UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA—Port Orchard Football Club fell 5-4 to the Tacoma Stars Reserves at Curtis High School on June 22 in a Rainier Division Cascadia Premier League match. POFC had rallied from two goals down before letting two late ones in.
Watch a full match replay from Dave Radovich and Caleb Tucker below.
Tacoma converted an early penalty kick after a spot foul was awarded on a breakaway. The home side made it 2-0 midway through the first half before POFC could find any answers.
Three Goals In Seven Minutes For POFC
The comeback for Port Orchard was frantic and fast. Jaggar Judkins scored in the 34th minute on an assist from Derek Johnson. Five minutes later it was 2-2 when Jordan Hadden’s long boot from goal was headed by Peter Radovich and found Michael Divano who pushed forward for the finish. Two minutes after that Judkins crossed the Tacoma goalmouth and found Radovich for the tap-in and suddenly the vistors were up, 3-2. Three goals over a 7 minute span.
More Second Half Defensive Issues
POFC could not make the lead stick. In the second half Tacoma were awarded and converted a second penalty kick to make it 3-3. Battling back, POFC went up 4-3 when Judkins found a streaking Louden up the middle. His run was calmly converted and at 77 minutes POFC led the match once again.
The defensive issues that plagued Port Orchard in a 5-4 loss earlier in the year to Sporting International reared up again. Tacoma scored in the 80th and 81st minutes against a scattered back line leaving goalkeeper Jordan Hadden with very little help.
It was a quiet sideline for Port Orchard after the final whistle saw the team drop to 2-3 in league play despite having leads in all five of those matches. Head Coach Pat Leonard took the boys to bleachers beyond one of the goals and began sorting out the day’s unraveling moments.
Playoff Longshots
Port Orchard are now longshots to make the 2024 Cascadia Premier League First Division playoffs. The top two teams qualify. POFC sit fourth in the table and realistically must win all of the club’s three remaining league matches and hope for a Sporting International collapse. Port Orchard does have a match in hand against second place Eastside FC and also a match yet to play against them on Wednesday July 10 in Preston.
