The Vashon High School boys’ soccer team played two games last week and is one game away from claiming the Nisqually League championship.

The Pirates started off against the Cascade Christian Cougars, vaporizing them 10-0. The goals were scored by Tommy Delargy with 3, Alden Hinden-Stevenson with 2 and Finley Oswald, Isaac Ajeto, Jakob Heuschert, Julian White-Davis and JJ Bogaard each having 1.

On Friday, the Pirates faced off against league rival Charles Wright Academy on senior night. The winner of the game was to be determined as the league champion of the 2018 season. Vashon winning a Nisqually League Championship in soccer would make history.

The game started off intensely with both teams playing great soccer. The first goal of the game was scored by Charles Wright Academy and Vashon native Stuart Krabbel. After the goal, Vashon stepped up its level of play and was rewarded with a goal that came in the 20th minute. Hinden-Stevenson took a well-executed corner kick that was finished off by Oswald in a powerful header into the top right corner of the goal. A couple of minutes later, Delargy snaked through the defenders down the left wing, cutting inside and finishing the ball into the bottom left corner with no angle whatsoever. The crowd went wild and it was just the beginning of one of the greatest soccer games ever played on Vashon.

Toward the end of the half, Delargy scored once again after an impressive set of skills, dominating the ball in the air off his knee and volleying it right into the bottom left corner. The score was 3-1, and Vashon was already savoring the championship that could be theirs to keep.

During halftime there were 14 seniors who were honored on the field. There were eight players who played soccer throughout all four years, including Sam Briggs, Kieran Enzian, Hinden-Stevenson, Avi Roter, Ryan Weller, White-Davis and Christian White. Two of the players were three-year players, Calder Stenn (who missed one season due to injury) and Reynaldo Rivas-Gutierrez (the current team manager). Isaac Chamblee was honored as a two-year player, and Tristin Mentink and Javid Nguyen joined the party their senior year. Krabbel, a player for Charles Wright, was also honored due to the amount of years he has played for Vashon Island club teams.

After the seniors were honored, it was back to soccer. The game was going back and forth throughout the second half, but it was Charles Wright that scored first after its captain Billy Chissoe sneaked the ball past goalkeeper Richard Rivas-Gutierrez. The game was now 3-2, and it was becoming a more intense event. Toward the dying minutes of the match, there was a scramble in the Vashon penalty box, which fell into the feet of Charles Wright winger Jon Mayer; he smashed the ball into the net. The game was now 3-3, and the game was sent to overtime.

Overtime is set up for two five-minute halves, and the winner is based off a “golden goal rule,” which is essentially a sudden death situation. If no goals are scored, then the match is sent to a penalty kick shoot out. Neither team was able to cause damage until the last play of overtime. Delargy passed the ball to Oswald and as there was a scramble in the box among Delargy, Oswald, and the goalkeeper, Oswald tapped the ball across the goal and it fell upon the feet of freshman Jakob Heuschert. All he did was tap it into the back of the net. The crowd and players erupted as history had been made.

Vashon players are on their way to having the league championship in their hands. The Pirates have to finish Bellevue Christian with a win on Monday at Marymoor Park to seal the deal. Vashon beat Bellevue Christian earlier this season, 6-0.

Once Vashon is crowned league champions, they will enter the district tournament in the semi-finals as the Nisqually #1 seed and will face off against a playoff game between Nisqually #3 seed and Olympic #2 seed. Those teams are currently Bellevue Christian and Coupeville. The Vashon Pirates’ semi-final match will be played on May 8 at Mt. Tahoma High School at 6 p.m. The road to State starts here, and Vashon won’t give up without a fight.

The Junior Varsity also had their game on Friday against Charles Wright. They started off losing 1-0, but then freshman Ethan Mcintyre tied the game off. Toward the end of the game, freshman Hunter Denall sealed the 2-1 victory from the penalty spot.

— Reynaldo Rivas is the varsity team manager