The men’s soccer team kicks Tacoma 1-0 to remain best in the west.  

Last week, Highline had a bye on Wednesday and then traveled to Tacoma on Friday for a conference showdown.

The first period was back and forth with three shots from Tacoma and four from Highline.

“The match started off smoothly up until the 20th minute, that’s when players started going harder, trying to win tackles and keep possession,” said Midfielder Fabian Ornelas

In the second period, Highline made offensive strides with a goal, followed by two yellow cards.

Highline’s Zane May scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute assisted by Fabian Ornelas and Josh Job.

The Thunderbirds and Titans both had 10 total shots on goal for the match.

“Our offense did really good although the score doesn’t say it, but if you watched the game you’d see a difference,” said Ornelas.

The team was able to ping the ball around well and control the game because of our talented midfield players, said Ornelas.

Highline and Tacoma have a history of being the top teams in contention for the NWAC west title. Last year Tacoma clinched the West Division title and Highline went on to win the championship.

“Those are the games that really test you to see if you can play at this level. Overall, it was a pretty rough game,” said Ornelas.

The win keeps Highline at No. 1 in the NWAC west with a 6-4-1 record and four points over No. 2 Tacoma.

“It feels good knowing that we’re closer to our goal in coming first for our division. (Head Coach) Steve has been really big on this so it feels like we’re just a couple steps away from completing this goal,” said Ornelas.

Wednesday,, the men’s soccer team played against Skagit Valley at the Starfire Field with results unavailable at press time.

On Saturday, Highline hits the road to play Pierce at the Heritage Recreation Center in Puyallup. The match begins at 2:15 p.m.