With two games remaining in the regular season, the Decatur Gators boys soccer team has the inside track at the program’s first South Puget Sound League division championship since 2005.
The Gators currently lead the SPSL South with an 11-2-1 mark. Beamer and Puyallup are tied for second at 9-2-3. Decatur can clinch the division title with a win over Spanaway Lake (2-12-0) tonight.
The Gators moved into first place with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Rogers Rams Thursday and a 3-1 victory over Emerald Ridge Saturday. Both games were played at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.
Decatur and Rogers played a scoreless game until the 76th minute of the match. That’s when the Gators’ Eliott Klavuhn broke free and tallied the lone goal of the match.
Decatur goalkeeper Conner Adkisson made the goal stand, earning the shutout in net for the Gators.
Against Emerald Ridge, Dominique Dismuke finished with two goals and assisted on Decatur’s other score, which was talled by Klavuhn. Dismuke leads the Gators with 13 goals and six assists on the season.
The top-four teams in the SPSL South advance to the postseason, which kick off May 12 at the SPSL Tournament in Puyallup and Federal Way.
• The Gators were able to move into first place because the former top team in the SPSL South, Beamer, was beaten Thursday night by Puyallup and tied Curtis Saturday, 1-1.
The Titans (9-2-3) fell to Puyallup at Federal Way Memorial Stadium, 2-0.
Puyallup forward Andrew Weishaar broke a scoreless tie early in the second half with his 25th goal of the season. Trevor Whitt tallied the second goal of the game in the 54th minute.
• The Thomas Jefferson Raiders remained in first place in the SPSL North Division with a 6-1 win over Kent-Meridian Thursday and a 4-2 victory over Federal Way Saturday. The Raiders end their regular season on Friday against Kentridge and can clinch at least a share of the North title with a win.
The Raiders (10-4-1) got a hat trick from Austin Egerton and single goals from Chase Hanson, Isidro Prado-Huerta and Zeke Nistrian against Kent-Meridian.
Against Federal Way, the Raiders got three first-half goals, including two from Casey Kim and one from Prado-Huerta. Austin Egerton added another TJ goal early in the second half to give the Raiders a 4-0 lead.
Federal Way’s Kelyn Rowe tallied two second-half goals for the Eagles, who are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot from the North Division.
Federal Way (6-5-3) got a 5-1 win over Kentridge Thursday, thanks to a hat trick from the UCLA-bound Rowe.
Kentridge actually held a 1-0 lead at halftime, before Federal Way scored all five of their goals in the final 40 minutes. The Eagles also got a pair of goals from Brad Lewis.
