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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Explore our history. Click on any of the panels below to learn what happened that year.
She Kicks, She Scores – in Football
October 18, 1997

Richland's Liz Heaston, a junior and defender on Willamette's soccer team, accepts an invitation to join the Bearcats' football team as a placekicker. After playing a soccer game, she changes uniforms and minutes later converts the first of two extra points to become the first female to score in a college football game, before an overflow crowd vs. Linfield.

UW rides Frimpong Goal to Elite Eight
November 20, 2004

Tina Frimpong converts a teammate's shot that caromed off the Maryland goalkeeper, scoring the lone goal in the 19th minute of Washington's 1-0 victory in the third-round of the NCAA tournament at Husky Soccer Field. The 15th-seeded Huskies advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in their 14-year history. They will visit No. 7 seed Princeton. Freshman Colby Branham created the scoring situation with a 20-yard blast from the left side that deflected off keeper Nikki Resnick. Frimpong controls the rebound and scores from five yards at 18:48. Kelsey Rasmussen notches her school-record 10th shutout of the season while making just one save. Princeton would prevail in the quarterfinal, 3-1, with Frimpong completing her season with a 16th goal and record 43 for her career.

Tacoma Nearly Pulls Off Turnaround
March 23, 2025

Nick Perera gets a goal and assist in the first quarter as Tacoma goes up 3—0 and holds on to win 5-4 at Kansas City. The Stars’ fourth straight win and 8th in 10 games lifts them above the MASL playoff game with one game remaining. They started out 2-11. Unfortunately, Tacoma falls 7-2 at San Diego on March 30 and is eliminated from contention.

Vikings Clinch First Half
November 2, 1969

An unstoppable Geoff McKeown unleashed four goals on Heidelberg as the Leif Erikson Vikings wrapped-up the first-half title with a 5-1 rout at Interbay. The Vikings eventually go 8-0-2 with a 46-9 goal-difference. Defending champion Hungarians are two points behind at 7-1-2.

Henderson Brothers Play Around World
May 19, 1990

Everett's Henderson brothers can all be found playing around the world this day. Pat, the eldest at 24, starts for the San Diego Nomads in an APSL match. Chris, 19, is part of the U.S. World Cup team playing a warm-up game vs. Partizan Belgrade of the Yugoslavian first division. Sean, 18, scores the winning goal in Cascade High School's state semifinal playoff against University of Spokane. Dick Henderson, their father, is the Cascade coach, and mother Mary is cheering in the stands.

Sawatzky Named USL1 Coach of the Year
November 3, 2022

Darren Sawatzky is named USL League One Coach of the Year after guiding the Richmond Kickers to the second-most regular season points and wins in league history. Sawatzky is in his third season at Richmond, which went 14-7-9 season and enjoyed its best overall finish since 2013. Richmond’s 21 points gained from a losing position and 54 goals were the most in a regular season in league history.

(Courtesy The Seattle Times)
1956
Jack Brand set a Sounders and NASL record with 15 shutouts in 1980. (Frank MacDonald Collection)
1980
Sound FC 04 won the state U16 boys championship. (Courtesy Washington Youth Soccer)
2020
Bryn Ritchie scored to end the longest match in Washington history with a goal in the 141st minute of a first round NCAA tournament game vs. Alabama-Birmingham. (Courtesy University of Washington Athletics)
2000
UCLA and Sigi Schmid won their first NCAA championship at Seattle's Big Kick. (Courtesy UCLA Athletics)
1985
The U.S.A. starting XI versus Honduras at Safeco Field. (Courtesy ISI Photos)
2002
(Courtesy Seattle Times)
1982
1974
The NWSL was the first U.S. professional team sport to return amidst the pandemic. All players wore Black Lives Matter shirts prior to the kickoff at Herriman, Utah.
2020
(Courtesy NASL Jerseys)
1995