LOCAL "Goals" on World Wide Web

And then there were three.

A hobby has turned from a passion to an obsession as I debuted the third website in a trilogy of Puget Sound soccer hangouts recently.

In 2003 what would eventually become www.GOALSeattle.com went online. It's focus was to give Seattle fans a place to talk and to bring back to life memories of the NASL and early USL Sounders. It has evolved into the biggest archive devoted to any one city's soccer teams in the entire USA.

In 2006 Tacoma FC were born at the very last minute, replacing the folding Spokane Shadow. I had always hoped Tacoma would get some kind of team. At one point I even traveled to various stadiums in South Sound scouting possible venues. The impossible romantic in me loved the cliff-hanging venue at Stadium High School the most. Now it is 2008 and Tacoma FC are called the Tide, and they will enter their third season in the USL's Premier Development League. www.GOALTacoma was a natural in part to the lengthy history of the Tacoma Stars, who were already a part of the GOALSeattle Museum pages.

It's 2008, and we will see the birth of Seattle MLS in less than a year's time. From my loft-level computer post in Port Orchard (South Kitsap) I made the decision to continue the passion---and the program---by putting www.GOALKitsap.com online. The obsession continues. That's a good thing, though, right?

Kitsap County could well receive what is now the Seattle Sounders USL-1 franchise by 2009. Robin Waite, current Sounders co-owner, wants to build them a home and keep them alive after MLS invades the Emerald City. So now we have the trifecta: and finally the "GOAL" website series has reached as close to my actual home as we can get.

GOALKitsap is part speculation and completely a labor of love. Right now only three people have registered in its forums in these early days. Hey, if you live in the greater Kitsap area, come on over and make it four!

We'll follow youth, college and of course the possible arrival of the Sounders as 2008 comes into focus.

I encourage you to adopt the "GOAL" website that is nearest to where you live, as well as the clubs that website supports. These are terrific times to be a soccer supporter in Puget Sound.

Don't make me say that three times, because I will.

Former Star Black coaches son to championship

WPFC '93 Black celebrates a goal in the Championship.

Former Tacoma Stars defender Ralph Black coached his son Tyler to a State Championship on March 8th.

From WashingtonPremierFC.com:

From our roving sideline reporter: Many coaches may have won 2 WSYSA state championships in one year, but how many have won those championships with their sons on the teams they coach? Well, there’s now at least one in this exclusive club, Ralph Black! Having already won the BU11 Challenge Cup with his son Tyler, on Saturday, March 8th, Coach Black completed this double when the WPFC Boys’ ’93 Black team, including his son, Andrew, defeated HSC Heat 2-0.

The fans had hardly settled into their seats when WPFC opened their account. Heat had the kickoff, turned the ball over almost immediately and Dom Dismuke led a quit counter that produced a corner. Bryce Joling and Austin Sweeney worked a short corner - and talk about fast, after having worked the short corner, Austin got into the box to finish the play! 1-0 WPFC a minute into the game, spurring the raucous group of WPFC supporters in the stands to make even more noise! The rest of the first half was dominated by WPFC possession, producing numerous scoring opportunities, punctuated by quit counters by Heat. The WPFC defense of Brett Bertrand, Jordan Cohen and Ely Peterson backed by goalies Ian Clark and Troy Albin held firm, however, and in first half injury time, Ceasar Ramos got the ball in the box, turned on a dime and slotted home a shot to the far post to put WPFC up 2-0.

In the second half, WPFC’s midfield of Bryce Joling, Andrew Black, Ian Lange, Ike Crook and Austin Sweeney continued to dominate the mid and possession. And when substitutes Bryce James, Steffen Bangsund, Jimmy Hong and Griffin Stout entered the game, they if anything increased the pressure on Heat. The game became increasingly physical as the Heat’s frustration against WPFC’s possession and great wall of defense was displayed by numerous fouls, some producing yellow cards. WPFC, however, kept its poise and shepherded home a dominating 2-0 victory against a game Heat squad that never gave up and fought through to the final whistle.

The WPFC BU93 have now played in 4 consecutive state finals, everyone against a different opponent, and have emerged victorious on 3 of those 4 occasions, and have compiled a record of 55 wins and 6 ties in the last two years against in state opponents while suffering only 3 losses. This group of boys truly deserves to represent the state and WPFC in the Region 4 tournament in Hawaii this June. Aloha boys!

See a few photos here from GOALSeattle.com

Get Your 2008 Tide Home Schedule Wallpaper!

Jenni Conner's photos along with the great new look of the TFC crest highlight our computer desktop wallpaper with The Tacoma Tide home match dates featured along the bottom. Download your resolution size below.

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Courtesy of www.GOALTacoma.com

"Best of the Tide" in photos

www.GOALTacoma.com is proud to present a gallery of photos we've taken over the Tacoma Tide FC's first two seasons of 2006 and 2007.

Jenni Conner took the bulk of these shots. David Falk added in a few as well. A couple near the end are from the playoff match last year by a photographer in Fresno.

It's clear to see that after only two seasons the Tide have given us lots of thrills and spills. Much more expected in 2008!

Click here to watch the gallery. Select "Auto Play," sit back, and enjoy your Tide.

Machael David: From Tides to Tide

Machael David: A Gig Harbor and Tacoma Tide.

The Peninsula Gateway has a preview of the Gig Harbor Tides boys soccer team. A big part of that club is Machael David, a rising start who also played with the Tacoma Tide last year when he was but a junior in high school.

After Tacoma played the Seattle Sounders to a 2-2 draw David was cornered by Seattle head coach Brian Shcmetzer after the match. They talked shop.

David wants to focus on his high school club, for now. "My greatest concern is to make sure we come together,” David said.

“We have to forget about the past. We just need to go out there and play soccer."

That's fine. As long as he remembers Tide matches start in early May.

Machael David in his Tide kit playing against the Sounders last year. (Jenni Conner)

In four matches played last year for TFC David managed 2 goals and 2 assists, and created a 3rd goal when he drew a penalty kick on a break away.

Tide website redesign

The new TFC logo has been incorporated in a new design for www.TacomaFC.com

Looks good, guys!

Tacoma shocks Seattle 14-11 in playoffs, then falls to Fire

Tacoma Stars players react with joy (top) after the whistle blows on their 14-11 victory over the Seattle Wolves on Saturday March 8th. Traveling Tacoma fans (bottom) form a tunnel for the Stars on their way to the showers.
Jenni Conner www.GOALTacoma.com photos.

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Tacoma's Stars waited until the playoffs to shine against Seattle, but when they did the glow was bright enough to blind the Wolves out of the playoffs.

The glow lasted only one night as Tacoma traveled to Wenatchee on March 9th and fell 19-9 to the Fire. Wenatchee will be the Northwest representative at the PASL Nationals next weekend and the Stars, who knocked out Seattle the night before, were themselves sent packing. The Wenatchee Fire knocked out the Snohomish Skyhawks 10-8 in Snohomish to gain their home match against the Stars.

The Stars bolted to a gigantic lead in their playoff semifinal match with the Seattle Wolves at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila on Saturday March 8th. It was 12-0 Tacoma at the end of a dominating first half.

Seattle rallied in a rough second half that saw numerous power plays and a red-card ejection on the Stars' Nate Ford. The Wolves used the advantage to outscore Tacoma 11-2 in the second half and draw to within 14-11 with under five minutes to go.



That was all the scoring either team would muster and when the final whistle blew the pro-Tacoma crowd launched into celebration and chanting, including ribbing the Wolves roster full of Sounders with the chorus "Where's your famous Sounders now." (Roger Levesque didn't play, Zach Scott, Kevin Sakuda, Colin Rigby and Taylor Graham did.)

Stars fans formed a human tunnel in front of the visitors locker room and the winners smiled, hugged and gave hive-fives to families, friends and fans.

The Stars did not beat Seattle in the regular season, both times (a loss, a draw) losing large leads. Turns out the 12-0 (6 goals to 0) was just enough.

New crest for Tacoma Tide FC

While the official Tacoma Tide FC website has yet to incorporate their new crest, we can show it here now because the Tide have updated their MySpace page with the new logo.

The crest was designed by Tangney & Tangney of Gig Harbor, WA. We are pretty sure they are somehow related to Tacoma Tide striker Chase Tangney, also of Gig Harbor.

The look is growing on us, and we look forward to seeing it on the new TFC scarves, kits and (hopefully) shirts and hats for fans in 2008.

I-5 Insanity: Stars face Seattle in playoffs

Originally posted in the GOALSeattle.com forums by "seattlewolvesfc."

2008 PASL Northwest Divisional Playoffs Set
NW Semi-Final: Wolves host Tacoma Saturday March 8th, 7pm, Starfire Sports

This Saturday, March 8th, at 7:00pm, inside the Starfire Sports Complex the Seattle Wolves will face off against their divisional rival, the Tacoma Stars, in a Premier Arena Soccer League NW Semi-Final, the winner getting a bid into the Regional Finals.

The Wolves defeated the Wenatchee Fire this past Saturday to secure the PASL NW League Championship, and the #1 seed going into the Regional Playoffs.

Match Recap

The Wolves jumped out to an 8-0 lead over Wenatchee when Dayo Oyetuga, Matt Hulen, Kevin Sakuda and Zach Scott combined for 4 goals in the opening 7 minutes of Saturday's match. Wenatchee had no answer for the Wolves potent offensive attack, and physical defense.

The Fire brought the score to within 6 points midway through the 2nd period when Juan Barboza scored to make it 10-4 in favor of Seattle. But, that was as close as Wenatchee would come to tying the match.

The Wolves went on to score 7 unanswered goals, and held Wenatchee scoreless throughout the 3rd period. Jimmy Ward had 12 saves in goal for the Wolves, making his tally for the season 72, with a goal-per-game average of only 3.3, and an average of 9 saves per match. Ryan Oxford earned Man-of-the-Match honors by scoring three goals on Saturday, which tied him with Dayo Oyetuga for team lead with 9 each on the season. Oyetuga ended the night with two goals, and Wolves midfielder, Mike Morris, netted two of his own. Captain, Matt Hulen, led the Wolves squad in both assists and total offensive points this season, with 9 assists and 17 points.

The Wolves win over Wenatchee allowed them to regain 1st place, capturing the PASL NW division Regular Season crown and the #1 seed going into the PASL NW Regional Playoffs. Here is how the regular season standings ended:
1.Seattle Wolves FC, 21 pts
2.Snohomish Skyhawks, 19 pts
3.Wenatchee Fire, 17 pts
4.Tacoma Stars, 14 pts
5.PSSA Rapids, 13 pts
6.Central Oregon Steelheaders, 12 pts
7.B2B Bombers, 7 pts
8.Basin United, 0 pts

So, while the Wolves battle Tacoma in what is sure to be one of the best matches of the season on Saturday night, Snohomish will host Wenatchee in the other semi-final. The winner of both matches will meet on Sunday, March 9th at a time TBD for a chance to travel to the International Finals in Fredericksburg, VA March 14-15.

The Wolves went 1-0-1 this season in matches played against Tacoma, defeating them at home with come-back heroics, and battling from 6 points down in the 2nd half to tie the Stars in Tacoma. Tacoma is a traditional powerhouse in PASL Northwest action, and after a very physical match in Tacoma last month, this Semi-Final promises to be extremely exciting. Kick-off is at 7pm Saturday at the Starfire Sports Complex (14800 Starfire Way Tukwila, WA 98188 ). Admission is free. Donations to help support Seattle's Premier Semi-Professional Soccer Club are appreciated.

10 questions with Peter Hattrup

www.MLSinSeattle.com continues their interview series with 10 questions for Peter Hattrup.

"When I came back and played for the Sounders, with a lot of guys I’d known for years and we won, that was obviously one of the highlights. To play in your hometown with your friends as a professional athlete doesn’t happen often. One of the best group of guys to be around was that first year in Tampa, and I didn’t even get to play. When I went and finished in Milwaukee indoors, that was a great team. We won as well, but that team was real close on and off the field and it was a lot of fun."

Read bout Peter's 1995 MVP season with the Sounders in the GOALSeattle museum.

Tide scarf look finalized

Thanks to Jeff at www.RuffneckWear.com for sending us a preview of the finalized Tacoma Tide scarf design. I am looking forward to putting one of those babies around my neck for the home opener May 11th against Cascade of Salem, Oregon.

Tide season ticket holders get a free scarf this season. Check into it. There will be a limited supply of the traditional world football garments.