Mercer Island-based youth soccer program, the Nowland Premier Soccer Academy (NPSA) Titans, recorded an impressive victory at the Starfire Labor Day Cup which culminated in a 2-1 win in the final against the Eastside FC ‘A’ team. With the win, the NPSA Titans won the boys U11 gold division.

Led by English former pro-soccer player Adam Nowland, the NPSA Titans opened the tournament with a 1-1 tie against eventual finalists, the Eastside FC ‘A’ team. The NPSA boys found their rhythm in the second game, an exciting end-to-end encounter with Kitsap Alliance, claiming a 3-2 triumph. Needing a victory in the third and last group game, the players stepped it up to win 4-2 over the Seattle Pumas.

In the final, NPSA took a 1-0 advantage into halftime. After Eastside FC scored midway through the second half to tie the game at 1-1, Islander David Thomas rifled home a free kick into the top of the goal from 25 yards out to give NPSA a 2-1 lead.

Eastside FC turned up its attack and were awarded a penalty with 90 seconds remaining. But NPSA goalkeeper Jackson Barker managed to step in front of the PK, diving low to his right to push away the spot-kick and secure a 2-1 victory for the Titans.

NPSA Titans team members include Jackson Barker, David Thomas, Finn de Graaf, Keenan Guerts, Liam Shalom, Kaleb Rawson, Rogan Stark, Siddharth Ghali, Adi Suskic, Chien-Yu Xiong, Boe Kleven and Ario Azarnejad.