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closeVikings soccer squad reigns supreme atop SPSL
Puyallup Vikings dominate Curtis Vikings in battle of top tier squads in SPSL
Shaun Scott
It was the game of the year for the Puyallup Vikings and Curtis Vikings soccer squads. With Puyallup claiming stake to first place in the current standings and Curtis claiming the second place slot, the showdown between these powerhouse programs figured to be a nip and tuck kind of affair.
It didn’t happen quite the way many pundits thought it would.
Puyallup came out of the gates strong and rode that wave of momentum to a 5-0 victory on April 18 at Sparks Stadium. Puyallup currently is in sole possession of first place in the SPSL South with an undefeated 8-0-2 record.
Puyallup struck paydirt in the 22nd minute when Andrew Weishaar followed up Daniel Webster’s shot on goal that was deflected by Curtis’ goalie. Weishaar kicked the ball as hard as he could, watching the shot ricochet off of a Curtis defender into the net for the first goal of the night.
Justin Veltung scored Puyallup’s second goal of the night because of his sheer determination. Veltung scored after following one of his own shots on goal. The ball came right back to Veltung after the goalie swatted his first attempt away. Veltung calmly kicked a dribbler into the open net, giving Puyallup a 2-0 lead 13 minutes before halftime.
The Puyallup Vikings put the game out of reach for good when Webster delivered a perfect cross from the right side of the field that landed squarely on the forehead of Weishaar. The ball caromed off of Weishaar’s head into the goal in the 52nd minute of play.
“I was wide open. I saw it coming and just looked at it,” Weishaar said. “I concentrated as hard as I could and knocked it into the back of the net. Winning this big of a game feels great. From here on out for the rest of the season its downhill. This was our big test.”
Weishaar scored his third goal of the night in the 60th minute and Veltung scored once again in the 75th minute of play. Puyallup goalie Kyle Bilharz nabbed his eighth shutout of the season.
“It feels great to come out with this win. We needed this tonight and we went after it,” Veltung said. “We were aggressive and wanted to score goals. We want to win not only the league this year but win state too. This was the kind of game we need to win.”
Puyallup’s head coach Matt White said his team played its most complete game of the season thus far.
“Our defense shut them down, our forwards were finishing and our midfielders controlled the flow of the game,” White said. “It was a total team effort out there tonight.”
White said his squads practice preparation paid off against Curtis.
“We worked really hard this week in practice,” White said. “Anytime as a coach when you see good passing and ball control in practice it makes you feel confident. The play in practice definitely showed today. We came to play.”