In retrospect, the Federal Way Reign ’94 Purple team’s quest for the 2010 Washington State championship began after the 2009 Washington State Soccer Finals. By any measure, Bryan Yorke’s 2009 team had an outstanding season. In the summer they had won the US Club regional qualifier in Boise, Idaho, earning a trip to Virginia Beach, VA where they captured the US Club National title. During the 2009 spring PDL Division l season the Reign had been very competitive and entered the 2009 State tournament as a strong contender. The purple girls made it to the State finals for the first time as a team, but finished the season just one step short of their ultimate goal when they lost 1-0 in a closely contested final. Have you ever been so close to grasping a prize that you can almost taste it, that anticipation and adrenaline rush, just to have it pulled away unexpectedly at the last second? That was the feeling for the ’94 Reign Purple after the 2009 State Cup 2009 final. Their quest had begun.
At the tryouts for the 2009-2010 team the coaches, Bryan Yorke and Pete Shimer, announced they were keeping the team intact and would only add to their strong base. The Reign was very fortunate to add two veteran players who shared the ’94 Reign’s dedication and passion to be the best team in the State.
The Reign girls had another strong summer tournament season and made it to the finals in all but one of the tournaments they entered in Oregon, California and Colorado. While they did not win every tournament, the coaches instilled an expectation of focus and a commitment to success every time they stepped on the field. During the 2009 fall high school season, when the PDL season was on sabbatical and most of their competition’s attention was focused elsewhere, the coaches offered the girls a chance to train informally 1-2 times a week. Those sessions were well attended and helped to keep the girl’s skills honed for the challenge ahead. That dedication paid off with a successful spring PDL season. The Reign won the highly competitive PDL Division I title for the first time with a record of 6 wins, 2 ties and only 1 loss. They also led Division I with 18 goals scored. They entered the 2010 State Tournament as the team to beat.
When the 2010 Washington State Cup draw was announced the Reign immediately knew they faced a challenge. With Crossfire in the same bracket and a schedule that required them to travel to Spokane for their first pool match it would not be an easy road to the finals. As expected, that first away match against a motivated River City team was difficult. The Reign left town disappointed with a 0-0 tie and an uphill battle to get out of pool play. The next pool game was at home against their long time rivals, Crossfire ’94. These two teams had tied each other 0-0 in every match over the last 2 years. Not surprisingly but surely not easily, the game again ended in another 0-0 tie. This left the Reign needing a win against Dosveedanya the following week, coupled with a Crossfire win over River City. Crossfire helped the Reign out with a win and the Reign finally broke out of their scoring malaise with a 4-0 win of their own over Dos. The team was back on track.
The Reign moved out of pool play as the #2 seed which led them to travel north to play the Northwest Nationals Red Team. The Reign and the Nationals had a history of close games but the Reign was fortunate to win or tie all of those games over a several year span. The Reign scored early in the first half and hung on through a steady onslaught of a frustrated and determined Nationals team coupled with Northwest spring weather of rain, wind and hail to prevail 1-0. That close win earned the Purple squad the opportunity to return even farther north the next day to take on a strong Snohomish United Black squad. In contrast to the inclement weather the day before, this game was contested in 70 degree weather. The Reign had not played the Snohomish United Black in recent memory but knew they were a top PDL Division ll team. Within the first 5 minutes the Reign girls found out how strong, as Snohomish barely missed scoring 2 quick goals. After that scare the Reign settled into their game and launched 26 shots, none of which found the back of the net, unfortunately. After 80 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime played in unseasonably warm weather, the Reign won the game in penalty kicks. In the process the Reign goalie did not allow a single Snohomish player to convert a penalty kick!
The quest was still alive for this highly motivated team. The Reign had earned the right to compete in the State semi finals at Starfire Sports Complex against Greater Renton Football Club, the only team that had beaten them in the PDL spring season.
Previously, in the spring PDL game, GRFC had outplayed the Reign in all phases of the game. The Reign girls knew they would have to bring a much higher level of play in this match to achieve their season long goal of participating in a second consecutive State Final. The game was tough and competitive throughout with both teams having their chances to convert goals. The game remained tied at nil until the Reign converted a beautiful header goal with 7 minutes left making the score 1-0. Those remaining 7 minutes seemed like an eternity as GRFC battled to the final minute but was unable to find the equalizer!
As destiny would have it, the Reign would meet Crossfire once again in this tournament, this time with the State title on the line. As with all Reign and Crossfire contests this one was very close. In the first half Crossfire found the back of the Reign’s net for the first time in over 2 years. The game remained close with each team having more chances for goals without success. Late in the first half, a purple clad Reign player rose above the crowd and scored the equalizer on a beautifully executed corner kick. The game went into overtime tied at 1-1 after a second half full of hard intense play. After two 15 minute overtime periods the girls were forced into penalty kicks to decide the outcome. As the last Crossfire player sailed her kick wide of the goal the girls realized their year long quest had been realized. This cohesive team and their dedicated coaches had persevered through training in the dark winter months, traveling to Beaverton, Denver and San Diego, battling through multiple injuries, and illnesses, and navigated a very tough PDL season and the State tournament, to achieve their team goal – 2010 Washington State Champions!
Stay tuned the journey continues at the Regionals in Albuquerque in late June…