Kitsap Pumas led Tacoma Tide FC 4-1 deep into their match today at Curtis High School in Tacoma. The pro-Kitsap crowd was busy getting ready to celebrate the away win when Tide head player-coach Greg Howes decided to put their party on hold. Howes scored two stoppage time goals to bring Tacoma back to within 4-3, but that was all the Tide could muster before time ran out and the Pumas were awarded the inaugural Narrows Bridge Bell trophy for taking the season series between the two cross-bridge rivals.
See over 80 Narrows Bridge Bell photos from Jenni Conner here!
Kyle Johnson and Tony Kerr (2) had given Kitsap a 3-0 lead in the first half. Rory Agu snuck past the Pumas defense down the left side and brought TFC to within two at half time, 3-1. Kitsap's final goal, and the eventual match-winner came off the boot of Alex Megson in the 49th minute.
“They (the Tide) started talking trash and we got mixed up in it and we can't afford to do that,” said Pumas goalkeeper Dustyn Brim of the first late allowed goal. “On the free kick I was trying to talk to our boys to get them set up on the wall and they were too busy (arguing with the Tide) to even listen to me.
“We should have sealed the game up,” Brim continued. “It should have been 4-nil.”
The Pumas were awarded The Bell on the pitch directly after the match and they lifted it high to the several hundred Pumas fans who had traveled in support of the club.
Tacoma Tide FC finishes the 2009 PDL season with a record of 5 wins, four draws and seven losses (19 points). Kitsap, Northwest Division Champions, are now off to the playoffs where they will host the winner of Seattle-Portland in Bremerton with date and time to be announced soon. The Pumas finished the regular season with 12 wins, 3 draws and only 1 loss (39 points).
Kitsap's soccer club made the front page of today's Kitsap Sun in a feature on a bunch of Pumas sharing a house: A Peek at Casa de Puma
Tacoma's Greg Howes (yellow) is guarded by Kitsap's Matt Friesen.
Summary:
KIT: Johnson (Kerr) 16
KIT: Kerr (Conrad) 38
KIT: Kerr 40
TAC: Agu (Blanks) 45
KIT: Megson 49
TAC: Howes 90
TAC: Howes 90
Cautions
KIT: Dias 80, Brim 90
TAC: Besagno 75, West 80
Referees: Mike Rottersman, Tony Vertongen, Kevin O'Neil, Christine Suter
Kitsap's Tony Kerr celebrates his second first-half goal that put the Pumas up 3-0.
The announced crowd of 425 in Tacoma was predominantly Pumas fans.
Kitsap Sun: Pumas Win Game, Narrows Bridge Bell Trophy As Playoffs Approach
Comments
I've got sunburn, but we've got The Bell! :)
ALLEZ PUMAS!
what happen to the coach
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