Hazen falls in state soccer championship on last second goal

Nobody is ever ready for their season to end, but win or lose, the Hazen Highlanders boys soccer team knew that no matter what, their season would come to a close after the WIAA State Championship against the Woodinville Falcons on May 31.

The Highlanders fell in dramatic fashion, and as time was winding down in regulation,the Falcons stabbed the Highlanders in the heart to win 2-1.

Manager Ryan Johnson and the players were awestruck, their state title hopes vanquished right in front of their eyes.

“They are just a great team to coach, I’m proud of how hard they fought. This sucks. There is nothing I can say to make them feel better. I think later we will look back and know we gave it everything we got,” Johnson said.

It came from a ball kicked toward Hazen goalkeeper Owen Pruitt from Jake Jones. The ball hit Pruitt in the chest, and he appeared to have a hold on it. But the ball bounced off his chest, into midair, and the entire stadium held its breath. Then as if on cue, every spectator that was on the edge of their seat rose, along with Woodinville’s Cooper Conley. The KingCo Crown MVP hit the ball with his head twice and sent the Woodinville bleachers into pandemonium while the Hazen stands went silent in defeat.

“Owen has been a great goalkeeper all season. He’s human,” Johnson said.

“It was a mistake on our (defenders’) end, but it’s part of the sport. You can’t change anything about it. You might slip and fall and they get a goal. You just build and learn off of that,” senior Gio Rodriguez said.

The Highlanders had been down a man after Nicholas Ngo picked up a second yellow card 10 minutes before. But this Hazen side never gave up, and to be so close to a championship, and to see it slip away, cut so deep.

“We had been doubted all year, have had to prove everyone wrong. Despite losing this game, we had an amazing season this year,” Rodriguez said.

Hazen had been overlooked since the playoffs began. They were the No. 7 seed in the KingCo Tournament, the No. 10 team in the District 2 Tournament and were finally given a little respect as the No. 5 seed in the state tournament. It was one of the most special groups Johnson has coached.

“I’m going to miss a lot of these guys,” Johnson said.

Johnson graduated from Hazen back in 2003, and this team rallied the alumni and city of Renton like never before.

“They won more games this year than we did my entire career as a player. As an alum, I am just so proud of the direction this program has gone,” Johnson said.

Hazen had made just one final in the schools 57-year history, and that was back in 2007. Despite losing the championship in 2025, the Highlanders achieved the second-best finish in school history.

These two sides played back in the District 2 championship and the Falcons downed Hazen 5-0. In the second championship game against Woodinville, the Falcons scored first again, this time in the first 10 minutes on a free kick from Cooper Conley, the KingCo Crown MVP.

But Hazen showed a new brand of resiliency and despite the first goal, Hazen slowed the game down and created some quality chances. But the Falcons’ defense held strong and the two sides went to the break with Woodinville holding a 1-0 advantage.

“We wanted revenge at the end of the day. We knew for a lot of us seniors that it was our last game and we wanted to put 200% into this game,” Rodriguez said.

The turn came in the second half when a cross from Stephen Cruz, who had been dangerous and full of confidence all game sent a cross in the direction of the danger man, Vitaly Polyukh. Cruz as just a sophomore showed he can compete against the best defenders in the state.

“He’s an outstanding player, he’s gonna be good for us for a while. He’s going to continue to develop, that will be fun to watch,” Johnson said.

Polyukh headed the ball on goal and it dropped in the back of the net to level the game.

“Our confidence was through the roof, we felt like the game was in our hands at that point,” Rodriguez said.

With the game level, the Highlanders felt a whole heap of momentum and Sparks was buzzing just as it had the night before.

SEMIFINAL

Hazen needed a spectacular effort to down Wenatchee in the semifinals on May 30, an overtime goal from Nicholas Ngo.

Kai Hirano sent a corner kick into the box in the first overtime half, and Ngo lunged his head forward to redirect the ball into the net and won the game.

It is his first goal for Hazen in his entire career.

“It is my first goal. I have been trying to score all season. I didn’t know where to run. I was just ready to celebrate with all the fans,” Ngo said.

In that semifinal game, Hazen was the team that scored the game’s first goal. Link up play from Landon Colasurdo and Stephen Cruz put Nathen Song in a dangerous area. Song then sent a cross on the ground and Polyukh did the rest.

Wenatchee tied the game on a beautiful set piece goal that curved its way around the three person wall in the 65th minute.

The emotions after the semifinal win were pure joy from Hazen, a team that played with a chip on their shoulder had finally gained the respect they were after. The connection that the group had was special for the Hazen seniors.

“I’m going to miss this group a ton. I can’t believe it was my last game, but I wouldn’t want to have it with anyone else,” Rodriguez said.