PUYALLUP, WA—Port Orchard Football Club beat Seattle Celtic 5-1 on Friday night July 25 at WPFC Soccer Complex in Puyallup to punch their ticket to the 2025 Cascadia Premier League First Division title match.
POFC will play Nido Aguila Club America Seattle (“Nido Seattle”) on Sunday July 27 at 8:15 PM at the same venue and field. Nido edged Sharktopus FC 2-1 in the other semifinal.
Head Coach Patrick Leonard said of the POFC win, “This was a historic result for the club but more importantly, it’s an opportunity for us to go achieve what we have aimed towards since day one of this club. This is an opportunity we are ready for and excited by the challenge of what is ahead in the championship.”
Derek Johnson scored two goals and notched two assists while Michael Divano scored twice for Port Orchard. Jake MacKenzie began the scoring for POFC with a chip of the goalkeeper 8 minutes into the match. Both sets of bleachers were pretty much filled with Port Orchard supporters.
After MacKenzie’s opener the match became a battle of possession. Seattle Celtic, called in at the last moment to play in the semis after Crossfire Premier dropped out, had their moments and stretches of play against unbeaten POFC. Austin Valdez kept the score at 1-0 with a diving save in the 37th minute. Port Orchard got a big goal from Divano just before halftime to lead it 2-0.
Match Photos: Jesse MacKenzie / Drone Shots By Alex / Diego Mejia
Valdez saw the ball get past him early in the second half as Emmett Conway headed one in for Celtic to make it 2-1. It stayed that way for around 20 minutes before Johnson and Divano took over the match.
Derek Johnson and Michael Divano teamed up to help POFC pull away from Celtic. Jesse MacKenzie photos.
The Derek and Michael Show
Derek made it 3-1 with a rolling shot from the top of the penalty box. Less than two minutes later he made it 4-1 with a direct drive and shot from the left side of goal. The scoring was complete when Johnson made a similar move but this time passed quickly along the goal line to Divano who kicked it home from close range, 5-1.
The match was covered by Jeff Graham of the Kitsap Sun. See the coverage in the gallery below.
Three Straight Finals Apearances
POFC clinched their third straight finals appearance. The club won the CPL2 final 4-2 over Nido Seattle 2 in 2023. In 2024 Port Orchard lost the CPL1 final 1-0 to Sharktopus FC.
This season Port Orchard battled Nido Seattle twice and swept a close series by scores of 2-0 and 4-3. The two clubs have played each other six times in three season. The overall win-loss-tie battle is even at 3 wins each. (Note that in 2024 Nido played as the “Tacoma Stars Reserves.”)
Watch a complete replay of the match from DaveSPN in the video below.
