The Todd Beamer Titans got where most want to get -- the Final Four -- but could not get past Puyallup in the 4A state semifinal, losing, 1-0. Then, the next night they lost to Eastlake 2-1 in action at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood.

But the Titans took fourth place. That's the good news, among other good news like being one of the four best boys soccer teams in the state of Washington out of 90 some schools in the 4A classification. And it is only the Titans' fifth year as a school.

The Titans even had beat Puyallup, 1-0, during the season, and tied the other time, 2-2. So, this was tough to win those two battles but lose this one that mattered a lot more.

Head coach Adam Kulaas did not have much to say. The Titans' coach, who has taken the Titans to the playoffs four of his five seasons as coach, including the quarterfinals last year. He did not, as one may guess, have much to say. Much good anyway.

"We lost," he said. "Didn't play well."

So, good, bad, Kulaas was not in a talking mood after this one and understandably so. Assistant coach Bret Lucas, too, was down after this as he tried to put this semifinal against a rival into words. The chance of playing in the state championship against a team ranked No. 9 in the nation (Bellarmine Prep) in high schools, gone. No chance to quickly get their name in those national polls for maybe getting a chance to beat them. And, this Titans team is young. So, don't be surprised if Kulaas and Lucas get this team right back to this final four semifinal state playoff spot this time next May.

Troy Peterson, a good centermidfield player, is a freshmen, even. And, forward Ugo Okali is also a frosh.

But they had to play bigger than their class this season to help their team get as far as they got. And they did. Peterson had 10 goals and 13 assists, playmaking in the middle and shooting the ball in, too, which is the real sign of a player to come to be really good in the South Puget Sound League South. (The Titans will play with Decatur in the SPSL South next season).

Okali made some nice moves, too. His quickness is likened to a cheetah, the fastest animal on earth. Okali doesn't hit speeds of 70 m.p.h. like that cat, but he's plenty fast for a human and a good dribbler, too. With time of learning how to use teammates more, he will likely be a great one to watch, exciting dribbling the ball, like Puyallup's forward was in this semifinal.

Justin Veltung, the Vikings' star forward who led the SPSL (North and South) with 22 goals to go along with 10 assists was the star of this show. The lone goal of the game was scored by him as he dribbled, off a lead pass, into the 18-yard-box and split right through a couple defenders before putting the ball past the frantically rushing out Titans keeper to try and cut the angle off. Veltung's score was at the 24th minute of the first half. And it would be the only score for the rest of the way.

"I played club with him," said Hale, a junior captain for the Titans, who had a great season rooting the

back line playing sweeper. "Old teammates."

So, just because Veltung burned past Hale and other Titans' defenders on that play, the real blame does not lie with the Titans defense. "Blame" is too harsh a word, too, but the offense needed to have scored a goal. They had six chances to score, the same number of shots on goal as Puyallup in this fairly evenly played game. Actually, the Titans were controlling the ball in the middle more. Just when they got to the 18-yard-box, maybe too much dribbling by forwards, passes into open space when the ball should have been to the feet of players like Okali and team-leading scorer Daniel Nam.

"Couldn't produce," said Hale.

But, again, don't be surprised if this Beamer team is here again. They learned some things surely from this tournament, being so young of a team. There are seniors that will be missed, like Nam's 15 goals and 19 assists as well as Marlon Harrington playing well in defense and Alan Kim, and some others. But there is just a lot of aforementioned talent that will make this team be a tough one to beat next year in the SPSL South.

"I learned that play is a lot quicker in high school," said Okali. "You are playing against a lot of older players."

The Titans should have only "claim," not blame. They were only so-so to start the season, starting out with a 3-2-1 record before going on a good winning streak mid-season (five straight wins) to really turn things around. Included in that streak was the 2-1 win over Puyallup.

"We turned things around," said Hale. "Got off to a rough start. We pulled things out in the second half of the season."

Just couldn't quite yank hard enough when it mattered most.

"Not our best performance tonight," said Hale.

"The good Vikings ship sailed well tonight," said Lucas.

The Titans finished their season 13-7-2 and they took third place in their division, one point from being fourth.