Football players help Tacoma Baptist fútbol team into 2B state semifinals

As the starting quarterback at Tacoma Baptist, sophomore Parker Talen’s first love is football.

But that season ended weeks ago.

Talen is also the starting goalkeeper for the boys’ soccer team.

That season is still going on.

Yes, it is odd – playing two sports at the same time. But four boys from the soccer team – Talen, Daw Von Barnau Sythoff, Joey Pascua and Ryan Ratliff – also played football. And one girl – Ashley Brooks – was a member of the volleyball team.

Yet, the Crusaders don’t seem to have a miss a beat in this current run of fantastic play on the soccer field. Last week, they ended defending Class 2B champion Mount Vernon Christian’s 40-match winning streak in the district title match.

And after their 7-0 victory Friday over Evergreen Lutheran at Curtis High School, they are in the state semifinals for the first time since 2008 – the year of their second of back-to-back 2B titles.

Tacoma Baptist (14-3) will play the winner of Providence Classical Christian-Crosspoint Academy next Friday in the 2B semifinals at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.

“We are excited about the momentum we have going into the semifinals,” first-year Crusaders coach Jenna Jones said.

This Tacoma Baptist team can really score goals in a hurry. Riley Byrne and Seth Talen each notched hat tricks Friday night – with Byrne’s coming in the first 35 minutes.

His 25-yard blast in the 35th minute gave the Crusaders a 4-0 lead. He now has a team-leading 21 goals this season.

A big win such as this one does take a little sting out of finishing 2-7 in football, Parker Talen said.

During football season, Talen said he’d mostly stay for the entire practice. But on occasion, as soccer practice was going on nearby, he would shed his helmet and pads, and finish his day in goal.

“Coach (Tim Rasmussen) would stand in for me at football practice,” Talen said.

“Yeah, winning in soccer helps, definitely. Football is my first sport. I like it more. But soccer is fun.”

Evergreen Lutheran (7-11) had lost 6-0 and 6-1 to the Crusaders during the regular season.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Football players help Tacoma Baptist fútbol team into 2B state semifinals."