In 1991, Mountain View became the first Clark County school to win a state championship in boys soccer. The Thunder would go on to win three consecutive state titles and appear in four straight state final matches.
This is the story from the second state championship in 1992.
PUYALLUP — In the last two minutes of the first half, Richland gave Mountain View the opportunity of a lifetime. The Thunder seized the moment — the state Class AAA soccer championship Saturday.
Doug Wolvert capitalized on a Richland defensive miscue for the only goal of the title game as the Thunder defeated the Bombers on Sparks Stadium for their second consecutive Class AAA boys state title.
With less than two minutes to go before halftime, a Richland defender attempted to send the ball back to his own goalie, but the ball bounced out of bounds for a Mountain View corner kick.
Senior forward Brian Wohlsein placed the corner perfectly in front of the goal and Wolvert headed it in for a 1-0 lead.
“It was a great goal,” said Mountain View coach John Bain. “It was a great corner by Brian and it was a nice way to end the half.”
According to Wolvert, the set play was something the Thunder had done a number of times.
“It was a set play that we have,” Wolvert said. “Brian is good at dropping the ball right in front of the net, and with my height, it gives me good chances at the ball. He plays it perfectly every time.”
Although the score was Mountain View’s only tally of the first half, the defending state champs dominated play in the first 40 minutes. Mountain View had six shots on goal to Richland’s one. Despite that, Bain felt his team was slow to start the game.
“During the last 10 minutes of the half, I thought we created some good opportunities, but the first 30 minutes we didn’t play very well,” Bain said.
Mountain View had some good chances to scored in the second half, but for the second straight game, got shut out in the second half. Wolvert missed a 15-yarder with just over 28 minutes to play and senior midfielder Jeremy Britton had his header bounce off the right post with 20 minutes remaining in the game.
“We kept going forward looking for that second goal,” Bain said.
Richland, which had seven second-half shots on goals, also pushed the ball in the second half, challenging goalkeeper Vince Dawson and the Mountain View defense a number of times. Twice Kurt Lauman had excellent chances to score, but Dawson and defenders Jon Willman and Tanner Freibel came up with big plays.
“They had two very good chances, but those were the only two,” Bain said “We had a little bit of a defensive failure and we don’t do that very often. Vince Dawson made some great saves, and Tanner and Jon did a good job clearing the ball. We didn’t feel a lot of pressure until the last 20 minutes.”
With the second straight title, Mountain View becomes just the second school to win back-to-back championships. Thomas Jefferson, which won four straight from 1983-86 and a fifth title in 1988, is the other. The Raiders are also the only team that beat Mountain View this season.
“It’s tough to defend a state title,” Bain said.
Even though he and his players wouldn’t talk about it during the season, Bain admitted that the second title was on the minds of the team members since they beat Cascade last year.
“At the end of last season, I felt our team this year could be even better than last year,” Bain said. “By winning a second title, we felt we could put ourselves on the map even more.”
Wolvert also indicated the idea of repeating had been on his head for quite a while.
“You always have that thought,” Wolvert said. “The seniors last year had a lot of influence on this year’s team. It gets tougher ever year, but it feels good to be one of just two schools to repeat.”
Written by Ken Vance, The Columbian, May 31, 1992
