It was a game that seemed destined to wind up in overtime and eventually a penalty-kick shootout. The Thomas Jefferson Raiders and Inglemoor Vikings were locked in a classic scoreless tie at Federal Way Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A Boys Soccer State Tournament quarterfinals.
But just when the game seemed to be headed to extra time, Raider junior Brandon Madsen banged in the game-winning goal with just 4:31 left in regulation. The left-footed volley gave TJ the 1-0 win and sends the most successful boys soccer program in Washington state history back into the state semifinals for the first time since 2005.
“That is one of the craziest goals I think I’ve ever scored,” said Madsen, who has 18 of them this season. “It was just so exciting for me to put it in. Coach (Dave Hanson) said that we just need to get the ball into the net and I’m glad that I could put it in.”
Jefferson, who have won a state-record seven titles, will take on either Camas or Snohomish at 6 p.m. at Puyallup’s Sparks Stadium Friday evening. The state title match will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“He’s just clutch,” Hanson said about Madsen. “He is just a good solid finisher. I couldn’t be prouder of him. He is just so dang clutch.”
The winning goal really came out of nowhere for the Raiders (15-0-4). Senior midfielder Rodrigo Robles lobbed a perfect pass over the top of the Inglemoor defense and Madsen controlled the ball and struck a perfect left-footed shot past Viking goalkeeper James Takami from just inside the 6-yard line.
The goal ended a back-and-forth match between the champions of the South Puget Sound League and KingCo 4A. Both teams had opportunities to tally the first goal of the game, but Takami and TJ senior goalkeeper McKay Owsley made several key saves.
“We just kept playing and we knew that the goals would come, eventually,” TJ senior midfielder Luis Alvaro Osornio said. “We had our chances, but their goalkeeper played great. It was a good battle.”
Osornio and fellow senior midfielder Isidro Prado-Huerta both controlled a lot of the possession of the ball for the Raiders. The pair, who both play for the Sounders FC Academy, were bounced around by the much bigger Inglemoor defense and were knocked to the ground several times during the match.
“Isidro was sicker than a dog today,” Hanson said. “We actually had a bunch of kids sick today, but they just kept battling. Inglemoor is a good team and I’m just so proud of our kids. The fought hard all day.”
The last time the Raiders advanced into the state semifinals came during their last championship in 2005, when they were led by current Seattle Sounders FC forward Lamar Neagle.
“No words can even describe this feeling,” Osornio said. “The first thing I did when the final whistle blew was thank God.”
Despite the emotional win over Inglemoor, the Raiders aren’t going to Puyallup to play out the season. They are going to Sparks Stadium expecting to bring home the program’s eighth Class 4A state boys soccer championship, according to Osornio.
“We are not going to be satisfied with this. We are always going to keep playing hard and we want to win this.”
