Todd Beamer upends Pasco, claims first 4A soccer championship

They didn’t make the playoffs last season.

Now they are state champs for the first time in school history.

“It feels amazing. We’ve been waiting for this a long time, for any of our sports teams,” Todd Beamer head coach Joel Lindberg said. “I couldn’t have picked a better team to earn this. Even if we wouldn’t have won this today I would have been talking about this team for years.”

This is a team came back from losing nine seniors last year to beating Pasco, 2-1, Saturday in the 4A soccer championship and finishing with a 19-1-1 record.

JJ Allen got the winning goal on a penalty kick nine minutes into the second half. Allen, who has been a key creative force for the Titans all season, kept his poise when it mattered most, burying the ball past Pasco goalkeeper Jose Moreno Gudino to give Beamer a 2-1 lead.

“I was pretty calm about it, I’ve made PKs in the past,” said Allen who also converted a PK in a shootout in the semifinals against Glacier Peak. “I was like, ‘I can make this.’ I took responsibility and just blasted it.”

It was a rocky start though for the Titans.

Pasco (22-5) came out strong early and capitalized three minutes in on a free kick when Joel Valle found David Uribe, who headed it by sophomore goaltender Brandon Locke.

The Titans looked stunned and for the next 10 minutes, but withstood a barrage of attacks by the Bulldogs.

At the 14:47 mark, Mark Filimonov rescued Beamer. The senior midfielder/forward jumped on a ball that Bulldogs goalkeeper Jose Moreno-Gudino punched out from the top of the box. Filimonov took a touch to settle the ball then launched a shot from more than 30 yards out that tied the match.

“It’s crazy, it means a lot. I remember sophomore and junior year trying out for fun and then making the team somehow,” said Filimonov, a senior defenseman. “I want to thank coach Lindberg. He’s taught me so much.”

It was a tough, gritty game from whistle to whistle. Fouls outnumbered shots on goal, and Beamer collected five yellow cards.

They held on through a flurry of free kicks by Pasco in the waning minutes.

“They’ve got heart,” Lindberg said of his team. “There’s never been a game where they didn’t fight. They’re not doing it for themselves. They’re out here together, they’re enjoying it. They’ve worked hard every day in practice. They’d run through a brick wall for me. They’ve trusted me.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Todd Beamer upends Pasco, claims first 4A soccer championship."