LAKEWOOD - Destiny beckoned the fighting Titans of Todd Beamer High School to further glory on Friday night in the suburb of Tacoma.

On a cold and crisp night at Harry E. Lang Stadium, South Puget Sound League South champion Beamer added to the annals of its sports program with a 1-0 girls soccer win against defending state champion Woodinville of the KingCo Conference in a 2007 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires state semifinal match.

After relentlessly dominating the fray, the Titans (20-1) finally unveiled the knock out blow with stunning suddenness in the game's 47th minute courtesy of the Megan Miller-Jordan Salisbury connection.

Miller stepped into the corner to loft a high crossing kick that an unmarked Salisbury perfectly anticipated in the box and jumped up for a header from six yards out for the game winner. Woodinville never recovered. The goal floored the Falcons physically and mentally, while Beamer stepped up its offensive assault and the defenders did yeoman work to hold Woodinville off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

The Falcons (16-5) had a few vestiges of offense, including a long free kick that sailed over the goal from the foot of senior defender Michelle McCrillis in the 58th minute, but the Titans claimed the victory.

"I find Sal every time," declared Titan junior midfielder/forward Miller. "It's the Miller-Salisbury connection."

For senior midfielder Salisbury it was sweet satisfaction.

"I know where to go every time," proclaimed co-SPSL MVP Salisbury. "That's my sweet spot - I love corner kicks. Megan is the best corner kicker in the state and I know where the ball will be every time. It's the best feeling in the world. This is my best year in my senior year. Oh, it's amazing. I'm on a high right now."

Both squads began the game aggressively, but as the match progressed, the Titans -backed by the presence of continually exhorting and resonantly rabid fans that filled more than half the visiting stands - became entrenched in Falcon territory for long periods of time. From the middle of the first half, Todd Beamer continually enveloped itself in the hostile territory of its adversary without denting the scoreboard.

Despite an ominous and deadly presence that pinned Woodinville in its end much of the time, the Titans were still locked in a 0-0 tie at the half.

For the first half everybody came out hard and in the second half we kept going hard until we could score," observed Miller.

Holland Crook, Jordan Crook and company ignited the offensive onslaught from the beginning. As the Falcon resistance weakened, the Titan forwards and the midfielders pushed up the field, further wearing away and eroding the Woodinville defense like waves frequently battering away at a shoreline until the MIller-Salisbury dream connection put Todd Beamer over the top for good.

As the time ticked away, Titan students and fans kept up the vocal chants until the match-ending whistle touched off an emotional eruption of a festive nature.

Maia Kurnik earned the shutout while producing a handful of game-saving stops in the second half.

"It's amazing," Kurnik elaborated. "You can talk about fairy tales. This is one of them."

The match started 90 minutes late due to overtime and penalty kick shootouts in four out of five previous semifinals in Class 2A, 3A and 4A matches.

For the Titans, the wait was no problem.

"Oh, it's unbelievable," exclaimed Beamer head coach Carrie Hentschell. "The girls just came in very calm, very light. They were confident and more than anything, I wanted them to savor the moment and have fun. Some people get lucky. They deserved it, because they earned it."

Todd Beamer voyaged to the final frontier in its first-ever state championship girls soccer match against nationally ranked and unbeaten Eastlake (18-0) after press time on Saturday.