The Olympia boys soccer team couldn’t rally back from an early hole and lost to Newport 3-1 in the opening round of the 4A state tournament Wednesday in Bellevue.
Newport, which outshot Olympia 20-5, blitzed the Bears with three goals in the first half. The Bears came out of halftime firing, as senior Zach Bowman found the back of the net in the 42nd minute, and they kept the Knights out of the net in the final 40 minutes.
“Newport was probably the toughest team we faced all season,” Olympia head coach Ty Johnson said. “Very offense-driven and creative. From the opening whistle, we were under constant pressure and duress. We battled back to win the second half, and I am so proud of the boys for fighting until the final whistle.”
Olympia finishes the season with a 13-4-4 record and a 7-2-2 mark in the South Puget Sound League. A whopping 10 seniors will be moving on from the program — Declan Borden, Graham Koontz, Caleb Laxson, Stefan Lucenko, Noel Fernandez, Casey Smith, Joseph Raso, Jake Murphy, Nathan Christy and Zach Bowman.
“At the end of the year, only one team finishes with the win they want. The staff could not be prouder,” Johnson said. “A state championship was never our goal. Our mission was to make these players enjoy the game and come out of the program better people. We accomplished our goal. My seniors will be missed.”
