Washington State
Legends of Soccer

Curated by the Washington State Legends of Soccer, providing information and history of the Beautiful Game in Washington State. Just as the game evolves, so will this site. We continuously add new content, so be sure to return often.

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Eastlake Survives Scare, Wins Girls' 4A
November 17, 2007

Eastlake gets a second-half tying goal from Emma Levy and two saves from Shelby Nilsen in the shootout to lift the girls' 4A state championship trophy over Todd Beamer, 1-1 (3-1) at Lakewood. Ranked No. 8 nationally the undefeated Wolves had not trailed during the season until their final two games. Lindsay Elston got the equalizer and deciding penalty conversion in the semifinal against Richland, then Elston serves the corner kick on Levy's goal and strikes the determining penalty kick versus the Titans. Holland Crook scores Beamer just before halftime.

Heidelberg Advances Past San Jose
February 21, 1971

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.

Storm Stops CSL Leader Vancouver
August 8, 1990

Chance Fry breaks out of a four-game scoring slump and FC Seattle Storm deal the Vancouver 86ers, the top team in the Canadian Soccer League, a 3-2 defeat at Memorial Stadium. A pair of second-half goals by Fry allow Seattle to overtake the eventual CSL winners, who had only lost one game previously. Fry's header ties the match with 30 minutes to go, and the winner comes as he unleashed a 30-yard drive over 86ers keeper Rob Merkl in the 78th minute. Fran O'Brien opens the scoring by scoring directly from a corner kick at 8:30. Domenic Mobilio, one of five Canadian internationals in the lineup, puts the visitors in front, 2-1, by scoring twice before halftime.

Barney Kempton, Mr. Soccer, Dies
December 13, 1959

George P. "Barney" Kempton, known as Puget Sound's Mr. Soccer in his prime, dies after a long illness at age 69. Kempton was Washington's first inductee to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950. He had starred in the state league since his arrival from Ireland (via San Francisco) in 1914. Later, he organized soccer programs in parochial schools as well as the state reformatory. After working as a streetcar motorman, Kempton spent 15 years as Civic Stadium's head groundskeeper.

Pac-12 Exodus Sends UW East
September 13, 2024

The Big Ten era for Washington begins with the UW men traveling to Michigan State for their conference opener. It's the first of four regular season games to be played in the eastern time zone. In all the Huskies play in four different time zones before the NCAA tournament. The women's team travels to Maryland and Rutgers (NJ) the following week but has three former Pac-12 opponents in Oregon, USC and UCLA.

USMNT Bows Out of World Cup Keller Sits
June 21, 2002

A controversial non-call sends the United States out of the World Cup, 1-0 to Germany at the quarterfinal stage in Ulsan, South Korea. Kasey Keller, expected to split time in goal with Brad Friedel, never plays a minute in five matches. He had not been Tottenham's outright starter during the season and was plagued by minor knee and elbow injures prior to the tournament. Gregg Berhalter's attempt to equalize in the 49th minute is handled on the goal line by Torsten Frings, but no penalty is whistled.

Blaise Nkufo scores the first goal of his historic first Sounders hat trick in 4-0 win at Columbus. (Courtesy Sounders FC)
2010
Tacoma's Jeff Durgan left the Cosmos for Team America and debuted for the USMNT in 1983.
1983
Alyssa Beauchamp posted 10 shutouts as Western Washington reached the NCAA Division II semifinal stage for the first time in 2013. (Courtesy Western Washington Athletics)
2013
Lamar Neagle scored seven goals across all competitions for the Sounders in 2015. (Courtesy Jane Gershovich/Sounders FC)
2015
DeAndre Yedlin, Sounders U23s. (Courtesy Sounders FC)
2012
Preki was among three starters with Washington ties for the Kansas City Wizards in their run to the 2000 MLS Cup. He was joined by Chris Henderson and Brandon Prideaux. (Courtesy Sporting Kansas City)
2000
Helga (l) and Karl Grosch attend the dedication of Federal Way's Karl Grosch Field in 2003. (Courtesy Washington Youth Soccer)
2003
(Courtesy Seattle Times archives)
1979
1996
Nico Lodeiro maneuvers through Al Ahly players in the Sounders’ 2023 FIFA Club World Cup match vs. Egypt’s Al Ahly. (Courtesy Sounders FC/Mike Fiechtner)
2023