Sehome boys soccer’s state title hopes were dashed in a shootout loss to Franklin Pierce in the 2A state championship match Saturday, May 25 at Renton Memorial Stadium.
The Mariners (19-2-1) now go home with a second-place trophy after finishing third at state last season. They last won a state title in 2019 and have three overall in program history.
Sehome, the Northwest Conference champion, was unable to stop an unbeaten Cardinals team (21-0-2) that entered the match on a 12-game winning streak.
Making it even tougher was the Mariners were forced to play with just 10 players for the final 60 minutes due to a red card, when a Franklin Pierce player got hit in the face by a Sehome player while battling for the ball in the box.
Sehome’s second-year coach Jose Flores said despite being one man down, the team rallied and even held a possession advantage over the Cardinals in the second half.
“It did not change the drive of the boys to keep going,” Flores said. “They had each other’s back. They were so disciplined and tactical the rest of the game. They wanted it.”
Sehome struck first with a goal around the 50-minute mark to go up 1-0, but Franklin Pierce answered quickly with a set-piece goal to tie it up.
“We dominated the second half, and you wouldn’t think it would go like that,” Flores said. “You’d think we had one more than them. They played with their hearts and brains. We were just not able to put it into the back of the net.”
Despite taking the 1-1 tie into overtime, the Mariners were unable to capitalize and fell 5-4 in the shootout.
Flores said what he’ll remember most about this team is their never-give-up attitude.
“The mentality they have, the heart they have,” Flores said. “Their heart is huge. They are there for one another. They play as one unit. They always keep their heads up and it showed. It’s their drive. That’s what I’ll remember about this team.”
The Mariners will graduate 11 seniors.
Eric Trent is CDN’s news producer; reach him at erictrent@cascadiadaily.com.
