Para sempre, eles serão conhecidos como os caras que se recusaram a desistir.Eles poderiam facilmente desistir, bem antes mesmo de chegar ao jogo do campeonato da NCAA de 1993.

Em vez disso, eles ficaram fortes, ficaram juntos e, finalmente, prevalecido.

Para constar, o quinto título nacional de Seattle Pacific foi conquistado de maneira trabalhadora contra o atual campeão do sul de Connecticut.Mas essa partida foi anticlimática em comparação com a semifinal épica dois dias antes.

O Seattle Pacific e a Florida Tech, mais bem classificada e invicta, jogou um jogo para as idades.A sonolenta cidade de Melbourne, na Flórida, foi forçada a ficar acordada bem depois da meia -noite para aprender o resultado da maratona de 4 horas e 7 minutos.

Os seguidores em Fit acreditavam firmemente que os Falcons haviam sido colocados na cama cedo depois que os Panteras avançaram por dois gols, 5-3, na prorrogação.Mas a SPU se recusou a se render e avançou em números quando James Dunn, varredor da América, puxou a camisa do goleiro para se tornar um 11º atacante.

Travis Connell’s header closed the gap to 5-4 with 62 seconds left. Then in the dying moments a loose ball fell fortuitously to the feet of record-setting scorer Jason Dunn, James’s identical twin. From the right flank Dunn uncorked a low 25-yard drive which caromed into the net off a lunging defender – just as the clock expired.

The two teams played another 30 minutes of sudden-death overtime before finally settling matters in a gut-wrenching, 13-round penalty-kick shootout. James Dunn, still in goal, made two saves, Jason converted two kicks, and SPU won the tiebreaker, 10-9.

Although physically (an injured James Dunn was unable to play) and emotionally spent, some 44 hours later Seattle Pacific parlayed an early goal by Dominic Dickerson and clutch goalkeeping All-American Marcus Hahnemann (served red card suspension in semi) into a 1-0 result against Southern Connecticut.

During that off day, in between the semifinal and final, Jason Dunn was asked about those dying seconds of the overtime, when all hope seemed lost. Immediately after the goal was scored, Dunn whirled and ran, screaming, past the celebrating SPU bench. What was his cry? “That’s why you never give up!”

Thanks for reading along. If you enjoyed this content, perhaps you will consider supporting initiatives to bring more of our state’s soccer history to life by donating to Washington State Legends of Soccer, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to celebrating Washington’s soccer past and preserving its future.