At the end of the night, there will be a new first-time EPLWA Champion. Yakima United, finalists a year ago, have been chasing the title since the league’s founding in 2014. Everett Jets, meanwhile, are in the final for the first time after reaching the semifinals for three consecutive years.
Both sides seemingly with a chip on their shoulders – Yakima from falling short in the final to a longtime rival and Everett regularly finishing second to Bellingham – came out of the gates this season with some impressive results. Yakima rattled off a couple big wins, notably downing Spokane in a championship rematch 2-0 in their second match of the campaign. Everett also took care of business against their foe, blanking Bellingham 2-0 in their second match as well.
Then the two met on June 8 at the site of Saturday’s final. The match nearly reached halftime scoreless, but a goal from Muhammed Darboe broke things open three minutes from the intermission. And the Jets kept things going in the second half with Darboe finding Adan Fernandez six minutes in. Fernandez then turned provider on a goal from Fernando Tavares for a commanding 3-0 lead in the 61st. Yakima would finally get on the board when Missael Lopez set up Gonzalo Frausto in the 76th, but any momentum it created was evaporated two minutes later with another Tavares-from-Fernandez tally as the hosts posted the 4-1 win in their lone meeting, a cross-conference match.
Just as the rematch against Spokane had been for Yakima, the result must have been as satisfying for Everett as it was a rematch of a 5-1 thrashing the Jets took in the semifinals the year prior in Yakima.
Both sides would go on to finish 8-0-2 overall for the 2024 season with Yakima sweeping the South 6-0-0 for the Conference title and Everett taking the North crown with a 5-0-1 record that included a sweep of Bellingham.
In the semifinals last week Yakima again avoided further heartache at the hands of the Shadow with a nail-biting 3-1 victory and Everett rolled to a 4-1 win against league newcomers Washington East Surf.
Gilbert Bautista scored the opener for Yakima 10 minutes in but went to the break level with Spokane having pulled even four minutes later. Negrete, though, scored in the 50th and the hosts held off Spokane the rest of the way before locking it up with a Gonzalo Frausto strike in stoppage time locking it up. The Jets, meanwhile, were firmly in control of their match with a two-goal lead after 20 minutes and were up 3-1 at the break as both sides scored within minutes of the intermission. Darboe, who scored the opener, set up Fernandez to lock things up in the second half. Issak Abraham tallied the other two.
The Jets come into the EPLWA Final with the league’s leading scorer Muhammed Darboe boasting an impressive 32 points on 11 goals and 10 assists. He and Spokane’s Andres Tapia (10 goals) were the lone players to reach double digits in goals with the rest of the pack back at seven, including the Yakima duo of Mario Negrete and Frausto. David Ochoa was close behind as well with six. The number two and three scorers for Everett were Fernandez and Issak Abraham, who each had three tallies.
“The season has been a real joy to compete and be part of,” said Yakima head coach Sergio Licona. “Looking forward to the final – Everett is a good team and our matchup should make for a very exciting and electrifying game worthy of a championship game.
“I know we started a bit later than usual in the past, but we seem to finally be clicking as a team,” he added, referencing Yakima’s light schedule in May that allowed for their dual participation in the Washington Adult Soccer Super Cup. Yakima will be defending their title in that event immediately following the EPLWA Final, playing host to 3Cities out of the Tri-Cities on Sunday at SOZO.
Whilst Negrete and Frausto may have been overshadowed in the scoring tables with the output more evenly distributed amongst the roster, the Reds credit a few others for their success from a defensive standpoint. It starts with captain Jose Marquez out of the back line and continues up the middle to Gilbert Bautista and Kevin Hernandez, a newcomer that just finished up high school and is headed to Washington over the next few weeks if not days.
For Everett, all eyes are primarily on Darboe with Tavares and Fernandez providing the support. At the other end of the pitch for the Jets was keeper Justin Rodriguez, who helped lead a unit that allowed just 11 goals on the campaign.
Yakima United Playoff History
2024 Semifinal: 3-1 W v Spokane Shadow
2023 Final: 0-4 L v Spokane Shadow
2023 Semifinal: 5-1 W v Yakima United
2022 Semifinal: 0-3 L v Bellingham United
2021 Quarterfinal: 0-1 L v Washington Premier
2019: Did Not Qualify
2018: Did Not Qualify
2017 Semifinal: 0-7 L v Bellingham United
Everett Jets Playoff History
2024 Semifinal: 4-1 W v WE Surf
2023 Semifinal: 1-5 L v Yakima United
2022 Semifinal: 2-3 L v Washington Premier
2021 Quarterfinal: 1-3 L v Tacoma Narrows
EPLWA Champions (Finalist)
2023 – Spokane Shadow (Yakima United)
2022 – Bellingham United (Washington Premier)
2021 – Bellingham United* (PacNW)
2020 – COVID
2019 – Washington Premier (Bellingham United)
2018 – Washington Premier (Seattle Stars)
2017 – Seattle Stars^
2016 – Vancouver Victory^
2015 – Spokane Shadow^
2014 – Spokane Shadow^
^ Single-table, no playoffs
* Post-Covid, partial participation
Evergreen Premier League 