LAKEWOOD - It was a late fall Saturday night at Harry E. Lang Stadium and the large Federal Way area throng that navigated the short journey south on Interstate 5 gave lasting tribute to a team that fought with its last of courage to achieve a dream.

Unbeaten (19-0) and No. 8 in the nation Eastlake had just outlasted Todd Beamer (20-2) in a 3-1 a penalty - kick shootout on November 17 to claim its second Class 4A girls soccer title in the last five years, but the massive contingent of Beamer fans continued to pay tribute to its squad with loud chants of "Let's go, Beamer" as every player huddled in front of the goal, consoling each other.

"We had a good year and expected to win," declared the Titans' Holland Crook. "But we battled hard."

From the outset, South Puget Sound League South Division titleist Beamer faced an aggressive adversary. Eastlake's Wolves consistently carried the battle to the Titans' turf most of the first half. Precision passing and well conceived long balls preceded persistent pounding at the Titans' goal. The Wolves unloaded scorching strafing runs against the Todd Beamer stonewall defense as the backline led by senior Nicole Peterson, Mackenzie Hickel and Jessica Niewoehner joined goal keeper Maia Kurnik to keep Eastlake scoreless.

In the face of the Eastlake pressure, the Titans rarely broke out of their territory most of the initial 40 minutes in a scoreless deadlock until, suddenly, opportunity reared its head.

Multi-talented sophomore Holland Crook faked left and ran right to split two defenders before getting her right foot on the ball for a shot left across the goal into the left corner to earn the Titans a 1-0 lead with just 17.9 seconds remaining in the first half.

"The ball bounced off one girl and then another before it got to me," related the SPSL South co-Most Valuable Player. "Then I just shot it."

With shouts of exultation Todd Beamer's players raced to halftime with a 1-0 lead, but knew the second half would be a championship challenge.

"Even when we got the lead, we knew it would not be an easy go," said Titan head coach Carrie Hentschell.

Eastlake came out like a raging bull to open the second half and eventually broke down the Beamer defense. Sophomore Lindsay Elston's corner kick found the Wolves' Emma Levy open in the box for the easy header that equalized the proceedings at 1-1 just 10:47 into the second half.

Both squads waged war ferociously from that point in time, but neither were able to produce further scoring. Eastlake had the best chances of scoring in the waning seconds of regulation play when sophomore midfielder Allie Beahan twice had an open net when Kurnik could not hang on to a rebound directly in front of the Titan goal.

A pair of scoreless five-minute overtime sessions followed to force the penalty kick finale.

Leading off the shootout, Eastlake keeper Megan Suter dove to her right to deny a scoring attempt from Beamer senior Jordan Salisbury. Not to be outdone, Kurnik followed with a spectacular diving save of her own against the Falcons' Diana Pollock.

Kari Nordvik and Courtney Pixler converted for the Wolves, while Suter turned away two of the next three Titan tries. Senior Nicole Peterson was the only Todd Beamer player to convert.

Lindsay Elston then found the back of the net with the game winning goal for Eastlake to deny Beamer its first-ever state championship in the five-year history of the school and set off the spontaneous ovation from Titan students and fans.

That ovation was indicative of the support Todd Beamer fans displayed during the torrid two days of the tournament. In addition to owning the biggest fan section, Titan students were easily the most vocal and demonstrative as evidenced by their wearing shirts that proclaimed "We Believe" while a makeshift ghetto blaster device resonated the 1980's Journey song "Don't Stop Believin' " at halftime of the championship game and before the dramatic penalty kick shootout.

Despite falling one win short in their quest for state soccer supremacy, the Titans left indelible memories of a storied unbeaten SPSL South season and a voyage to the final frontier of Washington state high school soccer.

"We all have memories," senior midfielder Jordan Crook recalled. "I want to remember Jordan (Salisbury) crawling on the field, teaching the coaches how to dance, the bus ride from Vancouver. I won't remember the losses."

Composing herself after sharing the tears and memories with her players, Beamer head coach Carrie Hentschell was proud of the effort.

"We faced a tough team," she admitted. "They were an unbeaten team. It was a good run. Well be back."

In order to return, the Titans will depend heavily upon the talents of Holland Crook while junior Megan Miller and sophomores Kaylee Huie, Hickel and Niewoehner along with freshmen Avery Salisbury and Tiarra Fentress will aslo be key players.

Seniors Brittany Orr, Maia Kurnik, Nicole Peterson, Jordan Salisbury and Jordan Crook leave behind a legacy of excellence.

Players for the 2007 Class 4A state girls soccer second place team are Maia Kurnik, Avery Salisbury, Sara Miller, Karli Hall, Jordan Crook, Sarah Petosa, Megan Miller, Brittany Orr, Jessica Niewoehner, Kaylee Huie, Katya Bixenman, Mackenzie Hickel, Jessica Sanchez, Holland Crook, Tiarra Fentress, Kelli Carlson, Jordan Salisbury, Nicole Peterson and Taylor Miller.

Head coach Carrie Hentschell is assisted by coaches Adam Kulaas and Kevin Hall.