BURLINGTON, WA - The NWN BU11 Red team, coached by John Wagner, was again crowned champions of this year’s Evergreen International Soccer Tournament in Burlington, WA.  The victory was the fourth consecutive tournament championship in as many attempts for this talented and tenacious group of boys.  The boys also came out on top of the Starfire Tune-up, Rainier Challenge and the Diadora Cup.  The boys came out of the gate a bit slowly in the first game of group play.  Tied 3-3 at halftime, the boys roared to life with 9 straight second-half goals to earn a 12-3 victory over Lynden Action.  The boys earned two more group play victories by the scores of 5-0 and 3-2 over Evergreen B and Columbia Timbers Red respectively.  The boys finished tops in group play with 28 points.

The Nationals faced a quick and very skilled Skagit Storm team in the semifinals.  Skagit kept things close in the first half as they edged to a brief 2-1 lead.  The Nationals stormed back to even things up 2-2 at half.  The second half saw the Nationals assert their dominance as they pulled ahead for good 7-3.  Skagit kept things interesting by scoring a late goal for a 7-4 final score. The boys were off to their fourth consecutive tournament championship game of the summer!

In a rematch of the Diadora Cup final last month, the Nationals faced off against a feisty Evergreen A team.  In true form, the boys dominated the first half and out-hustled their opponent to an early 3-0 lead.  After several lineup changes, the Nationals coasted through the second half and allowed two late Evergreen goals.  Final score:  Nationals 4, Evergreen 2.  Champions once more!