TACOMA — All good things must come to an end.

For the North Kitsap Vikings, one of the best seasons the boys soccer team has seen in two decades came to an end on the turf of the Mount Tahoma Stadium May 13 as the South Puget Sound League’s No. 4 seed, Decatur, advanced into the state tournament on the leverage of one goal and a little luck.

When the Vikings pelted the Gators’ net within the first five minutes of the game, one could see NK’s enthusiasm beaming through its celebration. Unfortunately for North, after the jubilee of Carlos Portillo’s opening goal from a Steven Prevost assist in the third minute, there wouldn’t be another.

“Disappointed,” NK senior Steven Prevost summed it up. “I thought we could’ve won that game if we could’ve converted some of our chances and put the ball in the net. We just got unlucky on a few of our shots.”

And at the district level — —a stage on which this North team had never performed before —— there is little forgiveness. Still, the relatively young Vikings’ squad stood strong in the face of the pressure.

The game was a shining example of championship soccer; it was a high-energy, back-and-forth, slide tackling, all-out, never-give-up battle.

“It was a physical game on both sides, both teams wanted pretty bad and neither backed down,” said NK coach Pat Stickney, noting that the game came down to missed opportunities. “I was extremely proud of what (NK) did, they stood up to the big boys and showed their medal.”

North’s defense was once again the foundation that the team rallied around. Despite Decatur spending more than half of the game’s first 40 minutes in purple territory, the Gators only scored one goal in the first half.

Ciaran O’Brien blasted an unassisted mid-range missile into the corner of the Vikings’ net in the 21st minute to tie the game at one, then the stadium’s scoreboard grew stagnant.

But North’s offense was far from moribund as the Vikings sprinted right back on the offensive, creating a shot attempt in response to O’Brien’s goal.

“The game plan was to work on stringing our passes together and (making) opportunities to score,” Prevost noted, which the Vikings accomplished in a forceful fashion.

On the offensive, the Vikings succeeded in creating multiple opportunities out of somewhat of a discombobulated attack. Three such NK shots over the course of the game were inches away from the net, but bounced off the cross bar.

Enter NK frustration.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Gators were harassed by swarms of Vikings whenever they neared the goalie box.

Late in the second half, Decatur’s Dominic Dedaj was the victim of North’s defense as he jockeyed for on open shot, surrounded by three Vikes. North deflected Dedaj’s attempt out of bounds, then became a victim of misfortune.

Out of a scramble in front of the NK net, Kyle Eslick bounced the Gator’s winning goal off of his head from an O’Brien corner kick in the 68th minute.

The Viking offense desperately blazed through the midfield repeatedly in the final 10 minutes, but each time the Gators would redirect the ball. North had one last chance with the ball-in on their side of the field with one minute left in the game, but Decatur’s defense was not in the mood for heroics.

Enter disappointment as the Mount Tahoma stadium announcer counted down the final 10 seconds of a brilliant North season.

The Vikings finish the season with an 11-3-1 record and will say goodbye to a class of 10 graduating seniors— Jonathon Cordell, Ryan Elves, Matthew Frazier, Portillo, Prevost, Jacob Stickney, Sam Tomlinson, Kjell Trettewick, Taylor Mason and Jack Ramsy.

However, the horizon is bright for North Kitsap soccer as leading scorer, freshman Zak Sampson and five sophomores Langaker, Josh Gilson, Craig Gracey, Sam Mouser, Jake Peterson — will be back in 2007.

“You can’t replace a Carlos Portillo or a Steven Prevost, but other than that, I think that we’re very solid,” Stickney said looking into next year. “We have some exciting young players that have been starting with the varsity all season. They are ready and they know what to expect and they will be team leaders out there.”