Michelle Akers, 25 and 1984 Shorecrest graduate, scores both goals in 2-1 victory over Norway in the first FIFA Women’s World Cup final before 59,000 in Canton. Akers intercepts a backpass, then touches it past the keeper and strokes for the winner into an empty net. She finishes with 10 goals in six games to lead the tournament and now has 49 international goals. Shannon Higgins of Kent assists on the first U.S. goal with a free kick and her upfield ball leads to the winner. The victorious USWNT winners will split $50,000 in prize money.

Seattle Pacific emerges victorious from a tournament amongst three Division I teams in Las Vegas after blanking host UNLV, 3-0. The Falcons, flush with UW transfers James Dunn, Jason Dunn and Jason Farrell, start 6-0-0 on the road. Jason and James Dunn each score vs. UNLV. SPU beat Cal State Fullerton, 1-0, in the first game of the tourney, which also included Wisconsin Green Bay. During the season Seattle Pacific is 5-2-0 vs. Div. I opponents.

Kasey Keller takes a sucker punch to his face moments after the United States defeats Mexico, 2-1, in overtime for the Pan American Games gold medal in Havana. Keller, who was near the substitutes' bench, sustains a broken nose by the Mexican's blow and is ruled out of the Aug. 25 Olympic qualifying match at Haiti. Keller had started in U.S. U23 wins over Suriname and Honduras, with Brad Friedel starting the final.

FC Seattle Storm joins a growing list of teams opting out of playing the 1991 APSL season. More than half of the 11 teams that made up the APSL's Western Soccer League Conference last year are expected to join Seattle on the sidelines. Portland, San Diego, New Mexico, California and Los Angeles are already out, and Santa Barbara is is doubtful. It leaves any survivors in a smaller league with increased travel costs. Coaching director Clive Charles and coach Stuart Lee remain on the payroll and will head up the Storm's summer camp and academy. Eight players are under contract, including APSL scoring champ Chance Fry.

Shannon Higgins is elevated to head coach at George Washington University. At 22, Higgins is believed to be the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I. She was GWU assistant coach the previous season, serving under Adrian Glover, who is retiring. The Colonials go 9-10-1 under Higgins, who juggles her duties with playing for the national team through the World Cup.

Two goals and an assist from NCSC player of the year Jason Farrell spark Seattle Pacific's 6-0 win over Seattle University at Shoreline Stadium. It gives the No. 2-ranked Falcons a record ninth straight single-season win. The SPU defense extended its record shutout string to nine games, all by shutout. Brian Meier, Todd Haley, Mark Kovats and Jason Smith also score.

Chris Henderson plays the full 120 as USMNT wins its first major tournament, the inaugural Gold Cup in Los Angeles, beating Honduras, 0-0 (4-3). The Everett native starts all five Gold Cup matches and is among the leaders in minutes played (480). The U.S. defeated Mexico, 2-o, in the semifinals.

Back in Tacoma after seasons in L.A. and St. Louis, Gary Heale carries the Stars with five goals in a 6-5 overtime home win over Baltimore. Heale has a hat trick in the first quarter, but it's his fifth, with 4:46 left, that sends the game into overtime. Bill Crook's power-play strike 57 seconds into the third extra frame is the difference. It's the second-longest game in Tacoma history.

Behind a hat trick from Michelle Akers-Stahl, the United States qualifies for the first FIFA Women's World Cup, to be held later this year in China. Akers-Stahl scores from 20 yards just four minutes into the 5-0 victory over Canada for the Concacaf championship in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. She totals 11 goals in the tournament's five games as the U.S. overwhelms opposition with a 49-0 goal differential.

Dianne Moran's goal in the 135th minute lifts Pacific Lutheran over Western Washington, 2-1, for the NAIA District 1 championship in Tacoma. Cheryl Kragness puts PLU ahead but the Vikings force overtime on Mandee Coulter's score with 30 seconds to go.

USWNT opens play at first FIFA Women's World Cup in Panyu, China, defeating Sweden, 3-2. Washington natives Shannon Higgins and Michelle Akers are in the starting XI, and Higgins clears a Swede shot off the line. Thrilling experience, she says, "My heart was about to leap out of my body."

Seattle University's Tom Fuegmann scores a pair of goals to lead the Washington State under-23 select team to a 3-2 victory over host New Jersey for the U.S. Amateur championship and George F. Donnelly Cup at Newark. Jason Dunn, a transfer to Seattle Pacific, gets the other goal for Team Washington, which advanced to the final with a 2-0 victory over North Carolina on two Vasco Rubio goals. Fuegmann, Jason Farrell and James Dunn are invited to the Olympic Sports Festival.

Aviation West of Highline SA soars to a fourth state cup in five years by going out winners of the boys U19 tournament. Three members of the team – Ben Erickson, Joey Mancuso and Rob LaBelle – are chosen for the U20 National Team.

Forty-eight hours after being blasted 11-2 in San Diego, the Tacoma Stars respond by smacking the Sockers, 10-2, behind Bill Crook’s first career hat trick. Coming off a record-tying margin of loss, the Stars deal three-time defending champion San Diego their worst-ever defeat. The win clinches the West's third and final playoff berth. Mark Karpun scores twice in the first period.

Chance Fry converts the fourth penalty and Mark Dougherty saves Albany's final attempt as the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks win the APSL championship in a shootout, 4-3, following a scoreless mini game in San Jose. The Blackhawks, after losing the first leg in Albany, beat the Capitals, 2-0, in the return leg. Fry was joined on S.F. Bay by Paul Holocher of Seattle. Issaquah's Shawn Medved played for Colorado.

Washington State's Kim Lynass scores a pair of goals as the Cougars defeat NAIA third-ranked Pacific Lutheran, 2-1, in Tacoma. It’s the sixth WSU win in seven matches. Kim Alexander scores for the Lutes, who force Natalie McDowell to make a record 20 saves.

Leagues are becoming increasingly popular in eastern Washington, from Tri-Cities to Wenatchee. Migrant farm workers from Mexico and Central America flock to teams. Combined, the Yakima and Lower Valley leagues have about 30 teams and 600 players since starting in mid-Eighties.

Two weeks into their inaugural season, the Washington Huskies receive a No. 20 national ranking after drawing, 1-1, at No. 16 Portland. The Pilots took the lead through Tiffeny Milbrett at 30' but Melanie Brennan answered before halftime. UP out-shut UW 23-6, but Tamara Browder made six saves.

Five players from Washington are members of the runner-up West team at the Olympic Festival in Torrance, Ca. The South wins 2-1 over the West, which includes James Dunn, Jason Farrell, Tom Fuegmann, Sean Henderson and Dusty Hudock. Henderson scored in a July 14 win over the South. In addition, Mike Gosselin played for the World University Games team in England.

The first-ever meeting between varsity women's teams from Washington and Washington State is won convincingly by the Cougars, 3-0 in the first round of the WSU Invitational at Martin Stadium in Pullman. Freshman Jenni Druffel puts the hosts ahead in the fifth minute and they cruise from there, later getting goals from Kim Lynass and Brittni Estep. It's the third year of varsity play in Pullman while the Huskies are playing just the fifth match of their inaugural season. It is televised (on three-day tape delay) by Prime Sports Northwest.

Seattle University appears in its first national ranking at No. 16 in the NAIA men's poll. The Chieftains (11-3-1) have won six of seven, with the loss coming to 7th-ranked Simon Fraser, 6-2, in overtime. Seattle U's Oct. 13 1-0 exhibition win over Washington may have also influenced voters.

Freshman Brittni Estep strikes twice in the first period of overtime to seal a 4-2 comeback, season-ending win for Washington State over Western Washington in Richland. Kim Lynass's 25th goal of the season equalizes for the Cougars with seven minutes left in regulation. Amanda Coulter and Stephanie Arnesto twice put the Vikings on top.

Backers of House Bill 1302 stress the need for soccer facility before a hearing before the House Committee on Trade and Economic Development in Olympia. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ken Jacobsen of Seattle, seeks state matching funds of up to $3 million for an international-class facility, to be used by teams and leagues as well as a successful 1994 World Cup bid. Communities playing host to World Cup competition also must provide three high-quality grass fields for practice.

Top-ranked Seattle Pacific, getting goals from Jason Dunn and Jason Farrell in the first four minutes, wins its eighth straight – all by shutout – over Whitworth, 4-0, at Newport High School in Bellevue. Marcus Hahnemann, who splits halves with Matt Betcher, extends his consecutive scoreless minutes to 704. SPU has won 12 straight in NCSC play.

Federal Way, tempered by a loss to Sammamish a year earlier, start strong and dominate Mercer Island for a 5-1 victory in the AAA girls' final at Shoreline. Sheralyn Stackhouse scores two times in the first 24 minutes. After the Islanders' Dena Dey at 30', Justi Baumgardt makes it 3-1 in the second half. Jeni Mauck and Amy Felker round out the scoring. The undefeated Eagles (18-0-2) hold MI to just three shots, all in the first half. Paige MacDonald keeps Mercer Island in it with nine first-half saves.

Mount Rainier claims its fourth AA state boys' championship via penalties, 0-0 (5-3), over Lindbergh in Puyallup. Mike Armstrong saves Lindbergh's first penalty attempt, and Tom Moore converts the decisive MR fifth-round kick. It's the fourth straight knockout game that the Rams have come through in the clutch. They scored in overtime to beat both Bellingham and O'Dea to reach the semifinals and scored with five minutes left in regulation to knock off Battle Ground. Mount Rainier won three straight titles from 1987-89.

Behind the goal and two assists of Jason Farrell, Seattle Pacific beats Washington, 3-2, to repeat as NCSC champion at Memorial Stadium. It's the Falcons' first win over UW since 1985. Farrell scores in the 35th minute and set-up Shane Tercek in 39th for a 3-1 lead. Huskies Chris Sarver’s brace snaps Marcus Hahnemann’s record 10-game shutout streak (989 minutes). It's the final game for UW coach Ron Carter who retires after seven seasons.

Chris Henderson announces he will sign a full-time contract with U.S. Soccer and forego his final two years at UCLA. In the run up to the 1994 World Cup he is the first player to sign. Henderson, 20, has started the last 16 games for the U.S. He was the fourth-youngest player on the 1990 World Cup team. He continues taking classes in Westwood and plays for L.A. Exiles while not with the national team.

FC Seattle president Bill Sage is announced as a consultant to the U.S. Soccer Federation. Sage, who will be unpaid, will work on a five-year business plan for the new U.S. league due to begin play following the 1994 World Cup.

Goals by Shari Rider and Wendy Johnson lead third-seeded Pacific Lutheran to its third NAIA national women's soccer championship in the past four years. The Lutes defeat Missouri Valley College, 4-0, in a cold, driving rain at Boca Raton. The game is delayed for 25 minutes during the first half because of lightning, and when the game is finished, there is 4 inches of water on the field. Brenda Lichtenwalter makes two saves as PLU becomes the first champion to not allow a goal during the tournament. Kirsten Brown opens the scoring in the 32nd minute, and Cheryl Kragness connects on a late penalty. Rider is named tournament MVP after scoring her career record 45th goal and Johnson graduates with a record 52 assists.

Seattle Pacific gets a second-half goal from Jason Dunn and knocks off Portland, the 20th-ranked team in Division I, 1-0 at Newport High School for its ninth straight home win. gives D2 Seattle Pacific the 1-0 upset defeat of Portland, ranked 20th in D1. It’s Cliff McCrath’s 300th win with the Falcons. Dunn beats Kasey Keller in the 68th minute and Marcus Hahnemann holds the Pilots scoreless for the first time this season. UP had scored 15 goals in winning its last four.

Third-ranked Seattle Pacific takes the lead in overtime but draws 3-3 with Cal Poly SLO and falls 3-1 on penalties in an NCAA quarterfinal at Memorial Stadium. Todd Haley gives SPU the early lead before Todd Henry scores two of his three goals to give the Mustangs the lead. In the first of four extra periods Phil Bullard gets the Falcons in front, 3-2, only for Henry to equalize. Despite going 11-0-2 in its final 13 games, Seattle is knocked out. The outcome is later overturned for a Cal Poly violation and ruled a forfeit.

Seattle is among 27 cities submitting bids to host 1994 World Cup matches. The bid committee, headed by Gov. Booth Gardner, proposes games at Husky Stadium, where a raised platform is under consideration for the temporary natural grass surface. Local venue groups must pay for any such renovations. Eight to 12 hosts cities are expected to be named by December. Meanwhile a bill is before the state legislature for $3 million in funding for a 5,000-seat stadium which could also serve as a training center.

After losing their fourth straight, 7-6 in overtime at Dallas, the Tacoma Stars head into 1992 in last place with a 5-10 record. Five of those losses are by one goal, three in overtime. Down 6-2, Greg Ion caps a furious fourth-quarter Tacoma comeback, scoring the equalizer with 28 seconds left. Mark Karpun gets a hat trick for the Stars. The Sidekicks' Tatu ends the game two minutes into overtime.

Eric Penner scores in the 111th minute as Washington shocks top-ranked and defending NCAA champ UCLA, 2-1, in overtime of the Husky Classic title game at Interlake High School. Tournament MVP Shannon Murray, who grabbed four goals vs. SMU in the tourney's first round, scores an 83' equalizer before 1,165. It's UW's first win in six tries vs. the Bruins.

Washington ends its first women's season on a seven-game unbeaten run with a 4-0 win over Simon Fraser at Everett High School. Kathleen Juergens bags a brace, bringing team-leading total to seven. The Huskies (10-6-2) go 6-0-1 down the stretch, with the sole blemish a 0-0 draw at eventual NAIA champion Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 30. Four of the losses are to teams ranked in the top 12.

Kim Lynass scores four times while playing just over 45 minutes and Washington State routs Gonzaga, 15-0, at Martin Stadium. Only four goals separated the teams earlier in the season. The win snaps a three-game losing skein for the Cougars, all in southern California.

Washington wins its women’s varsity debut at San Diego State, 2-0, as freshman Rhonda Klein of Puyallup scores in the 65th minute and Amy Hamamoto adds an insurance goal at 88'. Tamara Browder makes eight saves for the shutout. The Huskies are beaten, 3-0, at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara the following day.

Bellevue’s Brandon Schmidt scores and Chris Stiles of Spokane gets an assist in Santa Clara’s 3-0 NCAA second round home win over Fresno State. The Broncos, co-champions in 1989, advance two more rounds before meeting Virginia in the national title game Dec. 8, where the Cavaliers prevail in a shootout, 0-0 (3-1). Schmidt and Redmond's Bruce Broughton start in the NCAA final.

Gary Heale collects a hat trick as the Tacoma Stars extend their season by squaring their first-round, best-of-three MISL playoff series with St. Louis with a 4-3 overtime home win. Only 2,760 come the Tacoma Dome, making it the club's smallest postseason attendance. Heale scores the Stars' final three goals, including the winner 93 seconds into overtime. The Storm, featuring former Tacoma standout Preki and Brian Schmetzer, win the series decider, 9-2, two days later in St. Louis.

Pacific Lutheran progresses to its fourth straight NAIA final by upsetting host and No. 2-ranked Lynn, 2-0, in the final game of pool play in Boca Raton, Fla. Sheri Rider and Cheryl Kragness score. PLU beat Wheeling Jesuit, 3-0, the day before to open pool play.

Michelle Akers, Amy Allmann, Lori Henry and Shannon Higgins return to Seattle and a reception with hundreds of local fans, including Governor Booth Gardner, at Mercer Island Community Center. Allmann, Henry and Higgins all announce they are retiring. They and Akers, regarded as the best female player in the world, earned only $1,000 per month from U.S. Soccer.

Spokane's Chris Stiles scores top-ranked Santa Clara's vital second goal and the Broncos remain perfect (10-0-0) by beating Washington, 2-1. Stiles and Redmond's Bruce Broughton assist on Matt Arya's header at 48:14 and Stiles nods past Dusty Hudock 81 seconds later. Brent Aune pulls UW a goal back at 65'. It's the start of a four-game losing streak that knocks the Huskies (4-3-0) out of postseason contention.

Defending champ Kennedy barely made the tournament field but beats previously perfect Seattle Prep, 4-0, in the girls' AAA championship game at Shoreline Stadium. The Lancers take charge early, with Angie Bourgette latching on to a through ball and scoring. Carie Odegard makes it 2-nil at half from the top of the box. Jeanette Scotti and Shana McReynolds put away the Panthers (20-1-0) in the second half. Kennedy (15-5-3) needed to beat Liberty in a shootout just to get into tournament. It lost to Hazen for the Seamount League championship.

With darkness falling after 150 minutes of regulation and overtime, Cheryl Kragness connects on the decisive penalty kick for Pacific Lutheran to advance to the NAIA national finals after drawing with Western Washington, 1-1. Wendy Johnson put host PLU in front at 36' but the Vikings, despite a red card, pull even in the 81st minute through Stephanie Siebert. The Lutes smashed Azusa Pacific, 5-0, and WWU edged Willamette, 4-3, in overtime of the regional semifinals.

Jeremy Britton's header sends Vancouver's Mountain View past Cascade, 1-0, and becomes the first school outside Puget Sound to claim a state title. Britton meets a Jon Willman cross in the 45th minute. The No. 1-ranked Thunder (19-1-0, GD 102-12) had needed a late goal and penalty kicks to advance past Newport in the AAA semifinals. Previously unbeaten and No. 2 Cascade (14-1-4) had nipped Richland with 30 seconds left.

Tacoma Stars Coach Keith Weller comes down after spending five days on a 6-by-12-foot platform to dramatize the franchise's goal of selling 4,000 season tickets as a condition for remaining in business. While atop the platform in the Tacoma Mall parking lot, Weller used a cellular phone to reach prospective ticket buyers. He came down after sales reached 3,600. Every 12 hours Weller would climb down for 30 minutes.

Michelle Akers scores a record five goals in the first 47 minutes and the U.S. routs Chinese Taipei, 7-0, in the quarterfinals in Foshan. Akers’s masterpiece features two rebounds, a free kick, a penalty and a header. She scores the first three U.S. goals as the Americans took a 4-0 halftime lead. Akers is now the tournament scoring leader with eight goals.