton Stadium. Janelle King caps her 12-goal postseason with a hat trick in the AA final. Kennedy (20-0-1) defeats Issaquah, 1-0, for AAA girls title. Dee Dee Robertson scores the only goal.

Michelle Akers, who prepped at Shorecrest and now plays for Central Florida, is named the college player of the year by the NCAA and the National Collegiate Soccer Coaches Association of America. Akers scores 11 goals to help UCF reach the NCAA quarterfinals. Adidas names Amy Allmann, Akers's UCF teammate, as Goalkeeper of the Year. Also named to the Division I All-America team were Lori Henry of North Carolina (Shorewood), Colorado College's Kerri Tashiro (Interlake) and Shelley Separovich (Shorecrest), and California's Kathy Ridgewell (Evergreen).

After not scoring during the regular season, Bob Bruch scores twice in first eight minutes of the WSA championship match as FC Seattle smashes San Jose, 5-0, before 4,321 at Memorial Stadium. It’s the fifth straight win for the Storm, who leave the following day for a five-match tour of England and Scotland.

Pacific Lutheran become the state’s first women’s collegiate champions, taking the NAIA title, 2-0, over Hardin-Simmons, in Abilene, Texas. Laura Dutt and Sonya Brandt score for the Lutes – Brandt scoring her record 127th career goal – and Gail Stenzel gets her 15th shutout. Brandt. Who scored her record 127th career goal, is named the tournament’s most outstanding player, goalkeeper Gail Stevens posts her record 42nd career shutout, and PLU’s Colleen Hacker is voted coach of the year.

In North Carolina's penultimate regular season game, Seattle’s Lori Henry responds to a rare start at forward to fire three goals past UNC Greensboro in a 4-0 win at Chapel Hill. Henry, normally a fixture on defense, begins her hat trick with a header from a Shannon Higgins corner kick. Her other two come via a breakaway and a 15-yard shot. The top-ranked Tar Heels extend their unbeaten streak to 64 games.

Led by Ben Erickson and Todd Haley goals, Mount Rainier runs unbeaten streak to 35 games by winning AA title, 3-0 over Spokane’s West Valley at Memorial Stadium.

John Hamel scores twice in the final 20 minutes at San Jose to clinch the WSA regular season title for FC Seattle, 3-1, and home-field advantage in the championship game.

In the second leg of their Champions Cup series, Seattle Mitre Eagles hold Mexico’s Cruz Azul to a scoreless draw in a steady rain at Memorial Stadium. The Eagles finish with a 15-5 advantage in shots, 8-1 in corner kicks. Attempts by Paul Retchless and Peter Hattrup hit the post and crossbar, respectively. Most of the estimated 500 fans root for Cruz Azul.

Following an unsuccessful, last-minute season ticket drive with an objective of 2,000 new sales, the Tacoma Stars fold. They are joined by Chicago and, since the season ended, St. Louis and Minnesota. “The grass-roots support for this team was tremendous,'' said board chairman Lowry Wyatt. ''But the business marketplace was just not able to support this size of an operation.'' 'It's an incredible loss,'' said Nancy Mendoza, a 13-year resident of Tacoma who organized 100 volunteers in an effort to meet the goal of selling 2,000 season tickets. ''The Stars provided the energy that a community needs to move forward. Now we just have to regroup.''

A Tacoma Dome crowd of 17,251 sees West, behind Preki’s hat trick, beat East, 9-3. Preki scored twice in the first quarter, after which West lead, 4-0. Preki is voted MVP over teammate Steve Zungul, who scored twice. Another Stars representative, Mike Dowler, makes 15 saves. It’s the second-largest crowd in MISL All-Star history.

A crowd of 12,218 greets the resurrected Tacoma Stars on opening night. The Stars, featuring Schmetzer brothers, Brian, Andy and Walter, lose to Dallas, 6-5, in triple overtime. Peter Ward scores three goals for Tacoma. Walt Schmetzer is stretchered from the field in the fourth quarter with a season-ending knee injury.

Brent Goulet of Tacoma scores, but the United States is eliminated from the Olympic Games by a 4-2 loss to the Soviet Union in Taegu, South Korea. The U.S. (0-1-2) needed a win in the final group stage match but fell behind 4-0 before Goulet's screamer from a Ricky Davis assist in the 65th minute.

With a 17-18 start following a runner-up finish the year before, Tacoma Stars fire Alan Hinton and replace him with Jimmy McAlister, 31. The team, reportedly rife with dissension in the locker room, goes 10-11 the remainder of the regular season.

In the first Sounders reunion game since 1982, the Seattle alums beat their Timbers counterparts, 1-0, behind Roger Davies goal. The game is held prior to the Seattle-Portland Western Soccer Alliance fixture. Among former NASL players returning are Davies, Tommy Hutchison, Jimmy Gabriel, Frank Barton, Steve Buttle, Tony Chursky, Ray Evans, Pepe Fernandez, Dave Gillett, Tommy Jenkins, Jimmy McAlister, Neil Megson, Tommy Ord, Mark Peterson, Roy Sinclair, Mike Ivanow, Adrian Webster, Jack Brand and Peter Ward.

Joey Waters of the Tacoma Stars breaks the MISL season record for blocks during a 5-4, double-overtime loss to San Diego before 11,374 partisan fans. Waters surpasses the mark of 138 blocks, set by teammate Bernie James while with Cleveland the prior season. Waters finishes the year with 153.

Seattle strikes early, getting goals from Eddie Henderson and Peter Hattrup in the first 7 minutes, and Jeff Koch makes a record 12 saves for a 2-1 win over the California Kickers at Tom Bradley Stadium. Both Henderson and Hattrup have scored in three consecutive games.

Freshman goalkeeper Kasey Keller of Olympia is among several Washington state players who lead the University of Portland to the NCAA Division I finals in Bloomington, Indiana. The undefeated (21-0-0) Pilots, who also feature WA products Trent Schultz, Garrett Smith, Jason Russ, Wade Webber, Jim Weber and Robb Sakamoto, are the first Northwest program to advance that far. Portland loses to eventual champion Indiana, 1-0, in the semifinal.

Kent’s Shannon Higgins scores three goals to lead North Carolina to its third straight NCAA title, 4-1 over North Carolina State in Chapel Hill. Higgins, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer with 13 goals and 17 assists, is named the most valuable offensive player. After a goal and two assists in a semifinal win over Wisconsin, Higgins opens the scoring in the 30th minute, then adds two penalty kicks. Meanwhile, defender Lori Henry, another Washingtonian, stifles ACC top scorer Charmaine Hooper to give the Tar Heels their third title in a row.

Finnair Mavericks end the four-year reign of Cozars as state women’s champions. Bonnie Broughton scores the only goal in the final.

FIFA technical group completes a weeklong inspection of Husky Stadium, which is included in U.S. bid for 1994 World Cup. Paul Stiehl, head of U.S. organizing committee, claims natural turf can be successfully laid over existing artificial surface. UW athletic director Mike Lude wants assurances that the sand, gravel and sod won’t damage the football field.

Peter Ward totals four goals and six points, and Preki loses the MISL scoring race but clinches the assist title in a 9-7 Stars victory over Kansas City before 14,357 in the Tacoma Dome. Preki earns three assists to finish with a record 58 for the season, but Wichita's Erik Rasmussen wins the overall scoring title with 112 points to Preki's record 111. Earlier in the day the MISL players union reaches an agreement with owners on a salary cap of $900,000. It also caps individual salaries at $90,000, with Preki and Steve Zungul having been due to make far beyond that.

Tacoma's Brent Goulet scores twice within 16 minutes, lifting the United States to a 4-1 victory over El Salvador in an Olympic soccer Group A qualifying match in Indianapolis. The U.S. had already clinched a berth in the Seoul Games. Goulet leads the team with six goals during qualifying.

Down 4-2, the Tacoma Stars pull their keeper and proceed to score three times in the final 1 minute, 17 seconds to beat Chicago, 5-4, before 9,984. Steve Zungul's 36th goal starts the rally with 77 seconds to go. Eleven ticks later, Peter Ward ties it. Gary Heale completes the comeback victory, scoring with 30 seconds remaining. It snaps a four-game Tacoma (16-18) losing streak.

The Northwest Collegiate Soccer Conference votes to adopt a two-division men’s format, with the Olympic Division comprised of the top six teams from 1987 and the Cascade consisting of the remaining six. Following the 1988 season and from thereafter will be promotion and relegation.

Tacoma is officially readmitted to MISL. Jim Manza, Fife restauranteur, heads a new group of investors who negotiate with the City of Tacoma for $400,000 in concession revenue, flexible Tacoma Dome scheduling and a waiver of dome rental fees and staffing charges.

Early-season collegiate tournaments provide opportunities for teams to play out-of-state teams yet they are also a test of depth and fitness. The Evergreen State College conducts an invitational men's tourney in Olympia with teams playing twice on the first day, then a third match the following day before cost-conscious visitors return home. The Far West Classic, which has rotated between Washington and California since 1973, involves eight teams playing single games over three consecutive days of Labor Day weekend, often in high heat.

Tad Willoughby scores twice as the Storm’s England tour ends with a 2-2 draw at Second Division Hull City. FC Seattle had lost to Oldham (2-0, 2nd), Middlesbrough (3-0, 1st) and Sunderland (3-0, 2nd) and also drawn, 2-2, at Lincoln City (4th).

Renton’s Matt Olson makes a pair of routine saves in his 27 minutes in relief of Sommer, enabling Indiana to defeat Howard, 1-0, in the NCAA championship game at Bloomington, In. Olson had missed all of 1987 with a thumb injury and played in only 8 games prior to replacing Hoosiers starting goalkeeper Juergen Sommer, who sustained a broken nose. Three of the four teams reaching the semifinals feature Washington players. Portland has six key contributors, and South Carolina has Kent’s Mike Gosselin starting on defense.

Alan Hinton returns to coach born-again Stars, six months after being dismissed by former owners. His contract of $72,000 is nearly $50,000 less than what he was paid the first time around.

Cruz Azul, featuring five Mexican internationals, drubs Seattle Mitre Eagles, 9-0, in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Eagles’ flights are delayed and connections missed. Instead of arriving the night before, their bus arrives at the stadium 20 minutes before kickoff, in 100-degree heat.

Preki, 24, returns to Tacoma, taking a pay cut from his $75,000 salary. Portgual’s Estra De Amdadora had signed him to a three-year contact during the summer but the Stars negotiated his release.