The Kangs first trip to the state tournament in years ended with a shoot out loss on Tuesday night. Lake Washington, which traveled east to Kennewick for the first round game against Southridge, fell 2-1 in Lampson Stadium.

“Its always rough,” said head coach Shaun Warner, of losing in a shoot out. “I think Southridge is ranked No. 4 in the state and we went toe to toe with them. I don’t feel like we lost to Southridge, just that they had more penalty kicks at the end.”

It was Lake Washington who struck first during the game, battling through the first half with neither team scoring, before Merlin Granados found a chance off an assist from Cornielu Capusan in the 54 minute. But two minutes later Southridge’s Adolfo Garcio connected with Bill Landefeld for the game tying goal.

The match remained until a shoot out was called. Southridge snuck just enough goals to earn the win.

“Their defense did a good job,” said the coach. “We definitely had some chances and there were some headers that I thought were going in, but there was a defender on the line who cleared them.”

One major difference for Lake Washington was the physical aspects of the game. Warner said Southridge had four or five yellow cards in the game, and it took a while for the Kangs to get used to that kind of play.

“I think on the eastside they play a more physical game. It took a while for us to get used to that. But the boys played smart. We got one yellow card and it wasn’t even for a physical hit,” said Warner.

While the team’s season ended at state, it was a journey to get there, upsetting Mercer Island in the KingCo tournament, and beating Ingraham in the Metro cross over game.

“The boys were extremely excited,” said head coach Shaun Warner after Saturday’s win against Ingraham.

The Kangs program has never won a game in the state tournament, but have now edged ever closer to make that goal a reality.

“We talked a lot about memories and enjoying high school life. We were 1-5 and came together and decided we just were going to play and have fun,” said the coach of the team’s rocky start. “I told them after the game, that when they walk out of the locker room they can hold their heads high. It was fun to know we could go against anyone in the state and play well.”

Warner said the team was hugely appreciative of the team’s fans, many of whom showed up not only to the Ingraham game last weekend, but to Tuesday’s game in Kennewick.

“When we got off the bus in Kennewick and saw this whole RV of people waiving purple flags, that was really neat,” he said. “The fan support has just been phenomenal.”