The unconventional secret behind Stadium’s hunt for a state soccer championship
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That’s the adage Dino Costa continually returns to when he thinks about the architecture of this year’s Stadium High School boys soccer team.
Stadium (18-1-1) has lost just one game this season. The Tigers play a creative, loose, joyful, free-flowing brand of soccer — one that has earned the Tacoma program the No. 1 seed in the WIAA Class 4A state high school boys soccer tournament.
Costa, the coach, isn’t moving chess pieces or micromanaging. He isn’t imposing his vision onto the team’s style of play. He’s letting the players call the shots, letting their creativity translate into something special.
“I haven’t forced them into anything that I want to do,” he said after Stadium’s 5-0 win over No. 16 Hanford in the opening round of the 4A state tournament at Stadium Bowl on Tuesday. “Nothing specific like, ‘This is how we have to play, this is the way we’re gonna play.’ They just play. They enjoy it.”
Stadium certainly looked the part of the tournament’s top seed on Tuesday night, controlling the action from start to finish and advancing to the tournament quarterfinals.
Midfielder Jack Luxenberg scored the first two goals of the game in the 20th and 25th minutes, the first off a header and the second on a rebound from his first attempt on a throw-in.
“Feels great,” he said. “We haven’t had a home game here at state since who knows when. It feels great to score goals early. Those goals kind of sum up our season, really scrappy, a lot of hard work put in.”
Speedy forward Fisher Jarzynka scored the first half’s last goal on a banger after beating a few defenders, then got behind the back line and assisted Abraham Luna-Ibarra for the fourth goal, early in the second half. Taylor Albert scored the fifth goal late.
“Everyone contributed,” Luxenberg said. “We got the whole bench in. Everyone got minutes.”
Stadium is a cast of characters. Forward Abe Cooper, who threatened much of the night but didn’t find the scoresheet, is an imposing figure up top and dangerous on set pieces.
“I’m an important player,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to dish it out to everyone.”
Jarzynka is the speedy threat down the sideline, beating defenders off the dribble and getting behind the back line. Luxenberg is the creative box-to-box midfielder who holds everything together, and left back Alex Farrison is the speedy eraser on the back line, drawing the assignment of the opposition’s best attacking player.
It all adds up to this: Stadium, the No. 1 seed, three wins away from winning the program’s first state title since 2010.
“We’re just all so happy,” Jarzynka said. “We all have a lot of passion for the game. We all love the game. We just play for the love of it and play for each other. We’re a big team.”
Winning state is a goal Costa, the coach, isn’t shying away from.
“The target should be, not halfway up the mountain, but all the way to the top,” he said. “So I kind of challenged them a month ago. We’re not here to win the league or districts — we’re here to win the state championship. That’s just been in their head.”
Stadium faces the winner of No. 8 Sumner and No. 9 Lewis and Clark at Stadium Bowl on Friday, May 22.
