Dragons fall to Pumas, take second in state

TACOMA – The St. George’s boys soccer team ended its season Saturday afternoon with a 6-0 loss to University Prep of Seattle in the State 1A/B championship match at Curtis High School.

University Prep (17-1-1) scored four goals in the first half – including three in less than 3 minutes – to end a remarkable late-season effort by the Dragons, who started out 1-4-1 but finished 12-7-1 and earned second place in the state.

“We had a really good run,” Dragons head coach Toraj Farzana said. “The opportunities weren’t there. They (University Prep) jumped out on us and we couldn’t get anything going.”

The Pumas got on the board in the 17th minute when senior midfielder Bart Banger scored from 15 yards out, immediately grabbing the momentum.

When it seemed as if the Dragons defense had settled in, trailing just 1-0, the Pumas turned up the heat and peppered the net with three more first-half goals to take a 4-0 lead into halftime.

University Prep seemed to have an extra spring in their step and controlled the ball from the first whistle through the final seconds.

“They played well. They played like how we did (Friday) night,” Farzana said, referring to the Dragons’ 3-0 victory over Mt. Vernon Christian in the semifinals.

University Prep’s junior forward Afi Catellani-Clark had a goal and two assists to lead the Pumas’ relentless offense attack.

That dominating offense led to solid defense that kept the action away from the Dragons’ offensive end of the field, limiting St. George’s opportunities to score.

The Dragons did not attempt a shot on goal until the 70th minute when the score was 5-0.

The score was not indicative of the effort of the Dragons and Farzana noted as much as they fought through the frustrations of a four-goal deficit at halftime.

“I’ve got a lot of guys that don’t give up too often,” Farzana said. “I’ve got a great group of guys that overcame a lot of adversity. Only hard work brought us to this game. Nothing else.”