Kolby Juarez’s go-ahead goal in the final seconds of regulation capped off the upset of the year for the Port Orchard Football Club July 26, who after earning its playoff spot through a series of circumstantial oddities would return to the pitch to play for the championship in the Cascadia Premier League Division 1.

No more than 48 hours later July 28, POFC’s Michael Divano found himself immersed in a wild state of deja vu as he approached what would be the final shot of the championship match. Plus or minus a few feet, the ball was placed for a free kick on the same side of the same field where Juarez had hit his shot, Divano’s team needing one more stroke of magic to close the 1-0 gap held by Sharktopus FC.

He saw, for a brief moment, his strike at the ball to be true. One loud ping off the crossbar and a long blow of the referee’s whistle confirmed what his eyes had just seen, the ball just barely missing its mark, as he collapsed to the turf in a state of weariness and defeat.

“I thought it was going to dip down and go in,” he said. “That’s about it.”

Divano’s shot was the last in a second half that saw POFC change its playing style from conservative soccer to a desperate frontal assault after Sharktopus gained the lead early in the second half. Head coach Patrick Leonard was left on the sidelines to watch while his players created any windows of opportunity they could.

All snapped shut in the 1-0 defeat, yet he maintained afterward that his team had done what they could to that final moment, especially after his team was not expected to make it to the playoffs at all.

“We had plenty of (earlier) moments where you could argue we were the better team in that game,” he said. “I thought we definitely held our own and walked out of there respectable, which doesn’t really mean much as we hold the second-place medals.”

“It’s unfortunate but part of the game,” POFC goalkeeper Jordan Hadden said. “I’ve been around the game so long, and there’s been so many times where I’ve been experiencing this. It sucks, and it’s heartbreaking, but it’s fueling the fire.”

The defending CPL2 champions had found themselves embracing the underdog role throughout the final July weekend. Stumbling their way through year two, POFC was a far cry from the perfect squad that ended last season with a perfect record. Any sight of playoff soccer appeared to be long gone by season’s end, but a bizarre turn of events including the elimination of another team’s entire regular season record put any postseason hopes at the mercy of a regular season match between Sporting International FC and the Tacoma Stars Reserves.

For Sporting, the lights went out on their season. Literally.

CPL leaders confirmed that a stoppage of play was forced in the crucial match after the field lights never turned on. Sporting was leading at the time and labeled the incident as “technical issues” in a brief statement, but the league quickly discovered that the field had never been booked.

“Sporting failed to meet the standards of the game,” said the league’s technical director Mitch James. “It was a clerical error. It sucks, but POFC got lucky from that perspective.”

A unanimous vote via a randomized selection of club owners effectively gave POFC the second postseason slot and a July 26 CPL1 semifinal matchup with Crossfire. Behind a mix of defense-minded soccer and breakaway shot attempts keeping the opponents on their heels for most of the match, a 0-0 tie carried into the second half would finally be broken by Ben Wilkinson, his shot giving POFC the one-goal advantage before Crossfire knotted the score up again just minutes later.

Extra time appeared imminent, but if those familiar with the events surrounding POFC’s playoff berth had learned anything, it was to expect the unexpected.

Juarez, who was eager for a chance to get his team the lead, found himself with a free kick just outside the goalie box with a handful of seconds remaining on the clock. The first kick hit the wall of Crossfire defenders, but a flawless rebound by Juarez was quickly sent back toward the net.

Cheers erupted among the well-traveled POFC fans as Juarez sprinted toward the corner of the field in jubilation. He said, “I told myself that if I get one more chance, I promise I’m scoring. We got the free kick, and I was looking at who was on the field. We had quality guys, but I was like, ‘I have to take this.’”

The crowd of POFC supporters grew substantially on day two, easily the largest of any team that weekend. Despite the deflating finish, players left the turf to the tune of loud and proud “P-O-F-C!” chants that continued to demonstrate the growing bond between the team and its community.

Who will be on the club in year three won’t be determined until next spring, but Hadden said players looking for a home in local soccer can come to find it in the South Kitsap city.

“Just to feel the energy and to feel the crowd, it should get everyone excited. You love to hear them get rowdy. Hopefully, this is a push to let people know what we’re doing and look at what POFC is about,” he said.

As for Leonard, there’s no question in his mind that there’s more to be achieved. He said, “I thought this was a good foundational point, and as a club, we’ll build and keep going.”

POFC coach Patrick Leonard talks with his players after a 1-0 loss in the CPL1 championship.