LACEY — High tensions boiled over during Tuesday’s match between a team vying for its first league title in over a decade and a team no longer able to defend its league title from last spring but motivated to play spoiler.
The Capital Cougars and Timberline Blazers chirped at one another for the majority of the 80-plus minutes of their bout at Timberline High School. As the final whistle blew, signaling a 2-1 Timberline upset victory over the top team in the Puget Sound League, expletives were chucked onto the turf from both sides, including jaw jacking from both coaching staffs.
It was an ugly ending to a competitive contest that was not without a fair share of controversy, chaos and a handful of yellow cards.
But, it was the Timberline Blazers who rose above and did what they had struggled to do in PSL play this season — finish. In all three of their league losses, the Blazers have conceded goals in the last two minutes.
“That was a very crucial game. This is how Timberline plays. That was Timberline soccer right there,” Timberline head coach Mark Towers said. “To be able to finish off a game like that was huge for this program, and it was a great way to send the seniors off in their last home game.”
Before the match, Timberline celebrated its seven seniors during senior night festivities. Two minutes into the match, Capital’s Asher Fricke earned a free kick near the goal, but Timberline keeper Parker Spengler swallowed it up.
The first instance of chaos came in the 14th minute. After a foul by Timberline, Capital’s Tanner Fricke took a direct free kick immediately and drilled it into the back of the net well before Timberline could set its defense. The referees wiped it off to keep the game scoreless.
Timberline, which didn’t have many great looks offensively in the first half, capped off the opening 40 minutes with a steal by Arilson Lima Filho and a pass to senior Mike Navarrete, who slid and kicked the ball into the back of the net. Navarrete celebrated by leaping and kicking the corner flag as the Blazers walked into the locker room up 1-0.
Capital dominated possession to start the second half, as Tanner Fricke and Quinton Fisher each had open looks. The best shot came from Fisher in the 49th minute, but his kick clanked off the left side of the goalpost.
In the 66th minute, Timberline senior Malik Alawi earned a penalty kick, much to the disagreement of Capital goalkeeper Finnegan Landon, who received a yellow card for arguing at the referees. After all the noise simmered down, Alawi calmly tucked the penalty kick into the left corner of the net past the diving Landon to give the Blazers a 2-0 advantage.
“I’m here all the time. I practice that penalty all the time, so I have 100% confidence in myself,” Alawi said. “I knew right as I got that penalty that I was gonna score it. It was all about putting it in that corner and doing what I know I can do.”
Capital had a chance to cut into the margin in the 69th minute as Landin Vargas found a streaking Jaden Annan down the pitch, but Spengler came up to snag the ball before Annan could get a shot off. Two minutes later, Annan tried to curl the ball into the net from behind the goal, yet Spengler saved it again.
In stoppage time, Capital’s Zade Watson netted a goal that confused just about everyone as Timberline’s defenders were stopped when the ball was put in play.
But it was the only goal Capital could score, and Towers picked up his signature win in his first season as the head man of the Blazers, who handed the Cougars their first league loss and first defeat overall since March 19. The last time the two teams played one another, Capital squeaked out a 1-0 victory on March 28 after a goal late in the second half.
“It’s about putting it in their minds that they have the ability to play with these top teams. Capital is a very tough team. Capital is a very talented team,” Towers said.
On the right sleeve of their jerseys, the Blazers have the phrase “Count on Me.” It’s a mantra that has been implemented under Towers’ leadership, and he believes that mindset was ever present in the biggest game of the season.
“‘Count on Me’ has to do with integrity, sportsmanship and a competitive mindset. I tell the boys, ‘Can I count on you? Can your teammates count on you?’” Towers said. “Throughout this game, I felt like they were able to raise to that level. Their teammates could count on them.”
On the other sideline, Capital head coach Jeremy Richtmyre felt his team “sunk to the level of our opponent” regarding the chatter on the pitch during the game and the extracurriculars shortly after. The stakes were high in the match, as a win or a draw would have clinched a Puget Sound League Nisqually title for Capital.
“It was coming from our side and from their side. We just need to be better. We need to rise above that because we’re gonna have opponents in the postseason that are going to do the exact same thing, and we need to be able to keep our heads,” he said. “I felt like we lost our heads in the last 25 to 30 minutes of that game.”
Timberline (7-6-2, 5-3-1 Puget Sound League) will finish the regular season at River Ridge (0-14-1, 0-9-0 PSL) Thursday night, while Capital (12-2-2, 7-1-1 PSL) wraps up the regular season at Peninsula (5-8-0, 4-5-0 PSL) that same evening on senior night.
