11/19/24

Federal Way Memorial Field will host the B Boys State Semifinals on Friday at 1 PM and 3 PM. The 3rd Place Match will take place on Saturday at 9 AM, while the State Championship Match kicks off at 1 PM. These start times are approximate, as the B Girls State Semifinals, 3rd Place Match, and State Championship Match will also take place at Federal Way Memorial Field Place.

ESN will be streaming all four matches on Friday and Saturday, and you can get to those matches by clicking this link to our broadcast schedule. You will need an NFHS subscription to watch the games, which is only $80 for an annual subscription. That one-time payment gets you a full year of access to every game/match on the NFHS Network, plus games/matches from the last couple of years that are On Demand. You can watch the games on the NFHS Network anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection. There is also a monthly option that is just $12 per month.

The full bracket can be viewed here.

Here is a look at the two semifinal matches, breaking down each team’s season and how they got here.

Semifinal #1 (1 PM Kickoff): #3 Upper Columbia Academy Lions vs #2 Lopez Island Lobos 

The Upper Columbia Academy Lions come into the State Semis with a record of 12-7-0. The Lions have won seven of their last eight matches, including the District 5/6 League Championship Match in a shootout over St. George’s School 5-4. In the State Quarterfinals, Upper Columbia Academy took on the six-seed Friday Harbor in an outstanding match that went to penalty kicks. Upper Columbia Academy won the PK’s 4-3 to take the match 1-0. This is the fourth straight year Upper Columbia Academy has made the State Tournament and is coming off winning the 2023 State Tournament, also as a three-seed. Upper Columbia Academy hasn’t played any of the other three semifinalists this season.

For the first time since 1988, the Lopez Island Lobos made the Boys State Soccer Tournament. The Lobos hadn’t won a State Tournament match until last Friday when, as the two-seed, they took down seven-seed Evergreen Lutheran 2-1. The Lobos were the two-seed in the District 1/2 Tournament, where they won the tournament, winning all three matches by one goal. The Lions won the District Championship Match with a 1-0 victory over Orcas Island, the one-seed in the State Tournament. Lopez Island went 5-7 last year, and this year are 15-2-0 and have more wins in league play (6) than they did all of last season.

Semifinal #2 (3 PM Kickoff): #4 Providence Classical Christian Highlanders vs #1 Orcas Island Vikings

Unlike the first semifinal, this one features familiar opponents, as Providence Classical Christian and Orcas Island have played each other twice already. Both prior matches between Providence Classical Christian and Orcas Island have been played in the last month, as on October 22nd, Providence Classical Christian won 3-2 over Orcas Island. In the District 1/2 Tournament, the two sides met in the semifinal match, where Orcas Island won 2-1 to advance to the District Championship Match. This is also a rematch of the 2021 State Title Match, where Orcas Island won 2-1 in a shootout to win the match and the Championship. The two sides also met here last year in the semis, where Orcas Island, as a 5-seed, won 3-1 over the Highlanders, who made it as an eight-seed

Providence Classical Christian comes into the match with an overall record of 13-4-2. Two of their losses have come to Orcas Island, and another one came to Lopez Island, who is in the other semifinal. The Highlanders took third place last year, defeating the seven-seed Riverside Christian 2-1 in a shootout. In 2021, Providence Classical Christian took second place and also took second in 2011. In 2012, the Highlanders took 4th place, but in 2009 and 2010, they won back-to-back State Championships.

Orcas Island earned the one-seed in this year’s State Tournament, going 18-2 overall, and had a 17-match win streak before their loss to Lopez Island in the District Championship Match. The Vikings have earned back-to-back 2nd place finishes and have played in the last three State Championship Matches, winning the title in 2021. Orcas Island has also finished second in 2018 and fourth in 2017. The Vikings have won six of their last seven matches with multi-goal victories while not allowing more than one goal in every match during that stretch.

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