The Highline Men’s Soccer team took home the long awaited championship title at this year’s Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) Championship. With a final record of 18-0-3, the team had an exceptional 2025 season. 

A title has been long anticipated and well earned for the men’s team. Winning a championship was no small feat after ending the 2024 season just shy of glory – placing second in the 2024 NWAC Championship, after losing a heartbreaking final game by one penalty kick, a disappointing end to the season, despite their 13-1-1 record. 

No doubt the season’s previous close call made this year’s victory that much sweeter. NWAC West Region Co-Player of the Year and the West Region Offensive Player of the Year Idin Fakhri closed the game with the winning penalty kick. Fakhri also made a goal in the previous day’s game. Up until this point in the championship match, neither team had crossed the threshold of scoring a point. 

Fakhri relives the overtime moment, saying, “Although the penalty had the season on the line, a combination of my teammates immediately telling me to take the ball and opposition players/fans trying to put me off both gave me the confidence I needed to keep my composure.”

This confidence was not tested, Fakhri continues, “Their captain [was] getting in my way telling me to move, their goalie pretending to hand me the ball before dropping it, and plenty of trash talk made me realize that this is a situation you hope for and play in your head alone at the park. I thought to myself, ‘Why should I be nervous? I should be excited if anything.’”

When the moment of contest came, Fakhri rose to the challenge, “I felt a rush of excitement and adrenaline to a point I have never experienced before. Even though we didn’t expect any other outcome, it was surreal as we won it in dramatic fashion to create an unforgettable moment.”

Prior to this clinching ender, defense anchored the team’s success. Kyle Goodrow, as goalie, recorded four saves to keep Highline tied with Columbia Basin at 0-0, even with the Hawks outshooting the Thunderbirds 13-6 for the match.

Sophomore Mykah Harris, described the defense, “We had a very strong defensive performance which gave confidence throughout the whole game…we worked very hard this year to better ourselves and the program.”

This nail-biter of a championship match lasted over 100 minutes, and was nobody’s game until this overtime shot. Highline’s head coach Skyler Roehr, celebrated this win as it marked his first championship with the college. Roehr shared, “It was an extremely competitive and transitional game, but I knew that the work we put in all season would inevitably prevail.”

Highline’s soccer team boasts this as their fifth championship all time, last earning the title in 2021. With the win the team’s determination and focus has not been deterred. 

Roehr is looking forward to the next season, sharing, “I’m feeling great going into next season …Winning is a byproduct of doing the right things in training and on matchdays, the results follow when the work and effort is put in the right places. It will be in the back of our minds, but we will be taking it one game at a time and focusing on the task ahead game by game.”